Lil’ Ed: Makin’ His Own Moves

Lil’ Ed Williams couldn’t help growing up to be a bluesman. Under the guidance of his uncle, Chicago slide guitarist J. B. Hutto, Lil’ Ed was playing guitar, drums, and bass before he entered his teens.

He collaborated with his half-brother, bassist James “Pookie” Young, and formed The Blues Imperials when he was twenty. They played their first gig at a West side Chicago club called Big Duke’s Blue Flame and were paid $6, which they split four ways.
Lil’ Ed and Pookie both knew that many bluesmen had to work at something other than music. Ed worked a ten-hour day as a buffer at the Red Carpet Car Wash and Pookie drove a school bus. At night, they played their hearts out at local clubs.

When Alligator Records came looking for likely blues bands for an anthology called The New Bluebloods back in 1986, Lil’ Ed and his crew were tapped for a session in a local studio.

“I had never been into a studio,” Lil’ Ed said in a recent phone interview. “When I walked into the space, that was my first experience hearing sound that good…There’s just you and the band. You can hear the intensity of the music.”
So, instead of breaking the band up into different sound booths, Lil’ Ed and his fellow musicians just started entertaining. After two songs, they were asked to do a few more. Thirty songs and three hours later, the band was signed by Alligator Records and twelve of those tunes made it to their first CD, “Roughhousin’.”

Two more albums were released and Lil’ Ed and his band toured the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, and even Japan.
By the mid-90s, Lil’ Ed pulled his band off the road and decided to take care of some inner business. While he was getting his life on track, he recorded two solo albums with Earwig Records.

By 1998, The Blues Imperials had reformed and Lil’ Ed returned to Alligator Records, releasing Get Wild! (1999), Heads Up (2002), and the recent Rattleshake (2006).

Lil’ Ed didn’t lose his audience during the hiatus. In fact, he’s been garnering even more fans. He and his band are back on the road. They’ll be coming down from Winnipeg for their stop in Grand Forks at the Empire Arts Center on March 17.

The show that Lil’ Ed and his bluesmen bring is high intensity. “I used to take time to warm up,” Lil’ Ed said. “Now I find myself getting on stage and just blurting it out right out at the beginning…..I just like to go in with fire and maybe slow down a tad close to the evening’s end. Because they’ve done had a good time. They’ve worn themselves out dancing. It’s time to cool down.”

Lil’ Ed is known for his high leaping, toe walking, and knee sliding, reminiscent of Chuck Berry. “You can’t stay still when you’re feeling the music. That’s what makes me move,” said Lil’ Ed. “I can’t just stand around in one spot and pretend I’m having a good time when I know that I’m having a good time…. That’s why we’re such a power band because we feel the intensity and that just makes us drive harder and harder and harder.”

But don’t expect straight up traditional blues or even note-for-note covers. Lil’ Ed does everything his way. His new album, “Rattleshake,” is a mix of blues, old time rock and roll, country blues, groove, and even Zydeco.

“That’s what I wanted to do with this one because all of the last ones I made were pretty much traditional stuff,” Lil’ Ed admitted. “I said to myself, ‘Well, you know, there’s a little bit more to Lil’ Ed than a lot of people really know about. I listen to all kinds of music. I’m not just listening to all traditional stuff.”
In fact, the new CD he’s working on will feature a Brooks & Dunn cover and some new material written by his wife Pamela. But don’t expect that country song to be something very different.

“I’ve always learned that when I do a cover song to make it my own,” said Lil’ Ed. “That was something that my uncle J. B. Hutto taught me. If you’re going to do a cover song, don’t try to do it exactly like the guys that did it because people are not expecting you to do it that way. They are expecting you to put a little attitude to it, change it up a little bit, and make it your own.”

If You Go:

WHAT: Lil’ Ed and the Blues Imperials
WHERE: Empire Arts Center, Grand Forks
WHEN: Mon., March 17, 7:30 pm
HOW MUCH: $15
WHO: All ages
INFO: (701) 746-5500, 777-4090