Billy Brown (musician)
Billy Brown (born July 22, 1929 in Princeton , West Virginia , † January 10, 2009 in New Smyrna Beach , Florida ) was an American rock and roll musician. Brown recorded a number of singles for Columbia Records in the 1950s .
Life
Childhood and youth
Billy Brown was born in 1929 (other information after 1930) and bought his first guitar when he was eight. Around this time he also began to sing. Around 1953 he was a member of the US Army and was stationed in Alabama . He has already been heard regularly on WIRB in Enterprise and made his first appearances. He then fought in the Korean War .
Career
After his discharge from the army, Brown tried his hand at the music business. In Atlanta , Georgia , he was hired to perform regularly at the Anchorage Club and was discovered by Allen Bradley, who was its manager from that point on. Through Bill Lowery , who practically controlled Atlanta's music scene in the 1950s, he got his first record deal with Lowery's small label Stars Records . At the end of 1957, his first single Did We Have a Party / It's Love was released there . Both pieces were fast rock and roll songs.
Brown's record sold well as Columbia Records re-released the record nationally. In October 1957 Brown was signed by the label and on December 18, 1957 a session was organized for Brown in Nashville , Tennessee , with the studio musicians Jerry Reed (guitar), Harold Bradley (guitar), Lightnin 'Chance ( bass ), Ray Stevens ( piano ), Dutch McMillin ( saxophone ) and Buddy Harman ( drums ). This session produced two of Brown's best-known tracks, Meet Me In the Alley Sally and Flip Out , which are among his best songs and have been re-released several times during the rockabilly revival.
By the spring of 1959, Brown released further records at Columbia, including a cover of Onie Wheeler's Run 'Em Off or the original version of He'll Have to Go ; the song was later made a hit by country star Jim Reeves . However, sales of the records were anything but good, so Columbia did not renew the contract. Brown, who was living in Daytona Beach , Florida at the time , then switched to Gene Autry's label Republic Records , for which he recorded two records (including the Wayne Walker composition Lost Weekend ). After another single for the small chart action label from Nashville, Brown disappeared from the record business. There were other Billy Browns with other labels, such as Challenge Records , Decca Records and Columbia in the early 1950s, but these are not the same people or a connection could not be proven.
Discography
| year | title | Record company |
|---|---|---|
| 1957 | Did We Have a Party / It's Love | Stars 552 |
| 1957 | Did We Have a Party / It's Love | Columbia 4-41029 |
| 1958 | Meet Me In the Alley, Sally / I Wanted You | Columbia 4-41100 |
| 1958 | Next / Once In a Lifetime | Columbia 4-41174 |
| 1958 | Flip Out / Echo Mountain | Columbia 4-41297 |
| 1959 | Rum 'Em Off / He'll Have to Go | Columbia 4-41380 |
| 1960 | Be Honest with Me / The Last Letter | Republic 2004 |
| 1960 | Lost Weekend / Just Out of Reach | Republic 2007 |
| 1961 | Look Out Heart (Here Comes Love) / It Don't take Long to Learn | Republic 2012 |
| He'll have to go /? | Chart action |
Web links
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Brown, Billy |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American rock and roll musician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 22, 1929 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Princeton (West Virginia) |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 10, 2009 |
| Place of death | New Smyrna Beach |