Willie Hale facts for kids

Willie George Hale (born August 15, 1945) is an American musician. He is often known by his nickname, Little Beaver. Willie Hale is a talented guitarist, singer, and songwriter. His guitar playing has been featured on many hit songs since the 1960s.

Early Life and Music Start

Willie Hale was born on August 15, 1945, in Forrest City, Arkansas, United States. When he was a child, people started calling him "Little Beaver." This was because of his teeth. He became a very skilled guitar player at a young age.

In the early 1960s, he moved to Florida. In 1969, he signed with the Cat record label. This label was part of TK Records, which was based near Miami.

Playing for Other Artists

Willie Hale became a session musician. This means he played his guitar on recordings for other singers and bands. His special guitar sound was soon heard on many popular TK Records songs. One famous song he played on was Betty Wright's "Clean Up Woman".

It is important to know that he did not play on George McCrae's song "Rock Your Baby." Another musician named Jerome Smith played guitar on that song.

Solo Music Career

Willie Hale also started his own music career. In the late 1960s, he released his first few songs. These were on smaller record labels.

Big Hits and Albums

In 1972, he started his solo career with TK Records. His biggest hit song came in 1974. It was called "Party Down." This song reached number 2 on the US Billboard R&B music chart.

As Little Beaver, he released five albums in the 1970s. These albums mixed different music styles like blues, soul, and funk. Even though his music was popular, he did not do as well when disco music became very big.

Many other talented musicians from Florida played on his records. These included singer Betty Wright, pianist Benny Latimore, and organist Timmy Thomas. On his 1974 album Party Down, a famous bassist named Jaco Pastorius also played on one song.

Later Years in Music

Willie Hale's main recording career ended in the early 1980s. His last album from that time came out in 1980. TK Records, his record company, closed down a year later.

However, he returned to music later! In 2003, Betty Wright asked him to play on Joss Stone's albums. These albums were called The Soul Sessions and Mind Body & Soul. In 2008, Willie Hale released a new album. His old songs from the 1970s were also re-released.

Music's Lasting Impact

Willie Hale's music continues to be important today. Some of his songs have been sampled by hip hop artists. This means parts of his original recordings are used in new songs.

For example, the hip hop group People Under the Stairs used parts of his songs "Get into the Party Life" and "I Can Dig It Baby." They used them for two songs on their 2002 album, O.S.T.. They even named their songs "Suite for Beaver, Part 1" and "Suite for Beaver, Part 2" to honor him.

Later, the famous rapper Jay-Z sampled "Get into the Party Life" for his song "Party Life" in 2007. The band Lion Babe also covered this song in 2019. In 2020, Corona beer used "Get into the Party Life" in a commercial with Snoop Dogg. More recently, Kendrick Lamar sampled "Give Me a Helping Hand" for his song "peekaboo" in 2024.