Fans of classic New Orleans rock and roll and rhythm and blues know the name Charles “Hungry” Williams. One of the city’s great drummers, the distinctive Latin percussion-influenced Williams was, for a time, in demand for recording sessions by Fats Domino, Bobby Charles, Huey “Piano” Smith, Clarence “Frogman” Henry, Eddie Bo and many more.
Milwaukee drummer John Carr learned of Williams in 1995 through the then newly released two-CD anthology Chess New Orleans. That collection’s 1950s recordings and the multi-layered drumming Williams described as “double clutching” inspired the formation of the Hungry Williams. The group’s new album, Let’s Go!, mines the groove, sound and joy of that golden era of New Orleans music.
Let’s Go! features original songs inspired by New Orleans R&B and interpretations of vintage music from New Orleans and beyond. The celebratory tone and bouncing beat of opening track “Mardi Gras Day,” an original song by Carr and Hungry Williams vocalist Kelli Gonzalez, echoes Al Johnson’s classic “Carnival Time.” Gonzalez sets the scene: “Headed to a place I long to be,” she sings. “Let down your hair, let’s get wild and free, at the Mardi Gras in New Orleans.” A trumpet solo by guest Lech Wierzynski—a member of another New Orleans-inspired band, the California Honeydrops—fits the track perfectly.
Hungry Williams member Jack Stewart composed “Movin’ On,” incorporating keyboard triplets of the kind used by New Orleans rock and rollers Fats Domino, Lloyd Price and Larry Williams. Staying with that New Orleans sound, the band also does a fun rendition of Joe & Ann’s 1959 R&B hit, “Gee Baby.” Domino comes to mind again when the Hungry Williams rip into “Oooh Wow,” a scorching mid-’50s obscurity recorded by Domino’s guitarist, Roy Montrell, that appeared on the Specialty label.
Gonzalez, the band’s principal lead vocalist, sounds more than tough enough in two non-Crescent City selections, Lavern Baker’s “You’d Better Find Yourself Another Fool” and Big Maybelle’s “One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show.” All the while, her Hungry Williams bandmates show that these Midwesterners can groove, swing and shout, doing so with obvious love for the music that moved the world.
