The older I get, the more I want to revisit the fun experiences of my youth. I want to feel those feelings again: carefree, fearless, curious, and anticipatory. On a recent Friday night at the Live at Five Concert Series in Fairhope, I went down a musical memory lane, back to the 1970s, when the band Wet Willie played a greatest hits set list that took all in attendance back to our glory days.

Originally known as ‘Fox’, they got their start in Mobile in 1969. I spoke with some people at the concert who remembered going to see them play at Mobile Municipal Park. Others remembered hearing them at Johnny's Smoke House across the Mississippi state line.  In 1970, they signed a record deal with Capricorn Records and became The Wet Willie Band, and their first big hit, “Keep on Smilin” reached number 10 on the Billboard Chart in August 1974. They had several other top 40 hits along the way and were inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 2016.

It was a real treat to see them live and sing along to all the familiar songs that we heard booming from our FM radios and 8-track tapes, back in the day. Jimmy Hall, the frontman, was on fire that night, and the band, with several original members, was rhythmically tight. Jimmy’s vocals were strong, and he moved like Jagger, working the crowd and jumping for joy. “Jumping for Joy,” second on the set list, is a new single that debuted on his solo album released in 2022. It had a celebratory gospel inspired sound and really got the crowd going. In his late seventies, he is still a rock star.  

The band, Jimmy's brother Jack Hall on bass, John Anthony on keyboards, Ricky Hirsch on guitar, and Donna Hall, a fabulous singer and sister, kept the groove going for a solid 90-minute show. The Horn section, The Hurricane Horns, featuring trumpet player Chip Herrington, whom I had the pleasure of interviewing a few years ago, brought a whole other dimension to the high-powered rock and roll genre.  Chip posted on Facebook, “These people are like family to me!” What a reunion!

My favorite song, “Everything that ‘cha do” and another hit, “Grits Ain't Groceries” had concert-goers on their feet, dancing like they were 18 again, and in their minds at that moment, they were. Closing with “Keep on Smilin”, the crowd wanted more, but Jimmy matter-of-factly said, “Good Night Y'all, I'm tired, and I want to go to bed,” and we all went back to reality. 

One part of my teenage years I don't want to relive is a real ‘wet willie.’ A nasty boy would lick a finger and poke it in an unsuspecting ear, usually a girl's, and this was a horrible invasion of personal space. I can't imagine why the Hall brothers would choose this gross act as a band name, but it brought them great success and acted as a muse for an incredible body of music. Let us all: 

Keep on smilin' through the rain
Laughing at the pain
Just flowing with the changes
Till the sun comes out again.