{{short description|American blues guitarist and singer}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2020}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Lefty Dizz | image = | caption = | image_size = | birth_name = Walter Williams | alias = | birth_date = {{birth date|1937|4|29|mf=y}} | birth_place = Osceola, Arkansas, United States | death_date = {{death date and age|1993|9|7|1937|4|29|mf=y}} | death_place = Chicago, Illinois, United States | instrument = Guitar | genre = Chicago blues, electric blues<ref name="AMG">{{cite web|last=Koda |first=Cub |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/lefty-dizz-mn0000190765/biography |title=Lefty Dizz: Biography|publisher=AllMusic |date=|access-date=September 19, 2012}}</ref> | occupation = Guitarist, singer | years_active = Late 1950s–1993 | label = Isabel, JSP, Black & Blue, Wolf | website = }}
'''Lefty Dizz''' (April 29, 1937 – September 7, 1993)<ref name="Dead">{{cite web|author=Doc Rock |url=http://thedeadrockstarsclub.com/1992.html |title=The Dead Rock Stars Club 1992–1993 |publisher=TheDeadRockStarsClub.com |date=|access-date=September 19, 2012}}</ref> was an American Chicago blues guitarist and singer whose recorded work was released on eight albums.<ref name="AMG"/>
As well as fronting his own band, he worked with Junior Wells, J. B. Lenoir and Hound Dog Taylor.<ref name="Dead"/> One commentator noted that "for wild-ass showmen in blues history ... one would certainly have to go a far piece to beat Lefty Dizz".<ref name="AMG"/> He favoured a right-handed Fender Stratocaster, which he played left-handed, hence the first part of his stage name.<ref name="Google">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eSIhzKnNUf4C&pg=PA148 |title=Dictionary of Pseudonyms: 13,000 Assumed Names and Their Origins|author=Room, Adrian |date=July 26, 2010 |isbn=9780786457632|access-date=September 19, 2012}}</ref> The derivation of the second part of his stage name is uncertain. According to one source, the name came from his playing the trumpet in the style of Dizzy Gillespie;<ref name="Google"/> another source says that Ted Harvey, the drummer for Hound Dog Taylor & the HouseRockers, gave him the nickname in reference to his "playing jazz in the alley".<ref name="AMG"/>
He was reputedly the brother of blues musician Johnny Dollar.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bluesmusicnow.com/dollar2.html |title=Johnny Dollar, Part 2 |publisher=Bluesmusicnow.com |date=|access-date=September 19, 2012}}</ref>
==Biography== He was born '''Walter Williams''' in Osceola, Arkansas.<ref name="AMG"/> He learned the rudiments of guitar playing while serving for four years in the United States Air Force. Unlike other left-handed players who restrung their instruments to mirror the conventional string order, Dizz played a right-handed guitar upside down, thereby reversing the order of the strings. After his discharge in 1956, he moved first to Detroit and then to Chicago, where he settled permanently. In Chicago he played under the guidance of Lacy Gibson and Earl Hooker. He was proficient enough to join Sonny Thompson's band in 1958. He also worked with Junior Cannady and John Lee Hooker. In a major career move in 1964, he became a member of Junior Wells's backing ensemble. They toured around the world until 1971, when Dizz joined Hound Dog Taylor and the HouseRockers. He remained a member of that band until Taylor's death in 1975. He then formed the band Shock Treatment, and with this ensemble he further developed his flamboyant performing act, which included raunchy jokes as well as his showy but skillful guitar playing.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E2D1kNHag9wC&pg=PA50 |title=The Chicago Music Scene: 1960s and 1970s|author= Milano, Dean |date=|isbn=9780738577296|access-date=September 19, 2012}}</ref> His pleasant, jocular character was complemented by his intelligence; he received a degree in economics from Southern Illinois University.<ref name="AMG"/>
