Chick Willis

Robert "Chick" Willis, a cousin of the late blues-ballad stylist Chuck Willis, remains best known for the ribald, dozens-rooted rocker "Stoop Down Baby." He first recorded the number in 1972 for the small Kalamazoo, Michigan, imprint La Val Records, where it moved briskly on jukeboxes despite lyrics too explicit for radio.

After leaving military service in 1954, Willis joined his cousin’s entourage as valet and driver while Chuck enjoyed a string of R&B successes on OKeh Records. Although singing was his main function at the time—he made his recording debut in 1956 with “You’re Mine” on Lee Rupe’s Ebb label after taking first place at a talent contest held in Atlanta’s Magnolia Ballroom—he began playing guitar during those road trips, citing Guitar Slim as his chief influence.

Following Chuck’s death from stomach ailments in 1958, Willis kept performing, stopping in Chicago long enough to serve as a sideman for slide master Elmore James. Several little-noticed singles appeared before “Stoop Down Baby,” among them the 1962 Alto release “Twistin’ in the Hospital Ward.” Willis has since revisited and expanded the tune through numerous follow-ups, having first shaped its risqué rhymes while working a carnival sideshow.

He continued to favor adult material on later releases, cutting several Ichiban albums that include the 1988 set Now!, 1990’s Footprints in My Bed, and 1991’s Back to the Blues.