Little Willie G. y Los Tamaleros
Little Willie G., who is considered one of the most powerful and soulful voices to emerge from East Los Angeles, and his Los Tamaleros band whip up Chuck Berry’s “Run Rudolph Run.”
Little Willie G. (Willie Garcia) has performed music concerts and religious services as a minister at venues such as Arrowhead Pond; Great Western Forum; Orlando, Florida’s Conseco Waterhouse Arena; and the Promise Keepers conferences.
Little Willie G. began his career in the mid-60’s as lead singer for Thee Midniters, a legendary R&B group from East Los Angeles that recorded four albums with hits such as "Land of 1,000 Dances," "Whittier Blvd." and "That's All." His performance style has drawn comparisons to Jackie Wilson and Frank Sinatra. His music with Thee Midniters is still aired on radio today.
According to his biography, Little Willie G. fell into a life of drug addiction and alcohol abuse before he became a born-again Christian in 1980. Committed to full-time ministry since 1981, Little Willie G. makes the transition easily from musician to minister and from English to Spanish to communicate the Gospel fluently. Loosely translated, his band Los Tamaleros means "those who know the right ingredients to make tamales" – the delicious Mexican treat!
In 2000, Little Willie G. released the critically acclaimed album, Make Up For The Lost Time (produced by Los Lobos’ David Hidalgo). Other recent projects include the release of "Greatest" by Thee Midniters (Thump Records), a track on Los Lobos’ album The Ride and the contribution of original songs (co-written with Ry Cooder) for Ry Cooder's CD Chavez Ravine, released in June 2005. Also released in 2005 was Heavenbound (Joshua Records).
