Andre Williams Interview
by Jay Riggio

Andre has been called many things in his long, prolific career: Mr. Rhythm, The Father of Rap and The Black Godfather, among them. He’s recorded under names such as The Five Dollars and The Don Juans. He’s produced hit records for Lil’ Stevie Wonder, Mary Wells, Ike & Tina Turner, even written songs for Funkadelic. Andre was known for banging broads, partying and all that other shit that only rich, famous people get to experience. Some time after achieving legendary status, he became addicted to crack and roamed the Chicago streets, homeless and destitute.

Andre Williams has lived a fuller, burlier life than an entire cellblock of death row inmates (without shanking his momma). But what makes Andre unique is that he made a big comeback. Kind of sober and super wise, he released Greasy in 1996. He has since put out (among others) Silky, a “sleaze rock” classic that touches upon pussy, sex, pussy and more or less being a smooth-ass motherfucker. At 69 years old, the living legend of soul, funk, rock and R&B is coming at you strong.

I spent an hour on the phone with Andre and picked the brain of the man who Rudy Ray Moore called, “About the baddest motherfucker I know.”


You’re 69 years old and still taking a go at life like an 18-year-old. Where do you get the energy and will to keep giving your fans what they want?
Well, I’ve been asked that quite a few times. I don’t know, man. I just go. This is all I know. I’ve been in this thing for 50 something years, so I just do it. I wake up in the morning, and if I got to go on tour, I just get up and go. I’m in pretty good shape health-wise, I guess.

I’m paranoid as hell and pretty certain that I won’t last another ten years. Any secret to Andre Williams’ longevity?
Well, I guess you could probably say: plenty sex. Plenty sex and don’t worry about tomorrow cause it’s coming anyway. And nothing you can do about it. Just try not to do something today, that you’re going to worry about tomorrow, coming back at you. Because what you do today, depends on how well your tomorrow’s gonna be. I think that if you enjoy women and don’t sweat nothing, I think those two is probably a recipe for longevity. Because I can’t say, “Don’t drink” and “Don’t smoke”, because I still do both of those.

You do?
Yeah, well, I still have my Bacardi daily, and I smoke. I’m not gonna recommend somebody else do it. I really believe that a man should enjoy women. You know: sex. But I’ve always said that, so that ain’t nothin’ new.

You have been called ‘The Dirtiest Man In Rock n’ Roll.’
Ah man, you should here what they call me overseas. “The Dirty Old Bastard.” But it’s cool, in a way.

I imagine Andre Williams on some everlasting sexcapade. Does it go down like that?
Well, actually it does. Always in my dressing room. And they always show up at the concerts even though they say different things about me. But that don’t stop the girls from coming—young and old. The only disappointing part about this whole scenario is that I haven’t been able to click with the African Americans. As far as my fan base. My fan base is white and European and so on and so forth. Very few African Americans come to my shows.

“Pussy Stank” is one of my favorites. When you say, “This stanky stuff sure is good,” I couldn’t agree with you more. It reminds me of a quote I heard once. “If it smells like salmon, keep on jammin’. If it smells like trout, get the hell out!” All pussy has a little bit of tang to it. But have you ever dipped into some pussy that is absolutely devoid of all scent and taste?
When it too clean?…I like funky sex, with some soul in it. (Laughs) If you can read between the lines.

God, Andre. I can only imagine how many women you’ve been with over the years.
You know, actually, I sat down one day, and I think I got about halfway into a fifth of Bacardi. And I tried to reflect on that. And I think that I’m somewhere around 7,000 actual sex encounters.

Wow. God bless.
Well, I sat down with a pencil and I was just marking, marking, marking, as I could remember. And the number was just about there. It was 200 pages of straight lines.

