10 Forgotten 70s Rock Bands Worth Rediscovering
9. Wet Willie
And the prize for worst choice of a band name goes to...
Hailing from Mobile, Alabama, Wet Willie (named after a juvenile playground prank) played slick, funky Southern rock and did so very well indeed. Their biggest hit, Keep On Smilin', broke the top ten in the US, but Wet Willie have far more to offer. They released seven great albums across the '70s, and it can be taken as a measure of their talent that the band regularly opened for The Allman Brothers.
Wet Willie, who All Music describe as “after The Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd, the hardest-rocking of the Southern bands,” garnered much critical acclaim and a loyal following, despite never quite breaking through to the same degree as their peers.
A
key component of the band's sound was founding member Jimmy Hall,
whose powerful, soulful voice and punching sax added much. They were
a group with an intriguing mix of influences – the Stax soul vibes of Otis Redding et al on one side, and the blues-rock of The Rolling
Stones and The Animals on the other. They may never have truly hit
the big time, but Wet Willie left behind a lot of great music to
enjoy.