.gif)
CDS Records
|
|
CDS Records
|
|
|
CHARLES WILSON |
|
|
Charles Wilson Charles Wilson was raised in Chicago, began performing at age seven and started singing as a teenager in Chicago area nightclubs. Blessed with a unique Soul voice that can sounds just as much as a woman blues singer (ala Denise LaSalle) as well as a man, Wilson has become a fixture on the Southern Soul circuit. Blues king Little Milton is his uncle, but his break came when he got the opportunity to go on the road with Bobby Rush. Wilson waxed his first single in 1964, but "Trying To Make A Wrong Thing Right," didn't do much; his next effort "You Cut Off My Love Supply" wasn't a smash either but it established Wilson as a blues player of note. He drifted into Southern soul when he cut his first album "Blues In The Key Of C" on Ichiban Records in 1991. After one disc for James Bennett's Traction Records he found his most success recording with Ecko Records. His first, "It's Sweet On The Backstreet" (1995), was one of the first few releases for the fledgling label. It sold respectably and songs like "In The Room Next To The Room" impacted Southern Soul radio but it was the followup, "Love Seat" (1996), that gave Wilson his first major hit with the salacious title cut. Wilson and label tried to follow that up with more sex-themed songs on both "It Ain't The Size" (1997) and "Mr Freak" (1998) but to lesser success. Somehow in the midst of his tenure with Ecko he recorded an album for James Bennett (1997's "Why"). Following an acrimonious split with Ecko Wilson started his own label, Wilson Records, which scored a regional hit on one of his artists, The Mystery Man ("Bedroom Workout"). Encouraged by the initial success Wilson Records released CDs by Maurice Davis, Lee Shot Williams, Mystery Man and Wilson himself in 2002 featuring the usual keyboard programmed music common to the genre. His career then hit a brief upswing when he recorded a bona fide Blues album for Delmark Records, "If Heartaches Were Nickels", which featured Little Milton and Carl Weathersby on guitar. The album earned Wilson a W.C. Handy nomination for "Best Soul/Blues Album" of 2004. Since that time he's returned to modern Southern Soul mould by releasing a couple more middling albums for his own label but it was an obscure singer named Will T that scored a moderate hit for the label with "Mississippi Boy", a track that appeared on a compilation CD called "Soul Blues Vol. 3" and then again on Wilson's own "If It Ain't Broke Don't Fix It" LP. Trying to capitalize on the songs' success Wilson added his own vocals to the same backing track on his next album, "Sexual Healing" but it was Denise LaSalle who got a big hit out of hit (re-named "Mississippi Woman") for Wilson's former label Ecko. Wilson next signed with CDS Records and is currently recording an album for the California-based label for a late 2007 release. Former Cameo and Ca$hflow member Simuel Overall aka "Simeo" is producing. RELEASES ON CDS RECORDS
|
