Zephire Andre Williams (November 1, 1936 – March 17, 2019) was an American R&B[1] musician who started his career in the 1950s at Fortune Records in Detroit.

His most famous songs include the hits "Jail Bait", "Greasy Chicken", "Bacon Fat" (1957) and "Cadillac Jack" (1966).

[2] Born in Bessemer, Alabama, United States, Williams lived in a housing project with his mother until she died when he was six years of age.

There, he became friends with Jack and Devora Brown, owners of Fortune Records which was located at the back of a barber shop.

Williams's "Shake a Tail Feather" (with Otha Hayes and Verlie Rice) was also a hit in 1963 for the Five Du-Tones and then for Ike & Tina Turner plus James and Bobby Purify.

[3] Then, he began to work with many unknown black labels and released songs such as "Sweet Little Pussy Cat" and "Rib Tips, Pts.

"The result is a more laid-back and funky groove that's soulful but potent at the same time, fusing '70s blaxploitation sounds, Jimmy Smith-style jazz figures, and Booker T.-influenced R&B workouts into one solid package" is the way Mark Deming described the album.

[citation needed] Williams toured Europe in 2001 (with Green Hornet as backing band), 2005 and 2006 (with the Marshall Brothers).

The album, titled Can You Deal With It, was released by Bloodshot Records in 2008 and is credited to Andre Williams & the New Orleans Hellhounds (the pseudonymous Morning 40 Federation).

The 2007 documentary Agile Mobile Hostile: A Year with Andre Williams told of Williams's early career at Fortune Records, his hard life on the streets of Chicago in the 1980s, drug and alcohol abuse, his return to the stage and recording studio in 1995, and his current life and musical career.

In the summer of 2010, Williams worked on an EP with the up-and-coming producer Kerry (Kerby) Moncreace, founder of Kraw Productions.