Rick Wills
| Rick Wills | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Richard Wills |
| Born | 5 December 1947 London, England |
| Genres | Rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Bass, vocals |
| Years active | 1966–present |
| Associated acts | Foreigner, Small Faces, Bad Company, Joker's Wild, Roxy Music, Roger Daltrey, The Jones Gang, Peter Frampton |
| Notable instruments | |
| Fender Precision Bass | |
Richard William "Rick" Wills (born 5 December 1947 in London, England), is a British bass player. He is best known for his work with rock band Foreigner and his associations with the Small Faces, Peter Frampton and Bad Company.
Career
Wills played in the early days of rock music in Cambridge, from c. 1961 in the Vikings, then a succession of local bands: the Sundowners, Soul Committee, Bullet (with David Gilmour on guitars and William Wilson on drums) and Cochise before joining Frampton's Camel.[1]
Wills joined the blues-rock band Joker's Wild in 1966, (with David Gilmour on guitars and vocals), replacing Tony Sainty, until they broke up in 1968. He played bass on Peter Frampton's first three albums before ending parting from Frampton in 1975. He became the bassist with Roxy Music in 1976, before leaving the band and joining The Small Faces in 1977, during their reunion period. He left The Small Faces and appeared on David Gilmour's eponymous album in 1978, with William Wilson on drums. The next year, Wills became a member of rock band Foreigner[2] and remained with them for fourteen years.
After leaving Foreigner in 1992,[3] he joined Bad Company and stayed with them until Boz Burrell rejoined the band in 1998.[2] In July 1999 he filled in for Lynyrd Skynyrd bassist Leon Wilkeson for live shows when Wilkeson briefly took ill. On 24 April 2001, he appeared at The Steve Marriott Memorial Concert, as part of a backing band with Bobby Tench, Zak Starkey and Rabbit Bundrick.[4][5]
Wills was reunited with The Small Faces drummer Kenney Jones in the The Jones Gang during 2006[6] and appeared with The RD Crusaders for The Teenage Cancer Trust at The London International Music Show on 15 June 2008.[7]
On January 12, 2015, in Sarasota, Florida, Rick Willis and original drummer, Dennis Elliott, joined Foreigner on stage, to play "Hot Blooded".[8]
Discography
With Parrish and Gurvitz 1972 produced by George Martin.
- With Peter Frampton[2]
- Frampton's Camel – A&M (1972)
- Somethin's Happening – A&M (1974)
- With Roxy Music[2]
- With The Small Faces[2]
- Playmates – Atlantic (1977)
- 78 in the Shade – Atlantic (1978)
- With David Gilmour[2]
- David Gilmour – Harvest (1978)
- Head Games – Atlantic (1979)
- 4 – Atlantic (1981)
- Agent Provocateur – Atlantic (1984)
- Inside Information – Atlantic (1987)
- Unusual Heat – Atlantic (1991)
- With Bad Company[2]
- What You Hear Is What You Get: The Best of Bad Company – Atco (1993)
- Company of Strangers – Elektra(1995)
- Stories Told & Untold – Elektra (1997)
References
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Further reading
- The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll – 3rd Edition
External links
- Rick Wills discography at Discogs
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