Little Beaver

Party Down (Revisited) Little Beaver

Highly influential soul/funk guitarist Willie Hale, better known as Little Beaver, was hugely instrumental in the Florida music scene in the mid-seventies. His singular guitar style was featured on a multitude of hits from Betty Wright's "Clean Up Woman," to Benny Latimore's "Let's Straighten It Out" and a host of memorable hits from the legendary TK label where Beaver was the house guitarist. Younger fans might recognize his name from his work on Joss Stone's breakthrough album, "The Soul Sessions" and the follow-up, "Mind Body & Soul" which became world-wide hits. In 1972, Beaver launched a solo career with the single "Joey', but his biggest hit came in 1974 with "Party Down", which made it to #2 on the US R&B chart. He released a total of five albums as Little Beaver in the 70s which featured a unique mixture of soul, blues and funk but dropped out of the music scene at the advent of the disco era and began working for the city of Miami. After a long break from the industry, Beaver was coaxed into the studio to record a new solo album and was reunited with old TK session mates Jerome Smith (guitarist with KC & The Sunshine Band) and Ish Ledesma of Foxy fame. The resulting record "Love & Affection (From The House of Correction)" proved that Beaver had lost none of his trademark magic and his new songs were just as memorable as his early hits. The first single to be released is an updated version of Beaver's 1974 hit "Party Down," which sounds as fresh as it did when it first hit the airwaves back in the day. The single features a radio edit, the full album version, plus bonus instrumental and acappella versions. The great Little Beaver is back, in a big way! .