From 1971 to 1976 Southern rockers Wet Willie had a string of singles, but other than their Top 10 hit “Keep On Smilin’,” they didn’t receive much crossover success on Top 40 radio.
The classic rock band from Macon, Georgia by way of Mobile, Alabama, recorded five albums for Capricorn Records beginning with their self-titled debut in 1971. They then moved to Epic for two albums and returned once again to the upper reaches of the singles chart. In 1979, they enjoyed their second-biggest hit.
Related: Our listings of 100s of classic rock tours
Call them blues-rock, Southern rock, it doesn’t matter. They were good time rock and roll, as evidenced by this song.
You’ve worked your butt off all week. Now it’s your time. Wet Willie put that simple plan into action and earned Top 30 success with “Weekend.” As lead singer Jimmy Hall sings…
Weekend, weekend
Spendin’ all my hard-earned pay, weekend
With crazy nights and lazy days
Weekend, weekend, weekend
Regardless of whether you’re a Wet Willie fan… enjoy your weekend… you’ve earned it!
And the official live version, recorded in 1979 at New York’s much-loved Bottom Line Cabaret…
Lead singer and harmonica player Jimmy Hall released a new album, Ready Now, in 2022. The band’s recordings are available here.
Related: Wet Willie are included in our feature, 11 great southern rock albums
5 Comments so far
Jump into a conversationI really like most of their material but this sounds too much like disco to me…
Why have I never been able to find this version on YouTube? Only the extended version? Thanks so much for posting it!! How many radio stations used to play this every Friday at 5:00 pm?? Maybe some still do!
Bob Sled, Wet Willie were, essentially, an R&B band, and in 1979 R&B pretty much took the form of disco.
As much of a hit as this was for Wet Willie then, I saw them play it with the band that recorded it in the early 80s, but have seen some semblance of Wet Willie many times in later years, and they would never play it, even when it was requested. It’s almost as though they hated the song, even though it was a hit for them. Perhaps, they too, hated the song because of its disco feel. Wondering if they pretty much have to play it on the cruises they often play on these days?
Give the band credit – EVERYONE (except maybe Dylan) made a disco record in the late 70s. Some were great, like “Goodnight Tonight” and “Running From Paradise” and “Miss You” and “Here Comes the Night” (as someone once put it, two anachronisms for the price of one!).
WW had one of the great all-time lyrics: “Singin’ in a honky tonk cafe,
Nobody’s hearin’ what you play,
They’re too busy drinkin’ anyway.
I enjoyed Ricky Hirsch’s guitar playing. Michael Duke added some good songs and background vocal during their later recordings. But, Jimmy Hall is the show. His contributions with the band and others is always positive. I loved his performance with Robert Randolph at the Skynyrd tribute.