Willie P. Bennett didn’t have a huge fan base. But every single fan he did have counted Willie as a friend. Not because they knew him personally, although many did. Rather, most felt Willie had spoken to them personally through at least one of his songs.
Bennett came of musical age during the mid-1970s, releasing his first album, Trying to Start Out Clean, in 1975. He followed that up with 2 of his finest solo outings. Hobo’s Taunt, released in 1977, featured such Willie P. classics as C’mon Train and Lace and Pretty Flowers, while 1978 saw the release of Blackie and the Rodeo King.
Since then, he played just about everywhere a guy with a guitar and a song could play in Canada - From folk festival stages to community centres, seedy bars to intimate theatres.
Along the way, he shared stages with such greats as JJ Cale, Guy Clark and Jesse Winchester and had his songs recorded by Prairie Oyster, Stan and Garnet Rogers and bluegrass superstars the Seldom Scene.
Bennett's Won Album and Songwriting Awards
Willie’s sporadic solo recording career continued with the 1985 release of a cassette (later released on vinyl by Duke Street records) called The Lucky Ones. He didn’t put out another one until 1998’s Heartstrings (which turned out to be his final solo recording); a record that featured such Canadian roots luminaries as Bruce Cockburn, Stephen Fearing and Amos Garrett among others.
Heartstrings also won Willie some much deserved recognition, garnering a Juno Award (a Canadian Grammy) in 1999 for Best Roots and Traditional Album. It wasn’t his first trophy, though. In 1990, Willie and Russell deCarle of Prairie Oyster co-wrote Good-Bye, So Long, Hello, which was named Song of the Year by the Canadian Country Music Association.
Bennett Was A Musician's Musician
Willie wasn’t just about solo projects. He was also a noted collaborator. He played harmonica in Canuck bluegrass band the Dixie Flyers until 1979. Since 1990, he played mandolin and harmonica in Canadian roots legend Fred J. Eaglesmith’s band the Flying Squirrels.
Willie’s fame reached new heights in the mid-90s with the release of High or Hurtin,’ a collection of his songs performed by Canadian roots/rock stars Colin Linden, Stephen Fearing and Tom Wilson. Under the name Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, Linden, Fearing and Wilson paid tribute to the man they lovingly referred to in the liner notes as “our pal and hero.”
Blackie and the Rodeo Kings have since become pretty successful in their own right, but never fail to acknowledge Willie as their inspiration.
In May, 2007, while on the road with Eaglesmith, Willie suffered a heart attack. He was ordered off the road and told to take time to get better. He played a show in January 2008 in Thunder Bay, Ontario and was planning a solo tour as well as a return to his Flying Squirrel duties.
Willie apparently died of natural causes while doing the morning exercises he’d been prescribed in order to build up his strength. He’d have chuckled at that irony, of course.
At the time of Willie’s untimely death, he’d been planning to record a new batch of songs. Here’s hoping some of his musical pals will pick up that ball and run with it.
Willie was never a star, although there are many fans and fellow musicians who would dispute that. No, Willie was more like that loveable uncle who would pass by now and again, regale you with a heart-felt tale or two about where he’d been or who he’d met and then be on his way. But they were tales you’d never forget.
That’s the thing about Willie P. Bennett songs. They stick with you long after the notes have faded away.
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