Willie the Wimp

Cafe Society
#1

If you thought this was a Clinton-bashing thread that had escaped from GD, you were wrong.

Are the lyrics to Sevie Ray Vaughn’s song Willie the Wimp (and His Cadillac Coffin) based on a true incident?

A friend claims that they are and says that he actually read a newspaper account of the funeral.

I’d like to verify this, butGoogle hasn’t helped much. Does anybody have the Straight Dope on Willie’s remarkable passing? How about Willie’s (or Clarence’s) last name and a date of death so I can look it up in the newspaper archives at the library?

#2

Stokes?

Gangbanger in Chicago.
Buried in tastfeul fashion - maybe 15-20 years ago?
Photos were in the local papers.

#3

Google didn’t help much? Did you actually try inserting anything into the search field?

This was the first result on a search for “Willie the Wimp.”
http://www.srvrocks.com/lyrics-willie_the_wimp.htm

Searching for Flukey came up with the opinion denying his murderer’s appeal.
http://www.state.il.us/court/Opinions/AppellateCourt/1999/1stDistrict/August/HTML/1971050.htm

IMO this would probably qualify to be on the short list of local lore anyone who considers themselves a Chicagoan (as opposed to just living here) oughtta know.

#4

Ah, crap. I just skipped over the ones that looked like they were just lyrics. Thanks, Dinsdale.