His youngest son, Eric Bobo (Eric Correa), is a percussionist with crew Cypress Hill. He also performed on the Beastie Boys' 1994 album Ill Communication, as well as doing the 1994 Lollapalooza tour with the group
His grandson William Valen Correa, son of Bobo's first son William Gill Correa, is Co-Founder of the music-based non-profit organization HNDP Los Angeles.
Willie Bobo, who grew up in Spanish Harlem, New York made his name in Latin Jazz in the 1960's and 70's, with the timbales becoming his favoured instrument. He met Mongo Santamaria shortly after his arrival in New York and studied with him while acting as his translator, and later joined Tito Puente for 4 years from the age of 19. During the early 50's the nickname Bobo is said to have been bestowed by the jazz pianist Mary Lou Williams. His first major exposure was when he joined George Shearing's band on the album The Shearing Spell. After leaving Shearing, Cal Tjader asked Bobo and Santamaria to become part of the Cal Tjader Modern Mambo Quintet, who released several albums as the mambo craze reached fever pitch in the late 50's. Reuniting with his mentor Santamaria in 1960, the pair released the album Sabroso! for the Fantasy label. He later formed his own group releasing Do That Thing/Guajira with Tico and Bobo's Beat and Let's Go Bobo for Roulette, without achieving huge penetration.
After the runaway sucess of Tjaders Soul Sauce, in which he was heavily involved, Bobo formed a new band with the backing of the Verve label, releasing Spanish Grease, of which the title track is probably his most well known tune. Highly successful at this attempt, Bobo released a further 7 albums with Verve.
In the late 70's he moved out to Los Angeles, where he worked as a session musician for Carlos Santana among others, as well as being a regular in the band for The Bill Cosby Show. In the late seventies he recorded a couple of albums for Blue Note and Columbia records.
He was married to Alicia. He died on September 15, 1983 in Los Angeles, California, USA. After a period of ill health, he died at the age of 49, succumbing to cancer.
Alicia, wife of Willie, said: "He wanted to come to New York...he wanted to come home...he once said that a great artist always gets recognized at the end." Willie, the eldest son spoke: "One of my father's memorable words was 'music is an international language, anyone can follow the music."' Eric, the youngest son: "He wanted everyone to be happy, no sorrow...this is how his life was, happy, smiling, to have a good time."
Discography With Cal Tjader
Latino (Fantasy, 1958)
Cal Tjader's Concert by the Sea (Fantasy, 1959)
Cal Tjader's Latin Concert (Fantasy, 1959)
West Side Story (Fantasy, 1960)
Plays Harold Arlen (Fantasy, 1961)
Live and Direct (Fantasy, 1962)
Breeze from the East (Verve, 1964)
Soul Sauce (Verve, 1965
Discography As leader
Do That Thing/Guajira (Tico, 1963)
Bobo's Beat (Roulette, 1964)
Let's Go Bobo! (Roulette, 1964)
Spanish Grease (Verve, 1965)
Uno Dos Tres 1•2•3 (Verve, 1966)
Feelin' So Good (Verve, 1967)
Juicy (Verve, 1967)
Bobo Motion (Verve, 1967)
Spanish Blues Band (Verve, 1968)
A New Dimension (Verve, 1968)
Do What You Want to Do (Sussex, 1971)
Tomorrow Is Here (Blue Note, 1977)
Hell Of An Act To Follow (Columbia, 1978)
Bobo (Columbia, 1979)
Lost & Found (Concord Picante, 2006)
Dig My Feeling (Nacional Records 2016)
With Don Wilkerson
Elder Don (Blue Note, 1962)
As sideman
With Nat Adderley
Autobiography (Atlantic, 1965)
With Dorothy Ashby
The Fantastic Jazz Harp of Dorothy Ashby (Atlantic, 1965)
With Bob Brookmeyer
Trombone Jazz Samba (Verve, 1962)
With Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis
Goin' to the Meeting (Prestige, 1962)
With Miles Davis
Quiet Nights (Columbia, 1964)
Sorcerer (Columbia, 1967)
With Victor Feldman
Latinsville! (Contemporary, 1960)
With José Feliciano
Angela (Private Stock, 1976)
With Grant Green
The Latin Bit (Blue Note, 1962)
With Chico Hamilton
Chic Chic Chico (Impulse!, 1965)
El Chico (Impulse!, 1965)
The Further Adventures of El Chico (Impulse!, 1966)
With Slide Hampton
Explosion! The Sound of Slide Hampton (Atlantic, 1962)
With Herbie Hancock
Inventions and Dimensions (Blue Note, 1964)
With Eddie Harris
Bad Luck Is All I Have (Atlantic, 1975)
With Bobby Hutcherson
Montara (Blue Note, 1975)
With Herbie Mann
Right Now (Atlantic, 1962)
Brazil, Bossa Nova & Blues (United Artists, 1962)
Herbie Mann Live at Newport (Atlantic, 1963)
My Kinda Groove (Atlantic, 1965)
Latin Mann (Columbia, 1965)
Our Mann Flute (Atlantic, 1966)
The Beat Goes On (Atlantic, 1967)
With Les McCann
McCanna (Pacific Jazz, 1964)
Much Les (Atlantic, 1968)
With Gary McFarland
Soft Samba (Verve, 1963)
With Buddy Miles
Chapter VII (Columbia, 1973)
With Wes Montgomery
Movin' Wes (Verve, 1964)
With Oliver Nelson
Skull Session (Flying Dutchman, 1975)
With Dave Pike
