Wet Willie, 1970s

Wet Willie is a southern rock band that originated in Mobile, Mobile County, in the 1970s and is best known for the hit “Keep on Smilin’,” a Billboard Top Ten single in 1974. Its founding members, Jack and Jimmy Hall, were born and raised in Birmingham, Jefferson County. Known for both studio and live albums, Wet Willie incorporates diverse elements from soul, blues, and R&B genres in the band’s music. During the height of its popularity in the 1970s, the group toured with rock bands Bachman-Turner Overdrive and Humble Pie. Wet Willie is one of Alabama’s most heralded southern rock groups, alongside bands like Alabama, Alabama Shakes, and the Sanford-Townsend Band.

Prior to forming the band Wet Willie, founding members Jimmy Hall, Jack Hall, and Rick Hirsch established the band Fox in Mobile in 1969. Jimmy Hall served as the band’s charismatic lead vocalist, his brother Jack was the group’s bassist and banjo player, and Hirsch played guitar. The band was influenced by English rock groups the Rolling Stones and the Animals as well as American soul singer Otis Redding and rock ‘n’ roll performer Little Richard. The band first performed at the Odyssey Club in Panama City, Florida.  

When they signed on with Capricorn, an independent record label in Macon, Georgia, in 1970, the band learned that there was already a band named Fox. The members changed the band’s name to Wet Willie, a term for a prank where someone puts saliva on one finger and sticks it in another person’s ear. By then, the band included members John Anthony on keyboard, Lewis Ross on percussion, and the Halls’ sister Donna as a vocalist. The new group’s musical influences included a wide range of blues, soul, and rock artists, including American blues musicians Muddy Waters, John Cotton, and Taj Mahal, as well as southern rock band the Allman Brothers.

Wet Willie released their first album, the self-titled Wet Willie, in 1971. Capricorn produced and mixed all 10 songs on the album, and the cover featured a colorful illustration of a “wet willie” prank. Although their 1971 album did not produce any major hits, Wet Willie recorded four more albums with Capricorn during the 1970s. The band’s second album, Wet Willie II, was released in 1971 in multiple formats, including 8-track tapes and cassettes.

Wet Willie’s third album, entitled Keep on Smilin’, was released in 1974. The album reached number 41 on the American charts and remains the group’s best-selling album. The title track single, “Keep on Smilin’,” was the first of the band’s three top 40 singles and blends rock, blues, and R&B elements. The song peaked at number 10 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and number 21 on the Canadian RPM Top Singles chart. Considered one of the most popular songs distributed in 1974, the tune finished at number 66 on the Billboard Top 100.

The band’s fourth album, Dixie Rock, was released in 1975, and their fifth album, The Wetter the Better, its final album with Capricorn, was released in 1976. The group’s next album was 1977’s Manorisms, released by Epic Records, a subsidiary of Columbia Records at the time. Manorisms was recorded at the Manor Studio in Oxfordshire, England. The album featured the song “Street Corner Serenade,” which became the band’s first major hit after “Keep on Smilin’,” and the track reached number 30 on the charts. The second album with Epic was Which One’s Willie? in 1978. The album included a cover of the song “Weekend” by English singer Mick Jackson. It reached number 29 on the charts that year. During the late 1970s, Wet Willie added three new members: Mike Duke (keyboards and vocals), Marshall Smith (guitar and backing vocals), and Theophilus K. Lively (drums, percussion, and backing vocals). Duke also became a prominent songwriter for Wet Willie; he wrote or cowrote nine of the ten songs on Manorisms.

Wet Willie, 2015

In addition to seven studio albums in the 1970s, Wet Willie released two live albums. The band recorded Drippin’ Wet, its first live album, on December 31, 1972, at the Warehouse, a popular venue for rock music in New Orleans (it was demolished in 1989). The album featured eight songs, including a cover of Otis Redding’s “Shout Bamalama.” Wet Willie’s next live album was recorded on April 19, 1976, at the Roxy Theater in West Hollywood. Released in June 1977, it incorporated songs from the albums Wet Willie II, Keep on Smilin’, and The Wetter the Better.

Wet Willie broke up in 1980 and remained inactive until the 1990s, when Jimmy Hall, John Anthony, and Ricky Hirsh helped reform the group. One of their first performances after regrouping was at the 1991 grand opening of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in Tuscumbia, Colbert County. Three years later, the band released The Best of Wet Willie with Polygram, a record label from the Netherlands. The group released new studio albums in 2003 and 2005, and a live album, Miles of Smiles, in 2012. The band continues to tour actively, and the current iteration of the band still features founding members Jimmy and Jack Hall.

Wet Willie was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame for its contribution to southern rock in 2013. In 2018, the group was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame alongside the Muscle Shoals Horns, a brass section that recorded with blues and rock musicians, as well as musician Chuck Leavell, singer Donna Jean Godchaux, and musical engineer Johnny Sandlin.

Jimmy Hall has continued to appear with a variety of musical acts, including Hank Williams Jr., Joe Bonamassa, Bonnie Raitt, Samantha Fish, and others. He received a Grammy Award in 2021 for Best Roots Gospel Album, when he was featured with the Fisk Jubilee Singers (of Fisk University) on their rendition of “I Saw the Light” on Celebrating Fisk! The 150th Anniversary Album.