Willie Hightower born 30 September 1940

Willie Hightower (born 30 September 1940*) is an American rhythm and blues, soul and funk singer.

Willie Hightower was born in Gadsden, Alabama. At six years old, he began singing in the church. By the time he was in his teens, he had formed his own 'quartet-style' Gospel group, 'The Silver Stars', patterned after his idols The Soul Stirrers. Shortly after Sam Cooke left the group and 'crossed-over' in 1957, Willie decided to do the same, and began singing in local clubs in and around Birmingham. 

He was soon noticed by legendary civil rights activist and WENN dee-jay Shelley Stewart, who was so impressed by his voice that he sent out a tape to his friend Bobby Robinson, the founder of Fire and Fury records in New York. Like most record label owners at the time, Bobby had been on the lookout for 'the next Sam Cooke' since his tragic murder in late 1964, and offered to fly Hightower up to New York to record him.

                                   

Impressed, Robinson signed Hightower in 1965. Over the next four years, Hightower cut several sides with Robinson. The first of these, "What Am I Living For," appeared in 1965 on Enjoy, and two years later "If I Had a Hammer" became Hightower's first single distributed by Capitol Records. "Because I Love You," his first 45 recorded for Capitol and produced by Richard Gottehrer and Seymour Stein, appeared later in 1967, but it was 1968's "It's a Miracle" that brought Hightower into the Billboard R&B Top 40 for the first time; it peaked at 33. In the wake of its success, Capitol assembled the If I Had a Hammer album, pulling largely from previously released Enjoy, Fury, and Capitol sides. "Ooh Baby How I Love You," his last single for Capitol, also appeared on the LP.

Hightower split with Robinson after the If I Had a Hammer LP and Capitol switched the singer to FAME Records in 1970. "Time Has Brought a Change" was his first single for FAME but his second 45 for the imprint, "Walk a Mile in My Shoes," went to 27. One more single, "Back Road into Town," appeared in 1971 before Hightower decamped to Mercury in 1972. He released two singles for Mercury -- a cover of Freddie Hart's country hit "Easy Lovin'" and "Don't Blame Me" -- before severing ties with the label. Hightower released "Chicago, Send Her Home" on Sound Stage 7 in 1976 and that was his last release for nearly a decade. "Too Many Irons in the Fire," a single for the tiny Adventure One label, was his only released record in the 1980s, although he made some other recordings with Bill Cantrell and Quinton Claunch during that decade.

Hightower's '60s and '70s recordings were reissued in the 1990s and 2000s but it was the 2004 Honest Jon's/Astralwerks compilation Willie Hightower that revived interest in the singer. Music-wise the last three decades had been a lean period for Willie although he Hightower kept singing and toured with a new iteration of the Drifters for 10 years. “I wasn’t doing any recordings, just mostly personal appearances... and not so very often.”  He made his triumphant return on October the 2nd in 2015 in New Orleans at the Ponderosa Stomp festival.

It was Honest Jon's comp that started a long process that eventually culminated in Hightower reuniting with Claunch for the 2018 album Out of the Blue. Produced by Billy Lawson, an associate of Claunch, and recorded in Muscle Shoals, Out of the Blue appeared on Ace in 2018.

He later formed a family band with his five daughters, before eventually starting a real estate company. Today, he lives a quiet life at his Gadsden home.

(Edited from AllMusic, Soul Express & Rolling Stone) 

* (Some sources wrongly give 3rd September as his birthday)