So it’s pretty much safe to say that you’ve acted out every sexual fantasy you could have ever thought of.
Well yeah, you could say that. I know what a menage-a-trois is. (Andre giggles)

In every photo you’re pretty much always dressed to kill. From silky sharp, to straight up and down pimp. Are those clothes just for your public appearances, or is that how the Black Godfather shops for eggs and milk?
Well, I think I got that from my father. My father always said, “Always wear a shirt and tie.” So if you get up tight and have to ask somebody for something, they’ll give you what you look like. If you look like a bum, you’re gonna get a dime. And if you’re dressed, they’re gonna give you more. So I’ve always been a shirt and tie man because you never know who you’re gonna bump into. You know once you step out in the streets you’re steppin’ on a stage. You understand? You don’t know who you’re gonna see and good things generally happen accidentally. You should always be prepared. And I like suits and nice coats, and I definitely like nice shoes. It’s just the norm for me. I call them work clothes.

Speaking of eggs and milk. It brings me to my food question. A lot of your songs mention greasy, but highly delicious foods. Like “Bacon Fat,” “Greasy Chicken,” “Pass The Biscuits Please.” And, hell, even “Pussystank” falls into that category.
Well I was born in the South. During the time I was coming up, 49, 51, my grandfather always went huntin’ and fishin’, and we lived off the land. We lived off of the wildlife. Or he had cows and pigs and chickens. And we’d slaughter pigs and cows. So I’ve always had that fried meat. That bacon fat, the ham. And it’s generally fried. Down South there’re very little baked foods, except for turkeys or hams or something that like. The majority of the stuff was fried. Fried rabbit, fried squirrel, coons, possums. All that good stuff.

What’s your favorite food?
Well, rice is my favorite starch. Biscuits, syrup. Any kind of fried meat I can handle. Ham and chicken. Since I left the South I don’t eat much wild game food. But I think chicken, rice, biscuits and syrup. That would be the plate of the day.

The feeling of eating a good meal can be just as good as sex. Have you ever incorporated food into the bedroom?
No, I never really connected the two: sex and food. During my career I did find that songs that mention food sell. Like “Rib Tips,” “Bacon Fat,” they sell because that’s what the African Americans grew up on in my day. When I come up with those kinds of titles, those are the things that I’ve enjoyed before.

You rolled with Ike Turner for quite awhile, right?
I worked with Ike for about 18 months. I went out to California to work with Ike and Tina.

Ike’s got quite the reputation for being a wild man. Any good Ike stories?
Yeah, he was a wild man. And I don’t think none of the stories were very good stories, but they were a lot of stories that I would never forget. A lot of episodes that I will never forget—that I hope I never get involved in again, if you know what I mean.

When you were at the peak of your drug abuse, what was your typical day of debauchery like?
Well, it’s no secret that I have done the Peruvian marching powder scene. I’ve done that. Then at one time, that was my daily routine. Cocaine, girls and Bacardi. I still sip the Bacardi, but I kind of let that other thing alone because I got paranoid, and I didn’t want to go to jail. And the fantasy of it all had worn off. It wasn’t the fun that it used to be. And it kept me financially strapped. Because, number one, that kind of drug is a drug for kings, you know. Like horse racing. You got to have a lot of extra money, and as you get older you get a little wiser. Since I’ve been going all over the world it’s not a wise thing to be traveling with that mess, especially when your reputation is already out there that you’ve been involved. And I don’t allow my band to possess it on the buses and the vans. So I kind of backed away from that. But I haven’t backed away from the girls and the Bacardi.

You got to have some vices to keep you going…
…No I’m gonna have some vices to keep me going. (Laughs) For sure, man. I can’t say that [women and Bacardi] will keep you jumpin’ and hoppin’ and skippin’. But it has done it for me. Of course I might wake up one morning and fall apart as a result of it. It didn’t happen this morning when you called, but it might happen between now and the time you put your magazine out. (Laughs)

You never know. Gotta keep your fingers crossed.
No, don’t cross your fingers! No, because you see, you cross your fingers then you can’t use them. You got to keep everything available in life. Keep all your weapons sharp and fine-tuned because every girl has her own special likes, and if you cross your fingers, you might be cutting yourself out of some things. Is that true? (Laughs)