Wiley & the Checkmates

Purchase We Call It Soul CD here

Purchase We Call It Soul LP here

Purchase Guess You Wouldn’t Know Nothin’ Bout That 45 here

Excerpt from Oxford American’s Marc Smirnoff discussing the Southern Music Issue with Guy Raz from All Things Considered:

RAZ: Marc Smirnoff, let’s move on to a newer recording. This is from 2008, and it’s called “Guess You Wouldn’t Know Nothin’ About That” by Wiley and the Checkmates.

(Soundbite of song, “Guess You Wouldn’t Know Nothin’ About That”)

WILEY AND THE CHECKMATES (Music Group): (Singing) Seems like your plans have been headed south. You left a bad taste in my mouth. You’ve got no business spreading my business around to all them harlots you’ve got in town. Baby, ooh baby, baby, oh, baby. Guess you wouldn’t know nothing about that.

RAZ: Now, this man, Herbert Wiley, is from Oxford, Mississippi, and you actually know him. What’s surprising to me is that he is completely unknown outside of Oxford, Mississippi.

Mr. SMIRNOFF: Yes. I hope that’s starting to change. He is a phenomenon. If you ever have the opportunity to see him live, he will be somebody you never forget. He comes out in sequined suits and is a showman for whom those suits are almost an understatement. But I did know him before I knew that he was a musician. He used to be a shoe repair man. He had a really tiny store right off the Oxford square. We all just knew him as Mr. Wiley, the shoe repair man.

RAZ: And that was what everyone just thought he was.

Mr. SMIRNOFF: Yeah. We had no idea that in the 1960s, he had been a soul singer for a band that I think never recorded, that he hung it up for literally 30 plus years. I still have to pinch myself that mild-mannered Mr. Wiley is also the superhero of Wiley and the Checkmates.

And anyone who’s ever deliriously shook it down to Wiley & the Checkmates’ ‘Guess You Wouldn’t Know Nothin’ ‘Bout That,’ a double-barreled shotgun blast of 21st century Southern soul, is not going to dispute he deserves the title Southern Master.
-Shea Stewart, Sync Arkansas

Wiley’s voice reveals the wisdom that comes with age when he speaks about the struggles of life and love with his southern Mississippi accent. The strength of the album is in its directness. The Checkmates provide the sort of classic soul sonic framework for a singer that doesn’t fool around with metaphors. Wiley’s a blues man, and he’s speaking his mind with passion. And as history and We Call It Soul shows, passion goes a long, long way.
-Briana Prevost, Off Beat

From the whiskey-soaked/tobacco-stained gurgle in his voice to the kick of the rhythm section and the stuttering funk or the staccato lead guitar, this is, indeed, the real deal. The whole shebang reeks with a late-night barroom feel of honest acoustic emotion.
-Mike Greenblatt, Aquarian Weekly.

From the moment Herbert Wiley slides onstage in one of his eye-catching sequined ensembles, you know you’re in for a high-energy performance.
-Lindsey Maddox, Jackson Free Press

Wiley leads a young band of soul renegades through a dizzying range of rhythms and the blues, from funk workouts, suave ballads and bad ass Blaxploitation trips.
-Roy Kasten, Riverfront Times

The music is fine sixties southern soul, with a bit of a modern twist, but retaining all the elements that make real soul so enduring. I really dig Wiley & the Checkmates’ back to basics soul style and they must be great to experience live.
-Fred Rothwell, Blues & Rhythm

I can’t recommend picking enough picking up the inexpensive vinyl versions; the analog editions really jump out of your stereo, thanks both to the fiery performances and the top-notch production
-Johnathan Cunningham, Seattle Weekly

Though Wiley took a hiatus, he apparently never lost his ability to lay down some serious soul. Fans of Stax records will appreciate and will get listeners up and dancing. Though this CD is informed by the music of 40 years ago, it stands up in the modern era because of its energy and honesty.
-Eric Slagle, IT, the Daily News

‘I Want Your Love in My Life’ recalls O.V. Wight, ‘Up in Heah’ smacks of Rufus Thomas’ minimalist Memphis funk and ‘All the Way Wrong’ sounds for all the world like a great lost Brook Benton side, but it’s all swell, making new memories the old-fashioned way.
-Jim Musser, Iowa Press Citizen

We Call It Soul is an album that is decorated with slow and syrupy down home blues and quick and snappy funk grooves. For seekers of authentic blues, soul and funk, Wiley’s compilation of old school joints is a must-have.
-Franzia Lee, Augusta’s Metro Spirit

These songs are full-bodies, brimming with passion, rhythm and blues but most of all life.
-Tom Sekowski, Vivo (Poland)

A momentous soul group.
Mark Smirnoff, Oxford American

Recorded principally at the legendary Playground Studios in Valparaiso, FL, the result is pure, timeless soul. It’s definitely right up there with the Atlantic/Stax stuff we were reveling in right back in the day.
-David Cole, In the Basement