Columnist Joe Delaney: Wishing legendary Williams a happy birthday

Joe Delaney

Friday, Dec. 11, 1998 | 11:45 a.m.

Master singer Joe Williams shares his natal date, Dec. 12, with the late Frank Sinatra. ... Joe hits the Big 8-0 on Saturday and will have a Birthday Party Sunday in the former home of Liberace. ... Williams and his wife, Jillean, have spent 30 of their 40 years of happily married life living in Las Vegas. ... He should have been performing here as well.

Jillean and Joe are just back from the Kennedy Center Honors taping in Washington, DC. ... Shirley Temple Black, Bill Cosby, Kander and Ebb, Willie Nelson and Andre Previn are this year's five honorees. ... The program will be telecast Dec. 30 on CBS (Cox Cable Channel 8 locally).

It should be Joe Williams' turn to be honored in the not-too-distant future. ... Joe was born in Cordele, Ga., and raised in Chicago. ... He first came into prominence singing "Every Day I Get The Blues," a hit twice for him, first locally, then with Count Basie in 1954.

Career notes

Before Basie, Williams sang with legendary clarinetist Jimmy Noone, then with tenor sax great Coleman Hawkins, and toured with Andy Kirk and his Clouds of Joy, always returning to Chicago. ... His Count Basie years were 1954-61. ... Since then, he has been on his own, although he does continue to appear in concert with a Count Basie Band.

It is Williams, the ballad singer who has become even more impressive. ... His rendition of "Imagination" is the definitive version. ... Joe sings the Anthony Newley song book better than Tony Bennett, the late Sammy Davis Jr. or even Tony Newley himself. ... Check out Joe's RCA Victor releases, circa late 1950s, great ballads sung better than anybody.

Here is a Joe Williams story we share. ... It starts in Chicago in the late 1950s. ... Joe was with the Basie Band, playing the late Frank Holzfiend's Blue Note, around the corner from the Hotel Morrison.

What happened

Williams' favorite drink at the time was a Gibson but it had to made just so, according to Joe's specifications. ... Holzfiend's drinks were inexpensive but lethal, just this side of rubbing alcohol. ... We discovered that Frank's favorite waitress knew the combination to the safe in his office where he kept his private stash of premium brand liquors.

Chicago was a strong union town and the musicians worked a five-day week. ... The Basie Band was off on Sunday and Monday. ... I had Holzfiend's favorite waitress mix a Gibson for Joe using Frank's best gin and would sit there as the set ended, holding the Gibson.

Joe would walk off the stand, take the Gibson, sip it carefully, pronounce it satisfactory, then drink it. ... One Saturday, after the band finished, Joe and I headed for the Club De Lisa on Chicago's famed South Side and had a great time until it was time for him to perform on Tuesday.

Later in London

This was not the reason, but our paths did not cross for at least three years. ... I was in London visiting with Lew and Leslie Grade, top entertainment impresarios. ... Lew told me the Basie Band and Joe Williams were playing the Palladium, a theatre. ... That night, armed with a Gibson made to his specifications, I slipped in backstage.

Joe had no idea I was in London. ... He sang two songs, took his bows, then went off stage, returning for an encore. ... As he reached backstage, I stepped out of the shadows and handed him the Gibson. ... A very simple occurrence, a very special moment for both of us.

Our friendship spans more than four decades. ... Happy Birthday, a healthy one and many, many more, all of them happy and healthy. ... Sunday, I shall be in Tucson, Ariz., directing a Christmas Mariachi Festival, arriving home too late for your party. ... The next Gibson is on me, Joe.

Friday addenda

The Sons of Erin Christmas Party starts at noon Sunday, St. Anne's School's multipurpose room. ... "Tenor Madness VI" begins at 2 p.m., Winchester Community Center. ... The Las Vegas Jazz Society Christmas Party has a 5 p.m. start, Frontier Hotel Events Center and Marv Koral's All-Stars play, 5:30-9:30 p.m. at Carollo's Restaurant, all on Sunday.

Dr. Douglas R. Peterson and his Southern Nevada Musical Arts Society will perform Handel's "Messiah" and selections from Johann Sebastian Bach's "Christmas Oratorio," also on Sunday, at 3 p.m. in UNLV's Ham Hall. ... 'Tis the Christmas Party season, be careful and be sure to have a designated driver. ... Enjoy your holidays. ... See you next Thursday.