Billy Adams (rockabilly musician)

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Billy Adams (born Willie Murray Adams on March 6, 1940 in Redbush , Kentucky , † March 30, 2019 in Westmoreland , Tennessee ) was an American rockabilly musician . Adams is known to the rockabilly scene through a number of singles in the 1950s.

Life

Childhood and youth

Willie Murray Adams was born and raised in rural Kentucky in 1940. Strong musical influences were Bill Monroe , Jimmie Rodgers , the Carter Family , Merle Travis and Moon Mullican , which he heard on the radio. The Grand Ole Opry from Nashville also shaped him. Adam's father worked in the area's mines while his mother raised him and the other 13 children. Since the family had little money, they could not afford any instruments; It wasn't until his family moved to Greenup County , Kentucky, that Adams got a guitar from his father.

Career

Adams was first heard in 1952 at the age of twelve on the WCMI station in Ashland . Two years later, Adams first heard of the young Elvis Presley , who toured the southern United States with his “new music”, rockabilly, and messed up the entire music world there. Adams was fascinated by the strong rhythm that he found in his own guitar playing, as he and his brother had accompanied their singing as children by banging on buckets. Adams (vocals / guitar) founded the Rock & Roll Boys with his brother Charles ( electric guitar ) and Curtis May ( bass ) , who played in the area.

Adams wrote the song Rock, Pretty Mama , which was heard by musician Luke Gordon . He promoted the band and in the fall of 1955 Adams and the Rock & Roll Boys traveled to Cincinnati , Ohio , where they recorded the song. Gordon didn't release it until two years later, in 1957, on his small Quincy label with his own song Don't Cramp My Style on the B-side. The band quickly became better known and tours of the Midwest followed. However, an agreed audition at Sun Records in Memphis , Tennessee did not take place because Adams' car was broken and he could not afford it to be repaired.

In 1957, Adams and his band were discovered by Glenn McKinney, owner of Nau-Voo Records, at the 440 Club in Portsmouth, Ohio, who was organizing a recording session in a small garage studio. Through contacts KcKinneys the single You Heard Me Knocking / True Love Will Come Your Way appeared in January 1958 on Dot Records , but did not enter the charts. Between 1958 and 1959 Adams and his band, now Rock-a-Teers , played three more singles for Nau-Voo, including the song You Gotta Have a Duck Tail . Despite regular appearances, tours and good reviews from Billboard and Cashbox , the great success for Adams did not come.

Frustrated by the failure, the Rock-a-Teers broke up in 1959. Although Adams had record deals with Fern Records in 1961 and Spider Records in 1964, the chart did not succeed. As a pastor, he dedicated himself to religion and gospel music . He learned to play the piano and thus combined his office with music.

Rockabilly revival

In the 1980s, Adams' songs reappeared on compilations by Bear Family Records and Ace Records , making his music known to a larger and sometimes younger audience for the first time. However, many confused him with another musician, who died in 1984, who was also called Billy Adams . In 1998 Adams got rid of this rumor by recording his first album at Sun Studios on Union Avenue in Memphis, which was released on Screen Door Records in 2000 and received a lot of positive reviews from within the music world.

Shortly after the album was released, Adams was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and began performing at international festivals. Since then, Adams has been represented with the New Rock-a-Teers at festivals such as the Hemsby Rock'n'Roll Weekend , the Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Festival or the Americana International Festival and performed to the last. An original Rock, Pretty Mama record is worth between 1500 and 2000 US dollars, according to the Official Price Guide to Records.

Discography

Singles

year title Label #
1957 Rock, Pretty Mama / Don't Cramp My Style (B-side by Luke Gordon) Quincy 932
1958 You Heard Me Knocking / True Love Will Come Your Way Dot 45-15689
1958 You Gotta Have a Duck Tail / Walking Star Nau-Voo 802
1959 That's My Baby / Return of the All American Boy Nau-voo 805
1959 The Fun House / Blue-Eyed Ella Nau-voo 808
1961 Tender Years / Darling Take My Hand Remote 807
1961 Tattle Tale / Born to Be a Loser Remote 808
1961 Rip Van Winkle / Sleep Baby Sleep Remote 812
1961 Comic Strip / Call Me Remote 813
1964 Holding Hands / You Satisfy Spider N-14/5
1964 Silly Feeling / Are You Mad at Me Spider N-16/7
1965 Marie / Blue and Gray Jo-Mar 7-102
Unpublished titles
1957
  • Rock, Pretty Mama (old version)
1959
  • Keep the flag waving
1964
  • Bird dog

Albums

  • 2000: Legacy (Screen Door)
  • 2002: Rockin 'Thru the Years - 1955–2002 (Castle, UK)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kristin M. Hall: Rockabilly Hall of Famer Billy Adams dies at 79. In: USA Today . April 1, 2019, accessed April 3, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Lorie Hollabaugh: Rockabilly Hall Of Fame Member Billy Adams Passes. In: MusicRow Enterprises LLC. April 3, 2019, accessed April 7, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Adams, Billy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Adams, Willie Murray
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American rockabilly musician
DATE OF BIRTH March 6, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Redbush , Kentucky ,
DATE OF DEATH March 30, 2019
Place of death Westmoreland , Tennessee