Willie Egan - Discography 1954 to 1962 with YT Links

[RWC]

Robert Lee 'Willie' Egan, Oct 1, 1933, near Shreveport, LA - Aug 5,
2004 in Inglewood, CA - r&b singer and pianist

most of Willie Egan's recordings, as evidenced below, are
in the exciting 50s style of rock 'n' roll

15 tracks by Willie Egan on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JM_o2GkpP4&list=PL7Jr8epCNiVD_nkryoGDfhga3QvzsZU2j

Bibliography:
https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Blues_Bibliography/immRAgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=willie+egan&pg=PA343&printsec=frontcover

"Willie Egan is a boogie-woogie bluesman of undeserved obscurity. Born
to poor sharecropper parents in bayou country, he moved to Los Angeles
at the age of nine, to live with an uncle who had an old upright
piano. Living next door was a music teacher named Arthur Alexander who
taught him to play boogie woogie."

"Willie has mentioned Amos Milburn, Hadda Brooks, Camille Howard and
Nellie Lutcher as his main influences. But the impact of Fats Domino
is also undeniable and some of the melodies that Willie composed are
barely disguised rewrites of Domino tunes."

Active in the 1950s in Los Angeles, he disappeared in the 1960s
but had a notable comeback in the 1980s via the UK.

Willie Egans and His House Rockers [Elko 911] - 1954
It's A Shame / Willie's Boogie {Instro}
*not on YouTube*
40 sec. Snippets:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/documentrecordsstore/samples/DOCD-5684-01.mp3
https://s3.amazonaws.com/documentrecordsstore/samples/DOCD-5684-02.mp3

The Diggers {Willie Egan} [EP Dig This Record 778] - Jan 1955
Reconsider Baby
*not on YouTube*
40 sec. Snippet:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/documentrecordsstore/samples/DOCD-5684-03.mp3

[EP Dig This Record 779] - early 1955
Willie Snow and The Diggers f. Lloyd Rowe {guitar} - You Upset Me Baby
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nc0433l9lY
Two Crows & The Diggers {Willie Egan} - Poison Ivy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbyJLTsC6hA

"Egan made his best records in 1955-56, for the Mambo and Vita labels
in Pasadena, owned by Larry Mead. At least six singles were released,
good rocking material that demonstrated why he was known in L.A. clubs
as the House Rocker. But poor distribution and scarce airplay kept him
from flourishing outside of several urban black markets."

Egan's surname was often misspelled on these platters as Eggins or
Egans.

Lloyd {Rowe, guitar} and Willie [Mambo 101] - 1955
I Don't Know Where She Went {lyric She's Fit} / Potato Stomp {Instro}
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwCEgqC6JJ8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xc7eB1GkdQ

Willie Eggins And Orchestra [Mambo 102] - 1955
What A Shame / Wow Wow
with super-rockin' piano in the background, plus sax,
a re-recording of It's A Shame on Elko:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5EEPZMZHNE
"Wow Wow", this is wild, man! - "probably his biggest seller"
a hit throughout Southern California:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mpDFrJZ8sA

session piano player (prominent)
Lorenzo Holden {Tenor Sax} and Orchestra [Mambo 103-B] - 1955
Whipped Cream {rockin' instro)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mu5YfcQO6xw

Willie Egans And Orchestra [Mambo 106] - 1955
Sometimes I Wonder {Fats Domino rockin' Blues}/Sad Sad Feeling {Blues}
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DToji39gBXg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAsXGF_ElMU

Willie Egans [Mambo 111 ] - 1956
Come on {r&b rock 'n' roll} / Oh Baby {blues rock 'n' roll}
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlGVflDM4Fk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zL1A8u0ybPM

session piano player:
Effie Smith & The Squires [Vita 117] - 1956
You Ought To Be Ashamed Of Yourself
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ardEoqKqTCM

Willie Egans [Vita 119-A] - 1956
She's Gone Away, But - {50s r&b rock'n'roll}
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iotliQE9t6w
Willie Egans and Orchestra [Vita 119-B] - 1956
Willie's Blues {Fats Domino style rockin' blues}
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRHvLa_234E

session piano player:
Effie Smith [Vita 124] - 1956
Champagne Mind With A Soda Water Income / Water! Water!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh6tKBdJedI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61Fkhx5XrZs

Willie Egans and Orchestra [Vita 125] - 1956
I Can't Understand It / Wear Your Black Dress
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGmP3dCu790
"his creative zenith, a fierce jump blues":
that's right, it was officially the b-side:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JM_o2GkpP4

session piano player:
Harmonica Slim & Orchestra [Vita 138]
My Girl Won't Quit Me / You Better Believe It
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNlXOMJCYnc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaPgAD_z6mQ

session piano player:
Harmonica Slim & Orchestra [Vita 146]
Drop Anchor / Do What You Want To Do
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnKiGvS5KkM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvAkQAF8YPY

**For Vita, Willie was also a session musician for records by the
Squires {w. Don & Dewey}, Colts and Chavelles**.
a list of some sides by these groups on Vita; if you hear some fancy
r'n'r piano playing in the background, it's likely to be Willie Egan:
https://www.discogs.com/label/87069-Vita-Records

Little Willie Egans and Orchestra [Spry 107] - 1957
Treat Me Right / You Must Be Foolin'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osGtz18yRQw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NUQbAyg8d8

Marvin-Johnny [Rays 34] - 1957
Baby, Baby, Baby / Bye Bye My Baby
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7vkDD9AYrQ
b-side not on YouTube
40 sec. Snippet:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/documentrecordsstore/samples/DOCD-5684-22.mp3
Willie Egan {w. Johnny Otis band} [Dash 55001] - March 1958
Rock & Roll Fever / Chittlin's {Instro}
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q09Pt8_KDfk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXNhVRkRIGk

Marvin and Johnny w. Bobby Egan AHO [Swingin' 641, Felsted 554] -
1962
I'm Tired Of Being Alone / Baby Don't You Know
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGenTe6hrfs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEU-v7QPvoU
{note, a Robert Egan starred on Willie's 1954 Elko record}

when he lost his uninsured equipment in a nightclub fire (probably in
the late 1960s), Willie retired from performing and returned to Los
Angeles to work as a hospital orderly

but two decades later he was re-discovered and signed up in the UK ...

Quote:
In 1982, the British label Krazy Kat compiled most of his solo singles
on an LP called "Rock n Roll Fever : Willie Egans 1955-1958". The
sales of this album proved remarkably strong in many European
countries. The Krazy Kat people thought that Egan had died, but R&B
promoter Steve Brigati tracked him down in South Los Angeles and told
him his album was a hit. A bemused Willie (who was living on
unemployment benefits) asked "What album? I haven't recorded anything
in 25 years." It was not long after this conversation with Brigati
that Ace Records (the UK label) flew Egan, Big Jay McNeely, Chuck
Higgins and Young Jessie to England for a concert at the Electric
Ballroom in London (September 1983). During his stay in London, he
recorded a well-regarded studio album called "Going Back To Louisiana"
(Ace CH 95, released in 1984), with the British group Juice On the
Loose. The highlight of this LP is probably Egan's version of Amos
Milburn's "Chicken Shack Boogie":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzKr1immkDM

Amazon comment: "Why this man is not better known is a mystery."