Bill Anderson

Bill Anderson 2017

Bill Anderson (born November 1, 1937 as James William Anderson in Columbia , South Carolina ) is an American singer and songwriter who was unusually successful in the country scene since the 1950s. His not very powerful voice earned him the nickname “Whispering Bill”.

Life

Career beginnings

Bill Anderson grew up in the suburbs of Atlanta , Georgia . As a teenager he began to write songs that he performed himself as a member of a school band. He studied journalism at the University of Georgia . His attempt to become a professional baseball player failed. After winning a singing talent competition, he decided to become a musician, but initially kept his job as a journalist for the renowned daily newspaper Atlanta Constitution .

During his studies he had already found his way into the music scene as a disc jockey . He recorded the self-written song City Lights for a small label . A total of 500 singles were pressed, which he personally sold or given away. In 1958 Ray Price happened to hear this song on the radio. He recorded it himself and it was one of his greatest hits. After this success, Bill Anderson received a record deal with the Decca label in 1958 , which initially saw him as a successful songwriter. Upon signing the contract, Anderson moved to Nashville , Tennessee .

Songwriter

One of his first songwriting titles for Decca was the song That's What It's Like to Be Lonesome , which he wrote for himself in 1958. After City Lights, it became his second songwriter title in the country charts (number 12 on Billbord ). This began a successful career that spanned six decades. By 2009, Billboard had 130 Anderson-written titles on its chart lists, 13 of which were number-one hits. While he had sung most of the songs himself, he also wrote successful titles for Counry greats such as Hank Locklin , Roger Miller , Jim Reeves , Connie Smith and Faron Young . Until 1979 he wrote his songs mainly for Decca and its successor MCA , after that he worked for different labels without a permanent contract, e.g. B. Columbia and Mercury . Bill Anderson wrote his last chart title in 2009 with I'll Wait for You at the age of 71 for the coutry duo Sugarland . His success earned him the title of Songwriter of the Year six times.

Singer

Before Bill Anderson began his long-term commitment to the Decca record company, he had already recorded several singles in 1957 and 1958 on the Texan label TNT (Tanner 'n' Texas). Among the published titles there also belonged to City Lights , the later success of Ray Price gecovert was. Although Decca Anderson had signed primarily as a songwriter, from 1958 onwards, singles were recorded with him. His first Decca single was released in December 1958 (A: That's What It's Like To Be Lonesome / B: The Thrill Of My Life ) with catalog no. 30733. The A-side title already reached number twelve in the Billboard country charts. With The Tip of My Fingers Anderson came in the top 10 for the first time in the summer of 1960, the first number one hit was Mama Sang a Song in the summer of 1962. By 1991 Billboard had 76 songs sung by Anderson in its hit lists, including five songs , which became number one in the country charts, 27 other titles came into the top 10. Anderson published his recordings until 1972 with Decca and was then taken over by the successor label MCA. While Decca released around 40 singles and around 25 long-playing records, MCA produced around 30 singles and around ten long-playing records by 1981. Anderson was also successful with his long-playing records, 29 of his almost 50 albums made it into the LP charts. The most successful LP was released under the title I Love You Drops by Decca in August 1966 and became number one in the LP country charts. After MCA had terminated the record deal with Bill Anderson in 1981, he moved to various smaller record companies in the following years. By 1991 Andersen had released up to 80 singles. These include a number of duet records he produced with Jan Howard, Mary Lou Turner and Toni Bellini.

entertainer

In 1961, Bill Anderson became a permanent member of the Nashville Grand Ole Opry , the longest-running radio show in the United States. As the first country artist, Bill Anderson presented the TV game show The Better Sex on ABC , its own US-wide television program. He also appeared on the ABC television series One Life to Live for three years . Other television shows he moderated, such as Fandango and Opry Backstage , were broadcast on the Nashville Network. In his TV show Country's Family Reunion , he has had well-known country stars perform regularly since 1997.

Honors

In 1975, Nashville's Bill Anderson was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Ten years later he was inducted into the Georgia State Music Hall of Fame . He was inducted into the Georgia Broadcasters' Hall of Fame in 1993. Even South Carolina immortalized Anderson in his Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame. He received his highest honor when he was inducted into the prestigious Nashville Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001. In 2008 he was honored by the Academy of Country Music . He was nominated five times for a Grammy for his compositions .

Others

In the 1980s, Bill Anderson was the press spokesman for the restaurant chain named after his hit song Po 'Folks . He is the author of several books. In 1989 he published his autobiography Whisperin Bill , in 1993 his humorous look at the music scene appeared with the book I Hope You're Living As High On The Hog As The Pig You Turned Out To Be . His work Letters to My Fans , published in 2010, also received a lot of attention . Bill Anderson has lived in his home on Old Hickory Lake near Nashville for several years.

literature

• Bill Anderson: Whisperin Bill: An Autobiography , Longstreet Press 1990, ISBN 978-0-929264-37-0 .

Web links

• Biography at billanderson.com
• Discography at countrydiscography.blogspot.de