• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
    • RadioThon
  • App
    • App Help
    • App – English
    • App -Spanish
    • App – French
    • App – German
    • App – Portuguese
    • App Promo Codes
  • Music
    • Acid Flashback – Streaming Internet Radio
    • Today in Rock History
    • Guest DJ’s
    • Interviews
    • Psychedelic Time Warp
    • The Jukebox Series from Eric Berman
    • Song of the Day
    • 3D RadioActivity
    • Vinyl Schminyl Radio
    • Zecom Radio – The Choice
    • Zecom Radio – GEMZ
  • Sports
    • SportsTwitter.net
    • SportsAudio.net Archives
  • Home Improvement USA Radio
  • Entertainment
    • Podcasts
  • About Us
    • Contact Information
    • My Radio Journey and the Story of InternetFM
    • Radio Station Submission
    • Affiliate Station Information
    • Press Releases
    • Business Services
    • Email Sign Ups
    • Paid Content Guidelines
InternetFM

InternetFM

Hand Curated Radio

You are here: Home / Music / Blues / Song Of The Day – “Bacon Fat” by Andre Williams and his New Group

Song Of The Day – “Bacon Fat” by Andre Williams and his New Group

January 23, 2020 by Eric Berman

andrewilliamsOh lawd, have moicey…this “Bacon Fat” is show nuff greasy!

I listened to Taj Mahal’s 1969 double album Giant Step earlier this week for the piece I wrote on his cover version of “Take A Giant Step.” The album also has a version of the song “Bacon Fat” that is credited to J.R. Robertson and Garth Hudson of The Band.

Upon digging deeper, I found out that “Bacon Fat” was originally written by Andre Williams, who scored a top-ten hit with the song in 1956, and the erroneous writing credit probably stems from an arrangement credit they received for the song when they were performing as Levon & The Hawks shortly after they left Ronnie Hawkins and before they joined forces with Bob Dylan.

Williams cut the original “Bacon Fat” for the Fortune record label along with several other hits including “Jail Bait” and “Greasy Chicken.” When “Bacon Fat” began to take off on the charts, Fortune leased the record to Epic Records for national distribution and the song climbed all the way to #9 on the singles chart. Contrary to popular belief, “Bacon Fat” is not an ode to clogged arteries or some weird sexual proclivity for food by-products, but rather the “Bacon Fat” of this song is a dance.

Early on, Williams realized he wasn’t gifted with a voice as good as other soul singers of the day like Clyde McPhatter or Jackie Wilson, so he began to talk over his records instead of sing. As a result, many people have credited him as “The Father Of Rap” for developing a new style.

Following his stint with Fortune, Williams spent four years working at Motown as a recording artist, arranger and songwriter. Although he did not release any records for the label, he did co-write Stevie Wonder’s first hit “Thank You For Loving Me,” and “Twine Time,” a hit for Alvin Cash and the Crawlers. His best known composition is “Shake A Tail Feather,” which became a big hit for Ike & Tina Turner.

After supervising the recording of two albums by Motown group, The Contours, Williams became a roadie for Edwin Starr before signing with Chess Records in 1966. He recorded many great R&B tunes for Chess, although none became big hits. During the 1970s, Williams also wrote for Parliament and Funkadelic.

A long period of drug addiction followed before he was signed to Chicago’s Bloodshot Records in 1998 where he recorded records with The Sadies (who were also covered in this column last week for their work with John Doe), Jon Spencer and Two Star Tabernacle (featuring a young Jack White). He was also the subject of a documentary, Agile, Mobile, Hostile that premiered at the 2008 SXSW Film Festival.

Williams released two albums in 2012 on Bloodshot Records and continues to tour around the world today.

Filed Under: Blues, Classic Rock, Doo Wop, FUNK, Jazz, Motown, Music, Oldies, One Hit Wonders, R'n'B/Soul, Rap & Hip Hop, Rock 'n' Roll, Rockabilly, Song of the Day Tagged With: Andre Williams, Bacon Fat, Bloodshot Records, Garth Hudson, Music, R&B, Robbie Robertson, Song Of The Day by Eric Berman, The Band

About Eric Berman

Primary Sidebar

Follow Us

RSS
Follow by Email
Facebook
Facebook
fb-share-icon
Twitter
Visit Us
Follow Me
Tweet
YouTube
YouTube
LinkedIn
Instagram
Reddit
FbMessenger

Search

What you don’t see on this site:

Obnoxious ads, click bait, annoying popups.

That’s because we respect your right to get information, hear good music, and enjoy your time surfing without being bombarded, or forced to close the popups.

All we ask is to tell more people about InternetFM, and if you feel generous, please drop something in the tip jar.

Contributions can be used towards any future subscription service we may offer in the future.

More to See

Psychedelic Time Warp – Show 10

May 21, 2022 By Steve Leventhal

Know 3D

May 14, 2022 By Marty Masters

For Content Submissions:

PLEASE, PLEASE go to our content guidelines page BEFORE sending unsolicited requests for paid or guest posts. We are unlikely to respond to direct inquiries.

How to Contact Us In Studio

When we are live on the air to request a song or leave a comment:

email: use our contacts page

phone: Google Voice- +1 224-662-1240

Discord: https://discord.gg/TPm7yPy4Sg
#live-show-feedback

RSS Feed – Enter your email address

Footer

Menu

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Information
  • Press Releases
  • Privacy Policy
  • Our Core Values
  • Internships
  • Take Down Policy
  • Site Map
  • Business Services

this site is owned and maintained by:

InternetFM, Inc.
Lake Bluff, IL

224.662.1240

Contact us

Tags

Aerosmith Black Sabbath Blues Bob Dylan Bruce Springsteen Chicago Chicago Bears Classic Rock Country David Bowie Elton John Elvis Presley Eric Clapton Folk Genesis Green Bay Packers Jazz Jimi Hendrix John Lennon King Crimson Led Zeppelin Links - Rock and Roll Music NFL Paul McCartney Pink Floyd Pop Queen Rock Rockabilly Roxy Music Rush Song Of The Day by Eric Berman Soul The Allman Brothers Band The Beatles The Doors The Grateful Dead The Jukebox Series The Rolling Stones The Who U2 Van Halen Yes ZZ Top

Search

Recent

  • Today in Rock History – May 23
  • Don’t Know Radio
  • Today in Rock History – May 22
  • Psychedelic Time Warp – Show 10
  • Today in Rock History – May 21

Copyright © 2022 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress ·