Billy Williams (record producer)

Last updated
Biily Williams
Birth nameBilly Wayne Williams
OriginMuskegeon, Michigan
Genres Country
Occupation(s)Record producer
Arranger
Session player
InstrumentsGuitar
Years active1958–present
Formerly ofLyle Lovett's Large Band
David Sloan and the Rogues
The Crackerjacks

Billy Williams is an American producer, arranger, and guitarist. He is most known for his production work with Lyle Lovett, sharing a 1997 Best Country Album Grammy award with Lovett as producers of The Road To Ensenada. [1]

Contents

Early life

Billy Wayne Williams was born in Muskegon, Michigan. His early music influences were big band country swing and jazz. Williams moved to Arizona in 1958 at the age of 21 after serving in the Army. Stationed in Germany, he had played in a swing band, the Crackerjacks; Tompall Glaser was a member of the band. They tried to keep the band together, meeting in Phoenix, but it didn't hold; only Williams remained in Arizona. [2]

Career

During his first years in Phoenix he played in many clubs and in many bands, keeping busy as a record producer, arranger and session player. In 1966 he started playing for a country band, the Rogues, and played with them for 24 years. The last 20 years were as the house band for the West Phoenix nightclub, Mr. Lucky's. [2]

The Rogues played at the 1983 Schueberfouer funfair in Luxembourg. [3] One of the events at the fair was an American musical tent; the owner of that event was a fan of the now J. David Sloan and the Rogues, and invited them. [4] Lovett was also at the same event, by himself, doing acoustic numbers between other acts, [5] largely ignored, and running out of money. [6] Lovett was invited by Williams to sit in with the group, [7] which learned some of his songs. Their swing and harmony opened Lovett's eyes to what his songs could sound like with proper backing; [8] Lovett had never sung with a band before. [4] Sloan and Williams offered Lovett a deal on studio time, first day free. In 1984 Lovett took them up on the offer. Williams rounded up the Rogues and other Phoenix talent to work with Lovett, including Francine Reed. After several stays in Arizona over that summer he recorded 18 songs. [3] The demo tape of the first four songs led to his first record deal; [9] ten of those songs, recorded with the Rogues, became Lovett's self-titled debut album. [10] In addition to Williams, several of the Phoenicians, including Ray Herndon, Matt McKenzie, Matt Rollings, [8] and Reed went on to play in his band. Williams played guitar on several of the early albums and produced or co-produced all of his albums through 2007. [11] In 1990 Williams left the Rogues to work with Lovett. MCA country record producer Tony Brown noted that sometimes people play key roles in artists' music; for Lovett, "Billy was a big part of that." [12]

In addition to his five decades of producing [1] selected other credits include:

Arranger

Guitarist

Honors

Arizona Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame [2]

Related Research Articles

Outlaw country is a subgenre of American country music created by a small group of iconoclastic artists active in the 1970s and early 1980s, known collectively as the outlaw movement, who fought for and won their creative freedom outside of the Nashville establishment that dictated the sound of country music of the era. Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, and David Allan Coe were among the movement's most commercially successful members.

Lyle Lovett American musician

Lyle Pearce Lovett is an American singer, songwriter, actor and record producer. Active since 1980, he has recorded 13 albums and released 25 singles to date, including his highest entry, the number 10 chart hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, "Cowboy Man". Lovett has won four Grammy Awards, including Best Male Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Album. His most recent album is 12th of June, released in 2022.

Asleep at the Wheel American band

Asleep at the Wheel is an American Western swing group that was formed in Paw Paw, West Virginia, and is based in Austin, Texas. The band has won nine Grammy Awards since their 1970 inception, released over twenty albums, and has charted more than 21 singles on the Billboard country charts. Their highest-charting single, "The Letter That Johnny Walker Read", peaked at No. 10 in 1975.

Robert Earl Keen American singer-songwriter (b. 1956)

Robert Earl Keen is an American singer-songwriter and entertainer. Debuting with 1984's No Kinda Dancer, the Houston native has recorded 20 full-length albums for both independent and major record labels. His songs have had cover versions recorded by many musicians, including George Strait, Joe Ely, Lyle Lovett, The Highwaymen and Nanci Griffith.

Pam Tillis American country music singer-songwriter

Pamela Yvonne Tillis is an American country music singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She is the daughter of country music singer Mel Tillis and ex-wife of songwriter Bob DiPiero. Tillis recorded unsuccessful pop material for Elektra and Warner Records in the 1980s before shifting to country music. In 1989, she had signed to Arista Nashville, entering Top 40 on Hot Country Songs for the first time with "Don't Tell Me What to Do" in 1990. This was the first of five singles from her breakthrough album Put Yourself in My Place.

"Friend of the Devil" is a song recorded by the Grateful Dead. The music was written by Jerry Garcia and John Dawson and the lyrics are by Robert Hunter. It is the second track of the Dead's 1970 album American Beauty.

<i>Waylon at JDs</i> 1964 studio album by Waylon Jennings

Waylon at JD's is the debut studio album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings. Though listed in several sources as a live recording, it is in fact a studio album, recorded at Arizona Recorders in Phoenix on December 4, 1964. 2000's The Restless Kid: Live At JD's is a genuine JD's era live recording.

