Reviewing a Soul Legend: The Little Willie John Story

I recently finished reading "Fever--Little Willie John:  A Fast Life, Mysterious Death, and the Birth of Soul" by Susan Whitall.  "Fever" is the intriguing and tragic story about possibly the most underrated soul vocalist ever, Little Willie John.  The story of Little Willie John was a relative mystery prior to the recent release of this book.  Most knew that the soul singer recorded the hit "Fever" (later to be made a bigger hit by Peggy Lee--although Lee's version doesn't touch Little Willie's).  He recorded a handful of hits for King Records, and died in prison at age 27.  Thank the heavens that the entire story of Little Willie John has now been made to the public.  I thoroughly enjoyed "Fever".  First of all, I did not realize how early his career began.  Little Willie John recorded early hits like "All Around The World" at age 17.  Whitall's book goes into detail about the street savvy soul singer, who was sneaking out of his parents house and hitting up the clubs in downtown Detroit, where he sang his heart out, later to be discovered and signed.   He recorded a handful of hits in his teens, was married at an early age, and had kids.  While "Fever" paints part of Little Willie John's personality in that he was a good husband, father, and friend to others ("friendly" was used by many of his associates when describing Little Willie John), his dark side (mainly, his temper), is explored in the book.  His temper is what ends up getting Little Willie John into trouble throughout his career, and ultimately, how he ends up in prison.  "Fever" is such a wonderful read about an artist whose career truly deserves to be mentioned among the soul greats Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, and Stevie Wonder.  I know for me personally, I would say that Little Willie John is one of my top five favorite soul singers of all-time (along with Cooke, Redding, Donny Hathaway, and Etta James).  I wouldn't have gotten into soul music if it wasn't for hearing "Need Your Love So Bad", as I remember specifically the month and year I bought a compilation of Little Willie's early King Records singles (October of 1999 at Music Millennium in Portland), immediately putting it in my car, and being entranced by the vocals on the disc.  From that compilation I ended up discovering other soul artists like Jackie Wilson, Solomon Burke, and Joe Tex, among others.  I can't recommend the music of Little Willie John enough, and for those who want more information on the man behind the music, I can't recommend "Fever" by Susan Whitall enough as well.