Clarence "Chet" Willis (born June 7, 1950) – Love Lite (1979)

The Ohio Players guitarist co-founded their mysterious spin-off group Shadow and co-wrote their debut LP's superb disco-funk title track, co-produced by Don Mizell.

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Clarence "Chet" Willis is one of the Ohio Players’ guitarists, and co-founder of their mysterious spin-off group Shadow who released three albums of their own.

Willis joined the Ohio Players in the mid-1970s. A few years later, he branched off with drummer James “Diamond” Williams and keyboardist William “Billy” Beck in a new group, Shadow. They released their debut album Love Lite in 1979. which the three of them co-produced with Don Mizell, without their faces being shown anywhere on the LP. They appeared only in silhouette on the cover, their identities shrouded in mystery.

Their names were not entirely a secret, since they were fully acknowledged in the album’s credits. The LP’s stellar cast of other musicians also included Daniel Lazarus on keyboards, Azar Lawrence on sax, and Fred Wesley on trombone. One of its highlights was the extended jam “Get It.” The album’s masterpiece cut was its superb disco-funk title track “Love Lite,” co-written by Willis, Beck and Williams.

Their second album Shadow was released in 1980, produced by Leon Ware. It featured the phenomenal jam “Mystery Dancer” and the smooth funk cut “Hot City,” which were both released as singles but only reached #68 and #75 R&B, respectively.

Ware also produced their third LP Shadows In The Streets (1981). The album’s opening cut was the superb jam “Born To Hustle,” co-written by Ware with Willis, Beck, and Williams.

Considered by many funksters and boogie freaks to be one of the funkiest tracks of the post-disco boogie era, nonetheless it did not chart. Nether did any of the other three singles from the album, which was the last full-length LP Shadow ever released.

Happy Birthday to the great “Chet” Willis.

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