Tony Brown is an American record producer and pianist, known primarily for his work in country music. A former member of the Stamps Quartet and backing musician for Emmylou Harris, Brown has primarily worked as a producer since the late 1980s. He is known primarily for his production work with Reba McEntire, Vince Gill, and George Strait.

<i>Lyle Lovett</i> (album) 1986 studio album by Lyle Lovett

Lyle Lovett is Lyle Lovett's 1986 debut album. By the mid-1980s, Lovett had already distinguished himself in the burgeoning Texas singer-songwriter scene. He had performed in the New Folk competition at the Kerrville Folk Festival in 1980 and returned to win in 1982. In 1984, he recorded a four-song demo with the help of the Phoenix band J. David Sloan and the Rogues and his music had begun to be distributed by the Fast Folk Musical Magazine

<i>Pontiac</i> (album) 1987 studio album by Lyle Lovett

Pontiac is Lyle Lovett's second studio album, released in 1987.

<i>Lyle Lovett and His Large Band</i> 1989 studio album by Lyle Lovett

Lyle Lovett and His Large Band is Lyle Lovett's third album, released in 1989. Lovett won the Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for the album.

Francine Reed is an American blues singer, solo artist, and regular singing partner of Lyle Lovett since the 1980s and member of Lovett's Large Band. Reed has also recorded duets with Willie Nelson and Delbert McClinton and others.

<i>The Living Room Sessions</i> (B. J. Thomas album) 2013 studio album by B.J. Thomas

The Living Room Sessions (2013) is B.J. Thomas' first "unplugged" album, celebrating fifty years in the recording industry and forty-seven years since his first Gold record. The Living Room Sessions offers many of Thomas' most recognizable hits, the album was produced to instill the atmosphere of an intimate setting and includes duet performances from some of Thomas' favorite artists.

Robby Turner is an American pedal steel guitarist, best known for his work with Waylon Jennings and his contributions to recordings by many other artists.

Paul William Leim is a prominent Nashville-based drummer and recording session musician.

<i>Wanda Jackson in Person</i> 1969 live album by Wanda Jackson

Wanda Jackson in Person is a live album by American recording artist Wanda Jackson. It was released in October 1969 via Capitol Records and contained ten tracks. The project was Jackson's first live album in her career and was recorded at Mr. Lucky's, a performance venue in Phoenix, Arizona.

Ray Herndon is an American country singer/songwriter and guitarist known mainly for playing with Lyle Lovett's Large Band and McBride & the Ride.

Dan Tomlinson Musical artist

Daniel Tomlinson is an American drummer, session musician, teacher, and author. Since the 1970s, Tomlinson has toured with many artists including world-renowned musicians, most notably Lyle Lovett and Acoustic Alchemy. Tomlinson wrote a drum book, The World of Flams, voted Best Method Drumming Book Of The Year in 2000 in DRUM! magazine.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Billy Williams". Discogs. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  2. 1 2 3 "Billy Williams". Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall Of Fame. Retrieved 2022-06-27.
  3. 1 2 Masley, Ed. "Lyle Lovett on his new album '12th of June' and how a Phoenix house band changed his life". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2022-06-19.
  4. 1 2 Leatherman, Benjamin. "Mr. Lucky's Oral History: 55 Years of Wild Tales From Phoenix's Iconic Country Nightclub". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  5. ↑ "A conversation with the very particular Lyle Lovett - Northwest". digitaledition.chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2022-06-28.
  6. ↑ October 1998 0, Jan Reid (1998-10-01). "The Improbable Rise of Lyle Lovett". Texas Monthly. Retrieved 2022-06-27.
  7. ↑ Coughlin, Kevin. "Lyle Lovett and His Band loom Large in Morristown | Morristown Green" . Retrieved 2022-06-16.
  8. 1 2 Himes, Geoffrey. "Matt Rollings Moves From the Liner Notes to the Marquee With Mosaic". Nashville Scene. Retrieved 2022-06-27.
  9. ↑ "How to Hire LYLE LOVETT - Booking Alt-Country Singer/Songwriters Music - Corporate Event Booking Agent". www.delafont.com. Retrieved 2022-06-15.
  10. ↑ "Arizona Country Roads". PHOENIX magazine. 2014-07-01. Retrieved 2022-06-15.
  11. ↑ Dansby, Andrew (2016-08-18). "30 years since first album, Lyle Lovett is Americana success story". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  12. ↑ Jarrett, Michael (2014-07-01). Producing Country: The Inside Story of the Great Recordings. Wesleyan University Press. ISBN   978-0-8195-7465-7.p.180
  13. ↑ Jackie Stewart - World's Champion Lover (Audio Only) , retrieved 2022-06-27
  14. ↑ Wanda Jackson - In Person Live At "Mr Lucky's" In Phoenix Arizona , retrieved 2022-06-27
  15. ↑ The Great Tompall and His Outlaw Band, 1976
  16. ↑ Mel Tillis - Are You Sincere , retrieved 2022-06-27
  17. ↑ Gigi Dixon - Runaway Heart , retrieved 2022-06-27
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.