DISCOGRAPHY 1953-2021 (19CD)
BIOGRAPHY
By 1947, at the age of sixteen, Littlefield was already a local attraction on many of Houston's Dowling Street Clubs and was recording for local record shop proprietor Eddie Henry who ran his own label "Eddies".
Influenced by Albert Ammons, Charles Brown, and Amos Milburn his first recording, "Little Willie’s Boogie" was a hit in Texas in 1949, and brought him to the attention of Jules Bihari, one of the Bihari brothers of Modern Records in Los Angeles, California.
There, he recorded "It's Midnight", which became a national hit reaching #3 on the Billboard R&B chart. He became a major nightclub attraction and recorded with West Coast musicians such as Maxwell Davis.
Don Wilkerson, Littlefield's old school buddy and the leading saxman in
his band, also travelled to Los Angeles, but Milburn promptly stole him to
lead his own new band 'The Aladdin Chickenshackers'.
Modern Records booked Littlefield for three recording sessions during
October 1949, followed by more sessions in the following two months at
Radio Recorders in Hollywood. During these three months alone, over 22
sides were cut - an unusual output when compared to most other artists who
averaged only two sessions a year. Other musicians for these sessions
included Maxwell Davis and Buddy Floyd, guitarists Chuck Norris and Johnny
Moore, and drummers Al Wichard and Jessie Price.
In 1952 he moved to the Federal subsidiary of King Records, his first
session producing "K. C. Lovin´" (written by Leiber and Stoller and later
re-recorded by Wilbert Harrison as "Kansas City"). By 1957 Littlefield had
moved to Northern California and continued to record for Don Barksdale's
Rhythm label in San Francisco where he produced his last hit "Ruby,
Ruby".
Littlefield’s recording and his subsequent releases were not successful,
although he remained a popular club act in the San Francisco area.
In the late 1970s he toured Europe successfully, later settling in the
Netherlands and releasing a number of albums for the Blues Connoisseur
label. Littlefield built a considerable European reputation with his
vigorous boogie-woogie piano playing and smoky singing.
He continues to perform occasionally, mainly at festivals. In 2008 he
played at the 20th Burnley Blues Festival and in July 2009 at the 5th
annual UK Boogie Woogie Festival at Sturminster Newton in Dorset. Having
appeared at Shakedown Blues Club, at Castor Hall, near Castor,
Peterborough in 2006, Littlefield made a return appearance in October
2010.