Willie Hale, known professionally as “Little Beaver,” is a singer/songwriter who has figured most prominently in his music career as a go-to session guitarist for other R&B artists, especially those who were his label mates on Miami’s TK Records. His guitar playing has been featured on tracks ranging from Betty Wright’s “Clean Up Woman” to cuts on Joss Stone’s The Soul Sessions and the album Gwen McCrae Sings TK.
Hale also has recorded solo albums of his own music, the most successful of which was Party Down, released in 1974 and whose title track reached #2 on the Billboard R&B chart. His music is a fusion of soul, R&B and funk that is anchored by Hale’s creative guitar stylings and considerable energy.
Willie Hale, known professionally as “Little Beaver,” is a singer/songwriter who has figured most prominently in his music career as a go-to session guitarist for other R&B artists, especially those who were his label mates on Miami’s TK Records. His guitar playing has been featured on tracks ranging from Betty Wright’s “Clean Up Woman” to cuts on Joss Stone’s The Soul Sessions and the album Gwen McCrae Sings TK.
Hale also has recorded solo albums of his own music, the most successful of which was Party Down, released in 1974 and whose title track reached #2 on the Billboard R&B chart. His music is a fusion of soul, R&B and funk that is anchored by Hale’s creative guitar stylings and considerable energy.
We feature here Hale’s track “Get Into The Party Life,” which while never released as a single is perhaps the strongest track on Party Down. It has been sampled by Jay Z and other hip hop artists for good reason: Hale creates a magical vibe with his airy guitar work and an inspired, joyful lead vocal. Enjoy.
By Robb Patryk
Listen to this track, and all others featured in this series, on the Flashback Soul playlist at Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/robb.patryk/playlist/1DDb0sGAD1uAhVVACKWq7M