Detroit's Little Willie John packed an outsized voice into a small frame — a gospel-schooled R&B prodigy who cut "Fever" as a teenager and made smolder a viable alternative to shout. His run of 1950s King Records sides helped draw the blueprint for soul singing before his life unraveled; he died in prison at thirty, already a singer's singer whose phrasing carries through generations of vocalists.

the sound in question

1956

FeverLittle Willie John