Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

The Bass Man Speaks: Greg Wills Can Do Everything, Everything That Is Except Play Bass

It happened on a Sunday morning at the end of April. Greg Willis rolled out of bed at around 9 a.m. and just kept going until he hit the floor.

"I couldn't stand up. I couldn't say words."

Patty Birchard, his girlfriend, tried to help. "He tried to get up and get dressed, and he couldn't." That's when she called her dad. He had a van. They would need to use it to get Willis to a hospital.

Willis spent the next three days at Mercy Hospital in Hillcrest. After, he was transferred to a physical rehab center near Alvarado Hospital for another two weeks. Therapists there helped him to learn how to walk, talk, and dress himself all over again.

Greg Willis had had a stroke, one that severely affected the left side of his body.

"It could have been a lot worse," he says by phone from the University Heights apartment he shares with Birchard. "I'm starting to get most of it back," he says, sounding exhausted by the effort just to form words.

"But I can't play bass worth a shit right now."

Greg Willis' history as a bass player goes back decades in San Diego. He first rose to fame as one-half of the rhythm section behind Iron Butterfly (Jack Pinney played drums,) a band that started in San Diego before moving north to Los Angeles. Later, Willis and Pinney would reunite in another local band called Glory, and then the Shames, both of which featured a young guitar slinger named Jerry Raney.

Willis, 63, also played in the King Biscuit Blues band and in the Mississippi Mudsharks before delving into a career as a side man that saw his familiar overall-clad figure on stage with dozens of local artists.

Now, he sees doctors every two weeks. They monitor his physical progress and they keep tabs on his high blood pressure, thought to have been the cause of the stroke.

"I didn't have any idea I had high blood pressure," he says. "I'm completely surprised." Willis was able to secure low-income health insurance about one month before the stroke. But, he has no income at all. He can't play bass, and he can't work, and he's not entirely sure when he will be able to either.

"I've tried to play and I can't. I miss it," he says. "Very much."

Birchard says Willis' doctors expect a complete recovery but so far have given no idea of a time frame. The problem continues to be his left hand, his fingering hand.

"They don't know when I'll be able to play again," Willis says. "They say everybody's different."

Monday Sept 3 Chet Cannon will host a Greg Willis benefit concert at Humphreys

Sunday Oct.28 Costume party and Greg Willis benefit concert featuring a reunion of San Diego bands from the '60s and '70s. Moose Lodge, 9062 Memory Lane, Spring Valley, 91977 info 619-464-1492

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jul/25/28541/

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jul/25/28542/

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jul/25/28543/

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Why did Harrah's VP commit suicide last summer?

Did the fight the Rincon casino had with San Diego County over Covid play a part?

It happened on a Sunday morning at the end of April. Greg Willis rolled out of bed at around 9 a.m. and just kept going until he hit the floor.

"I couldn't stand up. I couldn't say words."

Patty Birchard, his girlfriend, tried to help. "He tried to get up and get dressed, and he couldn't." That's when she called her dad. He had a van. They would need to use it to get Willis to a hospital.

Willis spent the next three days at Mercy Hospital in Hillcrest. After, he was transferred to a physical rehab center near Alvarado Hospital for another two weeks. Therapists there helped him to learn how to walk, talk, and dress himself all over again.

Greg Willis had had a stroke, one that severely affected the left side of his body.

"It could have been a lot worse," he says by phone from the University Heights apartment he shares with Birchard. "I'm starting to get most of it back," he says, sounding exhausted by the effort just to form words.

"But I can't play bass worth a shit right now."

Greg Willis' history as a bass player goes back decades in San Diego. He first rose to fame as one-half of the rhythm section behind Iron Butterfly (Jack Pinney played drums,) a band that started in San Diego before moving north to Los Angeles. Later, Willis and Pinney would reunite in another local band called Glory, and then the Shames, both of which featured a young guitar slinger named Jerry Raney.

Willis, 63, also played in the King Biscuit Blues band and in the Mississippi Mudsharks before delving into a career as a side man that saw his familiar overall-clad figure on stage with dozens of local artists.

Now, he sees doctors every two weeks. They monitor his physical progress and they keep tabs on his high blood pressure, thought to have been the cause of the stroke.

"I didn't have any idea I had high blood pressure," he says. "I'm completely surprised." Willis was able to secure low-income health insurance about one month before the stroke. But, he has no income at all. He can't play bass, and he can't work, and he's not entirely sure when he will be able to either.

"I've tried to play and I can't. I miss it," he says. "Very much."

Birchard says Willis' doctors expect a complete recovery but so far have given no idea of a time frame. The problem continues to be his left hand, his fingering hand.

"They don't know when I'll be able to play again," Willis says. "They say everybody's different."

Monday Sept 3 Chet Cannon will host a Greg Willis benefit concert at Humphreys

Sunday Oct.28 Costume party and Greg Willis benefit concert featuring a reunion of San Diego bands from the '60s and '70s. Moose Lodge, 9062 Memory Lane, Spring Valley, 91977 info 619-464-1492

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jul/25/28541/

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jul/25/28542/

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jul/25/28543/

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

BETAMAXX Band to Host Benefit 10-24

Next Article

Fast Food? How About Fast Wine?

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.