Wee -

Wee was an American soul-funk band from Columbus, Ohio, that issued a pair of singles and the 1977 album You Can Fly On My Aeroplane on Owl, the vanity label of Owl Recording Studios.

Members: Norman Virgil Whiteside, Victor Martin, Benji Harris, J.J. Thomas

Background

Guitarist Joe King led the first version of Wee in Columbus, Ohio, as a bowling-alley side group with drummer Benji Harris and bassist J.J. Thomas. Singer-keyboardist Norman Virgil Whiteside entered the circle after a brief attempt to work with Timmy Willis and the Suspicious Can Openers. Whiteside was born on March 31, 1953, and sang in a church choir before he financed teenage sessions at Musicol and Coronet Studios.

Whiteside reached the Columbus record circuit through DJ-promoter Bill Moss, whose Capsoul operation worked from a room above Van’s Music Shop in Clintonville. Moss heard Whiteside’s songs and brought him into the label’s writer circle with Dean Francis, Erwin Cochran, and Jeff Smith. Whiteside ran errands for Moss by day and sat in on Capsoul recording sessions by night. He later played several dates with Johnson, Hawkins, Tatum & Durr after Virgil Johnson left the group, then doubled on keyboards with the Kool Blues.

Capsoul closed in 1974, and Whiteside looked for a working band that could carry his own song material. King did not join the revised Wee lineup, and Whiteside replaced him with childhood friend Victor Martin. Wee rehearsed in Columbus with Martin, Harris, and Thomas, then entered Owl Recording Studios on Sunbury Road after Timeless Legend leader Jackie Hogg steered Whiteside toward the facility. Owl owner Tom Murphy gave Whiteside studio access, and Wee reached vinyl with the 1975 single “I’m All Changed” (b/w “Stay”).

You Can Fly On My Aeroplane

Wee released their singular album, You Can Fly On My Aeroplane, in December 1977 on Owl.

The album blends synth-laced slow jams with wah-filtered figures. Norman Whiteside wrote all nine songs under the Wee name, performed with Glen “Spanky” Jones, Victor Martin, Benji Harris, and Bimbo Brown in the Columbus group.

“You Can Fly on My Aeroplane” billows from a large opening into a soft-focus refrain and keyboard haze. “Put It in Real Good” reclines on a drawn-out sexual command and slow-burn vamp. “Find Me, Love Me” sways moderato with circular lovelorn calls. “Aeroplane (Reprise)” dissolves the flight motif into looping chants.

A1. “You Can Fly On My Aeroplane” (6:10)
A2. “Leavin’ You Alone” (3:46)
A3. “Put It In Real Good” (8:23)
A4. “Alone (Reprise)” (2:27)

B1. “I’m All Changed” (3:19)
B2. “Alone” (4:13)
B3. “Find Me, Love Me” (4:05)
B4. “Try Me” (4:44)
B5. “Aeroplane (Reprise)” (2:44)

William Muller produced You Can Fly On My Aeroplane for Bromo Productions. Whiteside recorded the album at Owl Studio in Columbus, and Gary Platt mixed the tapes at Appalachia Sound in Chillicothe with engineer Robin Jenny.

The front cover shows Juniata Wade, a background singer with Inner Rhythm Society, leaning against a small aircraft. Lamont Dixon drew the back-cover sketch of a plane at low altitude above a cityscape.

Owl pressed approximately one thousand copies of You Can Fly On My Aeroplane. The label issued “Can You Boogie Real Hard” as an August 1977 single (b/w “Find Me, Love Me”), and “Try Me” also circulated on Owl as a single version (b/w “Teach Me How”).

Postlude

Wee remained active into 1978 with Norman Whiteside, guitarist Victor Martin, drummer Benji Harris, bassist Glen “Spanky” Jones, and Bimbo Brown. The group reached a late break when Wild Cherry booked Wee as an opening act, but the theft of the band’s equipment during a winter club date stopped the tour before departure.

Whiteside left Columbus for Los Angeles after the failed tour opportunity. He spent fall 1978 singing ballads at the Hyatt Regency, then returned to Ohio before legal problems removed him from the music circuit. He served an eleven-month sentence in 1979 on forgery and possession charges, then entered the case that led to a long prison term during the following decade.

Whiteside continued to write while incarcerated. Numero Group reissued the Wee material in 2008, and later hip-hop placements brought his 1977 recordings into wider circulation. After his 2016 release, Whiteside played several shows and recorded new material, including the song “I Be F’d Up.” He also discussed work on a new album during the late 2010s.

Discography: