The Big Guy

As if the news of the election results weren't bad enough to fill me with pain and sorrow, I learned that the last surviving original member of one of the most criminally underappreciated R&B bands of the seventies just died.

Harry Williams, one of the members of the original lineup of the Kansas City group Bloodstone, was the linchpin for the group's overall sound.  All of them sang lead vocals, but Williams was the only member who did not play an instrument (other than rudimentary percussion).  His main instrument was his voice, which he used to great effect, whether he delivered a tender ballad rendition of the pop standard "Little Green Apples" or a boisterous wail on Bloodstone's cover of Barrett Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)."  He was also a strong songwriter, despite his lack of instrumental ability; he wrote Bloodstone's 1973 single "Never Let You Go," which features a sinuous melody and funky groove.  Here, as a performer, Williams displayed the totality of his vocal range in a song that was better written than even the group's signature hit, bassist/vocalist Charles McCormick's "Natural High," which came out that same year.

In recent years, Williams, who turned eighty this past June, was confined to a wheelchair, but he continued to tour with replacement Bloodstone members Donald Brown and Charles McCaleb.  His massive physique - I called him the Big Guy for that reason - was less imposing in the unusual posture (for a singer) of sitting, but his voice remained strong.  So did demand for Bloodstone's shows on the rhythm-and-blues circuit, even though the band hadn't released an album of new material since 2004  (barring a Christmas record), as it was on the R&B charts and on black-oriented pop-music shows like Don Cornelius' "Soul Train" where Bloodstone found their most loyal fans.

Bloodstone has surely died with Williams, as Brown's only connection to the group has been with Williams and two of the original members, McCormick and guitarist/vocalist Charles Love (Brown replaced guitarist/vocalist Willis Draffen, who died in 2002), and McCaleb, who replaced McCormick when he died in 2022, has barely made a mark on the group.  It's a reminder in these horrible times for popular music that its dearest stars are slowly fading away, as the entire lineups of Thunderclap Newman, the original Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Four Tops, and the Ramones are no longer with us as well.  We still have the records.  Thanks for the memories, Big Guy.  RIP.