Weepin' Willie was my good friend for many years and that turned into a relationship where I cared for him once he became homeless. Weep's girlfriend unceremoniously put him on the street to move her disabled daughter back into her section 8 apartment. The girlfriend determined that Willie was older and less ambulatory so the daughter's SSDI check would be larger than Willie's gig money so out the door he went. Willie rolled with it, roamed the streets of Allston, hung at a Greek Diner where the owners fed him in return Willie often cleaned the place after hours. Willie competed for a bed at the men's shelter in Roxbury next to Boston Medical Center many nights until I got him settled into the Vet's Shelter on Court St. My efforts to publicize Willie's situation resulted in the offer to move Willie into the Mount Pleasant Home in JP. Willie spent his best years at Mt Pleasant Home where Merlin Southwick and his staff cared for each resident as if they were family. This article is the most accurate of the one's about Willie but still a few incorrect points. http://www.baystate-banner.com/issues/2008/04/03/arts/arts04030841.htm Willie left us when he burnt to death in his room smoking at Mt. Pleasant. I had already arranged to have him buried with military honors on Cape Cod near Grumpy's and other clubs he worked in the summer months. http://www.bluestrust.com/TMPhvrg1zu7xl.html
Willie did a track with Bonnie Raitt although it was supposed to have been Steven Tyler initially. http://appleseedmusic.com/old/AS/giveusyourpoor/
