 | “My father, Earl Williams Sr, a native of Detroit, Michigan, began studying drums at the early age of eleven. While in Detroit, he studied at the Detroit Conservatory of Music and the Detroit Institute of Musical Arts. At age fourteen, he began playing professionally in the Detroit area. He began working with such artists as Lester Young, Barry Harris, Alice Coltrane, Della Reese, and Yusef Lateef. After graduating high school, he left Detroit to tour with with my grand father, his father’s (Paul "Hucklebuck” Williams) big band. While with the band he played with such artists as Ruth Brown, Chuck Berry, Paul Anka, Frankie Avalon, Sam Cooke, Clyde McPhatter and Big Joe Turner. After two years with his father’s band, My Dad left to join pianist Eddie Heywood. It was during this period that he permanently moved to New York, where he found his skills as a diversified drummer to be in great demand. He began working with many different artists, including Mary Lou Williams, The Swingle Singers, Eric Dolphy, Diahann Carroll, Jaki Byard, and The Major Holly-Tommy Flanagan trio. He also worked as house drummer at New York’s famous Apollo Theatre. |
My father soon became very active as a studio musician playing on all types of recording including radio and television commercials. His television credits include a year at WNET with the Reuben Phillips Orchestra on the “Soul Show”, two and a half years at NBC with Seldon Powell on the “Someone New” show with host Leon Bibb, and a year at ABC with the Charles Randolph Grean Orchestra on the “Jack Parr Show.” My dad also has several Broadway shows to his credit, among them are “Funny Girl,” “Hair,” “Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope,” and “A Chorus Line.”
My father's ability to handle any musical situation has afforded him the opportunity to perform with a wide variety of artists, including Teddy Wilson, Sonny Stitt, Sy Oliver, Warne Marsh, Ron Carter, Zoot Simms, Lena Horne, Shirley Verrett, Jean Pierre Rampal, Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye, The Four Tops, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Valerie Capers, Larry Rivers, Opera Ebony, and The Alvin Ailey Dance Company.“