AMERICAN BLUES SINGER WILLIE C. COBBS DIED

​Willie C. Cobbs (July 15, 1932 – October 24, 2021) was born in Smale, Monroe County, Arkansas. Willie moved to Chicago in 1951, where he occasionally performed in local clubs with Little Walter, Eddie Boyd, and others. Willie served in the National Guard in the early 1950s and then returned to Chicago, recording a number of singles on such labels as Ruler, a subsidiary of J.O.B. Records. Willie's death was reported on his official Facebook account on October 25, 2021. He was 89.
Willie was an American blues singer, harmonica player, and songwriter. He is best known for his song "You Don't Love Me". Willie first recorded his composition "You Don't Love Me" in 1960 for Mojo Records, a record label in Memphis, Tennessee, owned by Billy Lee Riley. The recording was leased to Vee-Jay Records for release. The song was similar to Bo Diddley's 1955 song "She's Fine, She's Mine" and came close to entering the charts until Vee-Jay slowed its promotion when questions were raised about its authorship. Cover versions have been recorded by various artists, including the Allman Brothers Band; Grateful Dead; Richie Kotzen; Kaleidoscope; Quicksilver Messenger Service; John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers; Junior Wells; Magic Sam; and Mike Bloomfield, Al Kooper, and Stephen Stills on their 1968 album Super Session. Another interpretation was the rocksteady rendition by Dawn Penn, entitled "You Don't Love Me (No, No, No)", first recorded in 1967 but a global hit when re-recorded in 1994.
Willie continued to record regularly and later released singles for various labels. In direct response to James Brown's message of "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud" (1968), Willie wryly observed that Brown was a millionaire by that point, as Willie retort was "Sing It Low - I'm Black and I'm Poor". Willie returned to Arkansas in the 1970s and continued to perform and record for local labels, as well as running several nightclubs in Arkansas and Mississippi through the 1970s and 1980s. Willie went on to release the album Hey Little Girl for the Wilco label in 1986. He performed at the King Biscuit Blues Festival and the Chicago Blues Festival, and appeared in the 1991 film Mississippi Masala performing the songs "Angel from Heaven" and "Sad Feelin'".
After that, Willie made several more appearances in movies and television shows, including the 1992 TV movie Memphis with Cybill Shepherd. In 1994 Willie signed with the Rooster Blues label, who released his album Down to Earth in 1994. In 1999, he released the album Pay or Do 11 Months and 29 Days on his own label, followed the next year by Jukin', produced by Willie Mitchell and featuring the Hi Rhythm Section. Willie's last recordings were issued in 2019 on the album Butler Boy Blues.