Back in the day when Rhythm and Blues used to be a dangerous proposition, there was no one more dangerous than Mr. Rhythm his badass self: Andre Williams. From sharing bills with James Brown at the Apollo, to producing Motown's early sixties wax slabs, to touring with Ike Turner, to falling prey to cocaine, to living on the streets in Chicago, to a miraculous resurrection and a blossoming second recording career, Zethire Andre Williams has lived enough lives to make a cat envious.

1936, Beshmae, Alabama is the point of origin, but the converted Jew hasn't stopped moving since. Racy, lewd and lascivious, but always immaculately dressed, Mr. Rhythm actually snuck several risque singles up the charts. "Shake A Tail Feather," "Jailbait" (later covered by the Cramps), and "Bacon Fat" to name a few. The Cramps cover must have piqued the folks at Norton, who gathered Andre into a studio to record some of his naughty oldies for the Greasy album. Longtime fans, The Demolition Doll Rods convinced Andre to record new material for the small but influential label, In The Red. With help from Jon Spencer and Mick Collins (The Gories), Andre Williams produced the most talked about record of '98. With such ear-burners as "Pussy Stank" and "Let Me In," the Slinky album secured Mr. Rhythm's status as the dirtiest man in Rock'n'Roll. With non-stop touring and a succession of new releases (a country record on Bloodshot, and his latest In The Red release, The Black Godfather), Williams is quickly catching up to old pal James Brown in the "hardest working man in show business" category.

Attempts to track Andre down in Europe were fruitless (apparently they sleep over there when we wake), but a connection was made via a pay phone just before his June 2nd Ottawa gig.

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John: I can't believe I've actually tracked you down. Andre Williams exists!

Andre: Here I am in the flesh! I try to keep myself available.

John: Besides burning the town down to the ground, what're you gonna be doing tonight? You have all those nasty R&B records to pick from, but then there's that country record you did with The Sadies ("Red Dirt")...

Andre: I'm gonna mix it up. A few heavy things, some silky stuff and some old stuff. A nice happy hour.

John: When you say old stuff, how far back do you go?

Andre: I'm gonna go allaway back to "Bacon Fat" and "Jailbait."

John: What year are we talking?

Andre: Oh, coming back from '59.

John: You had quite a hiatus, a dry music spell, until Norton released "Greasy" in '96 and "Silky" in '98. Who corralled you into the studio after all these years?

Andre: Well, I actually don't know how that happened, but I think I have to give Margaret of the (Demolition) Doll Rods and Jon Spencer (Blues Explosion) credit for that. Norton was in on the first record, which was some oldies but goodies.

John: What inspired you to do a country record on Bloodshot records?

Andre: I wanted to do a country record all my life, and Bloodshot was interested and we didn't have no problem getting together on the equations. They gave me the freedom to do the songs that I wanted to do, and it worked. As a kid, the first music I heard was country: Hank Snow, Patsy Cline...

John: Now I heard a story that originally the session was only for a single, but you got trapped in the studio by a storm, and just kept on recording.

Andre: We got trapped by a major storm! There wasn't nuthin' else to do, so we went in and did the CD in two days. We was locked in. You couldn't go nowhere - the snow was up to our eyes. No sense in just sittin' down pulling your pud.

John: Excuse me? Pulling your what?

Andre: Your pud.

John: Pudge?

Andre: Pud! You know what a pud is?

John: Please explain the pud.

Andre: A pud is something you use everyday for different things.

John: Like a telephone?

Andre: Only you don't put it in your ear.

John: Maybe we better leave that one alone.

Andre: I think so.

John: Is it true that Redd Foxx named you Mr. Rhythm?

Andre: Absolutely

John: I consider you the Redd Foxx of Rhythm and Blues, and Rock'n'Roll. Were you big buddies back in the day?

Andre: That was before he got big. I was in the Navy (a cook) then. We were very good friends.

John: I'm guessing this was the early sixties?

Andre: No no no, you guessing way late. We're talking '53 to '55. He was just a youngster then.

John: I can't imagine Redd Foxx as a youngster. Was he doing comedy back then?

Andre: Oh yeah, he was great then. I knew he was gonna be a star.

John: Did you work with him on stage?

Andre: Yeah, that's how he gave me the name. Every time I'd leave the ship on the weekend he was MCing a show in San Diego, and I would be on the show. He was the master of ceremonies and I was just an act. There was about five acts every night.

John: So he'd come out, introduce the acts and do his bits in between?

Andre: There you go, you got it.

John: Andre I could talk about the good old days forever. Do you wanna talk more about the old days or the new days?

Andre: We can talk about any day you want as long as we get it done.

John: Alright. Let's talk about your stint as a Motown producer, handling such acts as Mary Wells, George Clinton, Little Stevie Wonder... How did you get involved in all that?

Andre: Well me and Berry (Gordy) were pretty close. I helped him out when he needed help, and he responded by giving me a shot at his artists. I didn't particularly like him as a man, but I respected him. I don't like anybody that controls everything.

John: You don't ever wanna be in control?

Andre: No, I don't want nobody to be in control. Let's let the control control it.

John: I like that. Out of all those Motor City acts, who was your favourite to produce?

Andre: I think Tina (Turner) would be number one, then Mary Wells. The Contours would be third. The one thing with Stevie (Wonder) was that he was a baby so that don't count.

John: Was this when he was doing "Fingertips"? How old was he, eleven?

Andre: I did the first one called "Thank Your Mother," he might have been ten years old.

John: Did you have a feeling that he was gonna be something special?

Andre: No, I thought he was a pain in the ass.

John: (laughing) A ten-year-old pain in the ass?

Andre: He was everywhere. He was playing every damn instrument in the studio, knocking the pianos outta tune, fuckin' up the drums. He was all over the place. I guess that's what stars are made of--being all over the place. He was poppin' them instruments dead! He didn't have the juice that he got now, but at least he was challenging every instrument.

John: So how did you handle this wild child in the studio?

Andre: I didn't handle him. Me and Berry just produced him. I didn't have nothin' to do with him on a day-to-day basis cuz I couldn't put up with him, man. He was a handful.

John: Any other handfuls? There are a lot of big egos out there.

Andre: Well, I knew how to work around egos and Stevie didn't have an ego. He just didn't know no different. I knew when the egos would come out. I'd only come out when the egos was in. You can spot a guy with an ego. He don't have it 24 hours a day.

John: Let's zoom to the present and your current tour. Should your show come with a large parental discretion warning sticker?

Andre: It should definitely come with a warning. I'm a very very very x-rated artist. You cannot come in expecting "Amazing Grace." We might sing "Amazing Grace" in the morning, but the night is about sex and money--that runs the world.

John: Do you do anything special in preparation for the show? Perhaps a little aperitif?

Andre: Oh, I only drink Bacardi Rum (though throughout the show, Andre gladly accepted beer pints from the frenzied crowd), and my meals are definitely Kosher, and that's it.

John: Where has this tour taken you?

Andre: We just got back from Europe. I do the whole continent when I go. And we were in Australia before that. I'm on a mission and I know what I gotta do.

John: How does Australia take to Andre Williams?

Andre: I stole the kangaroo! I got the kangaroo in my pocket. It was fantastic.

John: One last question,

Andre: Exactly how old are you?

Andre: Sixty-four.

John: That's retirement age!

Andre: Not for me. This is the beginning of the summer work program. Retire? You kidding? I still gotta make my first million dollars!








[Live photos by John Sekerka.]

(C) 2000 - John Sekerka