Memphis Willie B.

(November 4, 1911[1] – October 5, 1993)[2] was an American Memphis blues guitarist, harmonica player, singer and songwriter.

[1][2] He was taught to play the guitar by his father, and he busked with Jack Kelly's Jug Busters in his teenage years.

He quickly moved on to work with the Memphis Jug Band, which played locally and at Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

[4] Willie B. developed away from a disciplined jug band style and played at various locations with Robert Johnson, Garfield Akers, Sonny Boy Williamson II and Willie Brown, who periodically travelled up from the Mississippi Delta to play.

[1][4] He enlisted in the U.S. Army in January 1942 and served in the North African invasion (Operation Torch) in December 1942 and later in Italy.