Andre Williams & The Goldstars
Daytrotter Session - Jan 19, 2012
- Bacon Fat
- I Can Tell
- Jet Black Daddy Lilly White Mama
- Favorite Pair of Pajamas
From here until the end of this essay, when the term “dirty dog” is used, it is meant to be read with a smirk and the utmost of admiration. It’s to be heard as the equivalent of someone getting down on his knees and worshipping at the feet of another man of many more exploits, much more charisma and an unabated horniness that never gets in the way of productivity, even if it does take up a considerable amount of time and energy. You see, the legendary soul and blues musician Andre Williams, is the kind of man that you simply MUST respect. You are forced to be stupefied and entertained by his unquenchable urges of the groin. He loves women. He loves everything about them – the lips, the breasts, the vaginas, the asses, the legs, the hair, the eyes, the brains, the smells, the skin. He’s a connoisseur of the form, the majesty that is the female, in flesh and in spirit. Williams has been studying them since shortly after his birth in Bessemer, Alabama, in 1936 and the research has only gotten more intense for the lover since then. He’s a dirty dog because he seems not to be able to get enough and he’s a dirty dog because he seems to always get what he wants, when it comes to women. Now, there is no photographic evidence of the women who are the objects of his affection that comes along with the songs – some of which he wrote about younger than legally acceptable girls in the song “Jail Bait,” back in the late 50s – so he could be a dirtier dog that we suspect, but that would just add to the allure. Anyone who dresses as snappy – to the nines all the time – as Williams does, who has an air of a stiff and musky cologne as he does is to be respected and celebrated. He’s lust-filled and yet he’s a gentleman and there’s a reason that he’s so attractive to all the ladies. He’s a charmer and he treats them like goddesses. None of this means that he and the goddesses can’t get kinky. In fact, it actually enhances the possibility of it happening. He sings, in his deep and gritty way, “I can tell by the way you smell that you’ve been having fun.” That right there is dirty and it’s honest. He refers to the woman in “Favorite Pair of Pajamas,” as a pussycat and the emphasis is on the first half of the word, or it’s a hard play on the word, there seemingly a nod to James Bond babes like Pussy Galore and Honey Rider, the winks and the nudges suggesting an unspoken understanding about what we’re really talking about here. He sings, “I wanna be your favorite pajamas/I wanna be with you every night,” adding that he wants her on him as well, and still, this proposition comes off as playful and sweet, even though the mind’s tracking toward one end object, even if there’s a commitment to be that best paid of pajamas every night. Williams, for his incredible hit-making talent (“Bacon Fat” and “Jail Bait” led Redd Foxx to give him the nickname “Mr. Rhythm”), and for his carnal needs is really just looking for some dirty dancing and a little love at the end of the night.