Despite a successful career as a idiosyncratic country-folk performer,
was perhaps best known as a songwriter; thanks, ironically enough, to a tribute album recorded in her honor. Born in Louisiana in 1959,
taught herself to play the guitar while still in her teens, and soon began composing songs. In college, she joined her first band, the G.W. Korners. After spending some time on the road, she ended up in California in 1979, where she was a regular at Los Angeles' famed Troubadour Club's "Hoot Nights." After first returning to Louisiana with the intent of forming a band, she moved back to L.A., where she performed on Venice Beach and ultimately signed a recording contract which proved fruitless.
Soon after,
Williams met musician
Peter Case, formerly of
the Plimsouls. Not only did they form an act together -- a jug band-like trio named the Incredibly Strung Out Band -- but the couple also married. Finally,
Williams made her solo recording debut in 1987 with
Happy Come Home, a collection showcasing her vivid songcraft as well as her off-kilter, squeaky vocal style. After the record was released,
Williams starred in a documentary by the filmmaker
D.A. Pennebaker. In 1989, she and
Case divorced; a follow-up record,
Swing the Statue!, appeared in 1990.
In 1992, while opening for
Neil Young,
Williams began experiencing a numb feeling in her hands which made it increasingly difficult to play her guitar. Upon visiting a doctor, she was diagnosed with the degenerative neurological disorder multiple sclerosis. The medical bills quickly piled up, and like many musicians, she was not covered by health insurance. In response, her manager began assembling friends and fans to record
Williams' songs for a benefit album; the result, 1993's
Sweet Relief: A Benefit for Victoria Williams, featured the likes of
Pearl Jam,
Lou Reed,
Matthew Sweet,
the Jayhawks, and
Soul Asylum, whose rendition of "Summer of Drugs" was the record's first single. Due to its all-star lineup,
Sweet Relief far outsold any of
Williams' own efforts, raising not only funds for her medical treatment but her visibility within the musical community as well. Additionally, the record's success enabled
Williams to establish the Sweet Relief Fund, created to assist other musicians with health problems; in 1996, a second tribute record, honoring the partially paralyzed singer/songwriter
Vic Chesnutt, was released.
In 1994,
Williams issued
Loose, a varied collection featuring duets with
Soul Asylum's
Dave Pirner and
the Jayhawks'
Mark Olson,
Williams' second husband. A year later, she and her
Loose Band released
This Moment in Toronto, a live career overview which also offered a handful of standards ("Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," "Imagination") as well as one new song, "Graveyard." Her fourth solo album,
Musings of a Creek Dipper, was released in 1998. Two years later,
Williams issued her strongest effort date with
Water to Drink. In 2002, she recorded an album of standards entitled
Sings Some Ol' Songs. Her renditions of "Moon River," "Someone to Watch Over Me," and "My Funny Valentine" breathed new life thanks to
Williams' impeccable touch.
–
Jason Ankeny, Rovi