Wesley Willis - Wesley Willis’ Joy Rides

Rock over London, rock over Chicago; rock in peace

When Wesley Willis finally succumbed to leukemia in August 2003, it was the last in a long line of tragedies that plagued the man who, without ever acheiving mainstream success, became one of the richest, most talked about “outsider artists” of the 90s and 00s. At six-and-a-half-feet and over 300 pounds, Willis may well have stalked Chicago looking like a homeless man but, by the time of his London Barbican show in 2001, his 100-plus album back catalogue and cityscape line drawings had made him a rich man; a promotional powerhouse, he’d sell his wares post-shows, carrying over $10,000 cash on him at any one time.

Willis’ joy ride, then, was shot through with success on many levels, from working his way into The Wesley Willis Fiasco – a punk band driven by Willis’ coarse yell – to later blasting his own one-man-jams from behind a keyboard, obsessed with hitting radio play’s optimum 2.50 running time. His artwork, meanwhile, sells on eBay for hundreds.

A childhood that saw him split from his brothers and living under foster care, to developing a chronic schizophrenia that led him to do battle with inner demons that called him “jerk”, “bum” and “asshole”, however, plagued the man who could alternately chuck out hilarious odes to Arnold Schwarzenegger and Eazy-E, before recounting how he got kicked out of church for calling the priest a cocksucker. Fascinating, moving, and a world you’ll never know.

3 stars 3 stars 3 stars

MVD Visual | MVDV 4297

Reviewed by Jason Draper
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