Dizz performed at Chicago clubs, such as the Kingston Mines, B.L.U.E.S. and the Checkerboard Lounge, and toured internationally. His playing was witnessed by members of the Rolling Stones and Foghat.<ref name="AMG"/> He played on the recording of ''Live at the Checkerboard Lounge, Chicago 1981'' with Muddy Waters and Rolling Stones Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ron Wood.<ref name="AM">{{cite web|last=Leggett |first=Steve |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/checkerboard-lounge-live-chicago-1981-mw0002400335 |title=Muddy Waters, the Rolling Stones, ''Checkerboard Lounge: Live Chicago 1981'': Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=October 24, 2012}}</ref> His studio recordings did not capture the essence of his live performances.<ref name="Moose"/>
Dizz died of effects of esophageal cancer on September 7, 1993, at the age of 56.<ref name="Dead"/>
==Discography== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year || Title || Record label |- | 1979 || ''Somebody Stole My Christmas'' || style="text-align:center;"|Isabel Records |- | 1979 || ''Lefty Dizz feat. Big Moose Walker'' || style="text-align:center;"|Black & Blue Records<ref name="Moose">{{cite web|last=Koda |first=Cub |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/lefty-dizz-with-big-moose-walker-mw0000889971 |title=Lefty Dizz, ''Lefty Dizz with Big Moose Walker'': Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards |publisher=AllMusic |date=|access-date=September 19, 2012}}</ref> |- | 1982 || ''Lefty Dizz and Shock Treatment Live in Chicago'' || style="text-align:center;"|Independent<ref name="Jimmiesmith.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.jimmiesmith.com/lefty-dizz-music.html |title=Lefty Dizz and Shock Treatment Live in Chicago |publisher=Jimmiesmith.com |date=|access-date=September 19, 2012}}</ref> |- | 1982 || ''Lefty Dizz and Shock Treatment Live at the Kingston Mines, Volume 1'' || style="text-align:center;"|Independent<ref name="Jimmiesmith.com"/> |- | 1983 || ''Lefty Dizz and Shock Treatment Live at the Kingston Mines, Volume 2'' || style="text-align:center;"|Independent<ref name="Jimmiesmith.com"/> |- | 1985 || ''Bad Avenue feat. T-Bone Pegues'' || style="text-align:center;"|Xalapeno Musicworks<ref name="Jimmiesmith.com"/> |- | 1995 || ''Ain't It Nice to Be Loved'' || style="text-align:center;"|JSP Records<ref name="Senor">{{cite web|url=http://senorbluesblog.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/artist-spotlight-lefty-dizz.html |title=Artist Spotlight: Lefty Dizz |publisher=Senorbluesblog.blogspot.co.uk |date=March 6, 2011 |access-date=September 19, 2012}}</ref> |-| 1997 || ''Ain't It Nice to Be Loved'' || style="text-align:center;"|JSP Records |- | 2002 || ''Walked All Night Long'' with Louisiana Red – originally recorded in 1976 || style="text-align:center;"|The Blues Alliance<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allaboutbluesmusic.com/louisiana-red/|title=Louisiana Red|website=Allaboutbluesmusic.com|access-date=August 17, 2017}}</ref> |- | 2007 || ''The Healer'', Carlos Johnson & Lefty Dizz || style="text-align:center;"|Wolf Records<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.secondhandsongs.com/release/58609 |title=''The Healer'', Carlos Johnson & Lefty Dizz (May 14, 2007) |publisher=SecondHandSongs.com |date=|access-date=September 19, 2012}}</ref> |}<ref name="AMG"/>
==See also== *List of Chicago blues musicians *List of electric blues musicians *List of musicians who play left-handed
==Bibliography== *''The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings''
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dizz, Lefty}} Category:1937 births Category:1993 deaths Category:People from Osceola, Arkansas Category:American blues guitarists Category:American male guitarists Category:American blues singers Category:Chicago blues musicians Category:Blues musicians from Arkansas Category:Electric blues musicians Category:Deaths from esophageal cancer in Illinois Category:20th-century American singers Category:20th-century American guitarists Category:Singers from Arkansas Category:Guitarists from Arkansas Category:Guitarists from Illinois Category:20th-century American male singers Category:Black & Blue Records artists