After an extended illness, Bluesman William "Bill" Warren died on February 11, 2000. He was born on September 6, 1919 in Clayton, Alabama. "Bill" was a famous Blues legend who captivated the hearts of many in his era. In 1998 he was a featured musician on The Lost American Bluesmen, on the Midnight Creeper label. Bill played drums and sang 3 original songs on the record including Black Cat Girl, Big Fine Girl and Riding in My New Jaguar. Bill Warren recorded with blues legends, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, Willie Dixon, Jimmy "Lonely Traveler" Lee Robinson, Muddy Waters, and many others. He was one of the first to appear at Theresa's Lounge located near Chicago's Bronzeville area.

Bluesman Frank 'Little Sonny' Scott Jr. recalls playing with Bill Warren in the 1950s on Maxwell Street. "I was livin on Maxwell Street near Jefferson and played in a band on the street with a drummer named Porter and Little Carnell was on guitar. I played harmonica but also played drums and guitar. The drum set was mine. Bill Warren would come by and we were glad to let him sit in on drums. He became a good friend. We were buddies, like into running together. He was a friendly guy. He did pretty good on the drums. I liked playing guitar to his beat. I liked to swing and he put jazz and blues together. It let me swing. When I was playing with Freddie King, he would follow us and ask to sit in. I liked to let him sit in cause I would get very tired playing drums and needed an extra break." Frank Scott Jr. accepted power of attorney for Bill Warren and kindly did all the funeral arrangements for him. He is also organizing a blues benefit to help pay for Bill Warren's funeral expenses.

Scott remembers a special night at the legendary Theresa's Lounge in the South Side. "I just got finished playing at the Cass Bar Lounge. I was at the newly opened original Theresa's Lounge with Bill Warren. He was playing drums on the stage and he called Junior Wells from the audience to come up and play harmonica. Then Junior Wells called up Buddy Guy from the audience to come up and play guitar. After that night, they were hired to play there." Mr. Warren was a drummer for Junior Wells. He can be heard playing in Well's band in the famous Hoodoo Man Blues album.

Says Steve Balkin of the Maxwell Street Historic Preservation Coalition, "In 1998, we saw Bill Warren visiting on Maxwell Street during the several Blues protests there. His smiling friendly presence gave a lot of moral support to the musicians and other protesters who were glad to have this Blues legend in our midst. He seemed to be really enjoying the music. We mourn this great loss."

After a experiencing a stroke last year, Mr. Warren had been residing in a nursing home. Some of his musician buddies, like Jimmie Lee Robinson and Frank Scott Jr., stopped by to visit him. Robinson said, "When I saw him at the hospital, he was looking and sounding bad," says Robinson.

Funeral arrangements for William "Bill" Warren will be held on Thursday Feb 17, 2000 at the W.W. Jackson Funeral Home on 2701 W. 63rd St. in Chicago, one block east of California. Visitation will start at 3:00 pm, the wake will begin at 7:00 pm with the funeral services to follow at 7:30 pm. Burial will be in Restvale Cemetery, 11700 S. Laramie, Alsip. The phone number of the Funeral Home is 773-434-2400.

-- Walking by the Maxwell St. Jukejoint community bandstand, near a protester.

-- Sitting by Henry's Variety Store listening to the music.

Also see: "William Warren, Blues musician." by Lou Grahnke. Chicago Sun Times. Obituaries Section, 2/16/2000, p. NP 81

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