 | Thisbiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Ike Willis" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(July 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Ike Willis | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Willis performing in 2015 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Isaac Willis |
| Also known as | Stucco Homes |
| Born | (1955-11-12)November 12, 1955 (age 69) St. Louis,Missouri, U.S. |
| Genres | Progressive rock,classic rock,alternative rock,R&B |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals,guitar |
| Years active | 1978–present |
| Labels | Zappa Records,Barking Pumpkin Records,Reprise Records |
| Website | IkeWillis.com |
Isaac Willis (born November 12, 1955) is an American vocalist andguitarist who was a regular member ofFrank Zappa's studio and touring bands from 1978 until the last tour in 1988.[2] He did not tour with Zappa in 1981 and 1982 because he wanted to be at home for the birth of his two children, and returned to touring with Zappa for his final two tours in 1984 (which Zappa intended at the time to be his final tour) and 1988. He currently tours with the Frank Zappatribute bands Bogus Pomp, Ossi Duri, Project/Object, Pojama People, Ugly Radio Rebellion and ZAPPATiKA. He also performed several times with theBrazilian Zappacover band, The Central Scrutinizer Band,The Muffin Men, and with the Italian bandsOssi Duri andElio e le Storie Tese . Additionally, he has appeared multiple times at the annual Zappanale Festival in Bad Doberan, Germany. He is most recognized for his involvement in Zappa records such as playing Joe inJoe's Garage, providing vocals onTinsel Town Rebellion,You Are What You Is, andThe Man from Utopia, and as the title character and narrator in Zappa's off-Broadway-styled conceptual musicalThing-Fish.
Willis also regularly does studio voice work and writes compositions for films. He also creates solo music and leads The Ike Willis Band. He has released two solo studio albums under his own name and is working on another album.
He revealed he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2021, which has spread to other parts of his body.[3]
Willis met Zappa during a 1977 concert at his school,Washington University in St. Louis, his hometown. "Black Napkins," a track from the 1976 albumZoot Allures, was one of the first Zappa songs that made a deep impression on the singer.
The triple albumJoe's Garage featured lead singer Ike Willis as the voice of the character "Joe" in arock opera about the danger of political systems, and the suppression of freedom of speech and music - inspired in part by theIranian Revolution that had made music illegal within its jurisdiction at the time - and about the "strange relationship Americans have with sex and sexual frankness". The album contains rock songs like "Catholic Girls" (a riposte to the controversies of "Jewish Princess"), "Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up", and the title track, as well as extended live-recorded guitar improvisations combined with a studio backup band dominated by drummerVinnie Colaiuta (with whom Zappa had a particularly good musical rapport). On some of the tracks Zappa superimposes material recorded in different time signatures, a process he termed xenochrony. The album contains one of Zappa's signature guitar pieces, "Watermelon in Easter Hay".
Willis deeply regrets that Zappa died before he was able to include him in a band that would also have toured in 1996, the 25th anniversary of the release of Zappa's surrealistic musical pseudo-documentary200 Motels. The band was also to have includedFlo & Eddie andGeorge Duke.[citation needed]
| Year | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Terry Robb with Ike Willis,Jelly Behind the Sun | House Records, H1003 |
| Year | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Should'a Gone Before I Left | JDC Records |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |