Wesley Willis, to quote the man himself, was a silly maniac. He used the words Silly Manaic in just about all of his songs which was an understatement. Let me tell you about the real Wesley Willis that I remember.
Wesley Willis lived in Chicago, in fact, he lived in my friggen neighborhood. He used to push a shopping cart and wear a giant burlap bag. He was known in Lakeview as the Burlap guy. He was a total schizophrenic and weighed about 350 pounds. And he was tall too so he looked like a mountain. He used to hang out in the alley near Clark train station. I had to cross in front of this guy on my way to work. One morning I saw him screaming obscenities at a parked car for about 20 minutes when I was getting my paper at Caribou Coffee. To this day it was one of the most intense things I'd ever witnessed.
Wesley sang with his band THE WESLEY WILLIS FIASCO. He used to play every other Friday night at the Metro and some other joints but I never went. I figured I got my entertainment out of him on the street. But I was sadly mistakened. I heard his music when I left my Chicago homestead and lived in NYC. I then realized the treasure that I missed. This guy was a complete lunatic and he was hilarious.
He was featured on Stern a few times and he talked about freaking out on his tour bus in the song, "Bus Tour Hellride". This video was probably homeade. I dont think it ever played anywhere but it really fits the song. Its about as good as it deserves.
Legend or Goof, you decide.
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Cantu Fascube 2006
Wesley Willis lived in Chicago, in fact, he lived in my friggen neighborhood. He used to push a shopping cart and wear a giant burlap bag. He was known in Lakeview as the Burlap guy. He was a total schizophrenic and weighed about 350 pounds. And he was tall too so he looked like a mountain. He used to hang out in the alley near Clark train station. I had to cross in front of this guy on my way to work. One morning I saw him screaming obscenities at a parked car for about 20 minutes when I was getting my paper at Caribou Coffee. To this day it was one of the most intense things I'd ever witnessed.
Wesley sang with his band THE WESLEY WILLIS FIASCO. He used to play every other Friday night at the Metro and some other joints but I never went. I figured I got my entertainment out of him on the street. But I was sadly mistakened. I heard his music when I left my Chicago homestead and lived in NYC. I then realized the treasure that I missed. This guy was a complete lunatic and he was hilarious.
He was featured on Stern a few times and he talked about freaking out on his tour bus in the song, "Bus Tour Hellride". This video was probably homeade. I dont think it ever played anywhere but it really fits the song. Its about as good as it deserves.
Legend or Goof, you decide.
--------------------------------
Cantu Fascube 2006
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