Charles Wilson

Charles Wilson was raised in Chicago, and started singing early; as a teenager he sang in Chicago area nightclubs but was too young to have a beer. Despite having R&B/blues singer Little Milton ("We're Gonna Make It") for an uncle, his "big break" didn't come until he got the opportunity to go on the road with Bobby Rush. He later opened for Z.Z. Hill, Otis Clay, Tyrone Davis, and Bobby "Blue" Bland. Wilson waxed his first single in 1964, but "Trying to Make a Wrong Thing Right," didn't do much; his next effort, "You Cut Off My Love Supply," wasn't a smash either, but it established Wilson as a blues player of note. He drifted into Southern soul when he cut his first album, Blues in the Key of C, on Ichiban Records in Atlanta, GA, which increased his bookings in the South, the Midwest, and overseas. He began recording for Ecko Records, and cut four tight blues collections: It's Sweet on the Backstreet in 1995, Loveseat in 1998, It Ain't the Size in 1999, and Mr. Freak in 2000. Wilson also released Why? in 1997 for the Traction label and Songs from the Vault in 2001 on his own Wilson imprint. Still looking for that increasingly unlikely monster crossover, Wilson has built a firm foundation, and has displayed remarkable staying power when you consider he's been performing in public since he was seven. ~ Andrew Hamilton