The Big DooWopper

Cornell Williams, later known as The Big Doowopper, entered the world on November 13, 1953, in Grenada, MS. Partial blindness from birth gave way to total vision loss at age 17 after cataracts set in. Piano lessons began when he turned six, after which his family relocated to Chicago. The city’s vibrant blues community left a deep mark, and his nickname emerged from doo-wop singing on street corners with his mother, father, and several companions. His mother, a backup singer who toured with B.B. King—a major influence both musically and personally—participated in those groups. During his school years he attended the Illinois School for the visually handicapped, where his vocal and keyboard abilities continued to develop. After receiving his high-school diploma in the early 1970s, he performed live only intermittently for the rest of the decade. Crude demo tapes circulated with scant interest in the early 1980s, while he sang regularly on Chicago sidewalks and train platforms and landed the occasional paid club engagement. In 1999 the right listeners finally heard a demo, securing studio time for his striking interpretation of Prince’s “Purple Rain,” on which he overdubbed gospelized keyboards and five-part doo-wop harmony. That break resulted in the 2000 release of his debut full-length album, All in the Joy, on Chicago’s Delmark label.