Limbo Carnival (New Jazz, 1962)
Manhattan Latin (Decca, 1964)
With Tito Puente
Cuban Carnival (RCA Victor, 1956)
With Ike Quebec
Soul Samba (Blue Note, 1962)
With Terry Reid
River (Atlantic, 1973)
With Dannie Richmond
"In" Jazz for the Culture Set (Impulse!, 1965)
With Charlie Rouse
Bossa Nova Bacchanal (Blue Note, 1963)
With A. K. Salim
Afro-Soul/Drum Orgy (Prestige, 1965)
With Mongo Santamaria
Mighty Mongo (Fantasy, 1962)
Viva Mongo! (Fantasy, 1962)
With Doc Severinsen
Rhapsody For Now! (RCA, 1973)
With Sonny Stitt
Stitt Goes Latin (Roost, 1963)
With Gábor Szabó
Spellbinder (Impulse!, 1966)
With Clark Terry
Mumbles (Mainstream, 1966)
I Heard It Through the Grapevine
Willie Bobo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
'Bout your plans to make me blue
With some other guy you knew before
Between the two of us guys
You know I loved you more
It took me by surprise I must say
When I found out yesterday
Don't you know that I heard it through the grapevine
Oh I heard it through the grapevine
Oh I'm just about to lose my mind
Honey, honey yeah.
I heard it through the grapevine
Not much longer would you be mine baby
I know a man ain't supposed to cry
But these tears I can't hold inside
Losin' you would end my life you see
'Cause you mean that much to me
You could have told me yourself
That you loved some one else
Instead I heard it through the grapevine
Not much longer would you be mine
Oh, I heard it through the grapevine
And I'm just about to lose my mind
Honey, honey yeah
I heard it through the grapevine
Not much longer would you be mine, baby
People say believe half of what you see
Son and none of what you hear
But I can't help but be confused
If it's true please tell me dear
Do you plan to let me go
For the other guy you loved before?
Don't you know I heard it through the grapevine
Not much longer would you be mine, baby yeah
I heard it through the grapevine
I'm just about to love my mind
Honey, honey, yeah
I heard it through the grapevine,
Not much longer would you be mine, baby yeah
The lyrics to "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" by Willie Bobo are about a man who has been betrayed by his lover. He found out through gossip that she is planning to leave him for someone else. The singer is heartbroken and can't believe that he had to find out this way. He had no idea his lover was going to leave him and is struggling to come to terms with the news. The lyrics highlight the pain and confusion felt by people who are betrayed in love. The song's message is universal and can resonate with anyone who has been betrayed in a relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
I bet you're wonderin' how I knew
I am aware that you are curious about how I found out
'Bout your plans to make me blue
I know about your intentions to make me sad
With some other guy you knew before
You have been seeing someone else you knew from before
Between the two of us guys
Of the two of us who were involved
You know I loved you more
I loved you more than the other guy
It took me by surprise I must say
I was surprised to learn about it
When I found out yesterday
I just found out yesterday
Don't you know that I heard it through the grapevine
Do you not know that I heard about it through the grapevine
Not much longer would you be mine
I won't have you for much longer
Oh I heard it through the grapevine
Yes, I heard about it through the grapevine
Oh I'm just about to lose my mind
I am about to go crazy
Honey, honey yeah
My dear, yes
I know a man ain't supposed to cry
I understand that it's not manly to cry
But these tears I can't hold inside
But I can't help but cry
Losin' you would end my life you see
Losing you would kill me, you see
'Cause you mean that much to me
Because you mean a lot to me
You could have told me yourself
You should have personally told me
That you loved some one else
That you love someone else
Instead I heard it through the grapevine
Instead, I heard about it through the grapevine
And I'm just about to lose my mind
And I am driving myself crazy
People say believe half of what you see
Some people say that you should only believe half of what you see
Son and none of what you hear
And none of what you hear
But I can't help but be confused
But I can't help but feel confused
If it's true please tell me dear
If it's true, please tell me, my dear
Do you plan to let me go
Are you planning to let me go
For the other guy you loved before?
For the other person you loved before?
Not much longer would you be mine, baby yeah
I won't have you for much longer, my dear
I'm just about to love my mind
I am just about to lose my mind
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Tratore
Written by: Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Scott Shankster
on Spanish Grease
Those aren't the lyrics... It's pretty much the same as " Ain't Got Nobody to Depend On " .