Billy Rich

Last updated

Billy Rich
Birth nameEddie Wilbur Rich
Born (1949-04-07) April 7, 1949 (age 73)
Omaha, Nebraska, United States
Genres Blues, rock, R&B, funk
Occupation(s)Musician, songwriter, arranger
Instrument(s)Bass guitar, vocals
Years active1956–present
Website billrichmusic.com

Eddie Wilbur "Billy" Rich (born April 7, 1949) is an American electric bassist and blues musician. He is known for his association with Buddy Miles, John McLaughlin, Jimi Hendrix and especially Taj Mahal, with whom he has played since 1972. Rich was born in Omaha, Nebraska and is based out of Denver, Colorado. On July 29, 2004, Billy was inducted into the Nebraska Music Hall of Fame, and is a member of the Omaha Black Music Hall of Fame.

Contents

Childhood

Bill Rich was born to Milton Rich and Callie "Chaney" Rich. Bill's brother, Herbie Rich, was one of the original members of Electric Flag and also worked with Jimi Hendrix. His sister, Carolyn, was a vocalist with various bands. All three were inducted into the Omaha Black Music Hall of Fame together. Bill's father played the harmonica as a hobby. Bill said that his father was influenced by Sonny Boy Williamson and Lightnin’ Hopkins, and loved the song "Stone Fox Chase". [1] Another brother, Bob, sang and played percussion. Billy began playing guitar at the age of seven. Together, his father and siblings they started a band called The 7 Wonders Combo. Rich's first guitar was a Silvertone.

Bill played primarily guitar for about seven years. At one point he had a double neck Danelectro guitar with a bass on the bottom. He found he enjoyed the bass neck, and decided to switch. His first bass was a Japanese "knockoff" of a Fender Jazz called a Conrad. Rich states his guitar influences are Chuck Berry, Lonnie Mack, and Duane Eddy. His bass playing influence was James Jamerson, who played bass on many Motown recordings. [1]

Early career

Two months after graduating from high school, The Whispers were on tour in Omaha and were looking for a bass player, and Rich joined. A few months later, after a tour ended, The Whispers were doing local gigs in the San Francisco Bay area. Bill's brother Herbie, Buddy Miles and Stemsey Hunter (all from Omaha) were playing in Electric Flag in San Francisco at that time. Rich met Buddy, who invited him to join his new band, The Buddy Miles Express, along with his brother Herbie Rich in 1968. The three were inducted into the Nebraska Music Hall of Fame together many years later. Their first gig was at the Whisky a Go Go, a show in which Jimi Hendrix joined them on stage. Hendrix joined with Billy and with The Buddy Miles Express at various times during this period. [1] Billy Rich wrote the song "69 Freedom Special" for The Buddy Miles Express (on the album Electric Church), and Hendrix produced it. [2] [3]

He was invited by Hendrix's producer, Allen Douglas, to play bass on Hendrix's Band of Gypsies album, but he had a prior engagement. Two months later, Douglas invited Rich to do the John McLaughlin Devotion album with him in New York, which he did. [1]

Taj Mahal

In 1972, Billy began playing with Taj Mahal, an association which has continued on and off until today. Along with Rich, this trio started with Mahal and Kester Smith on Drums, a lineup which has changed over time, but has quite frequently featured Rich. [1] With Taj, Bill has toured Europe, South America, Africa, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the Fiji Islands. [4]

Solo work and other associations

In the 1970s, Rich spent some time in Woodstock, New York. While there, he collaborated with Paul Butterfield and Geoff Muldaur. He toured with and recorded two albums with Butterfield's ‘Better Days Band’. He also toured and recorded three albums with Muldaur. His studio work includes recordings with John McLaughlin, Seals & Crofts, Maxayn, Jesse Ed Davis, Jackie Lomax, John Simon, Roger Tillson, James Van Buren, Alvaro Torres and others. As a session musician, Rich has gotten the chance to play different styles of music, including Reggae, Blues, Country Western, R&B, Jazz, Rock, Samba, Pop and Bluegrass. In 1993 Bill played violin for Christian Contemporary Music Top 40 Artist Daniel W Merrick on his album entitled "Aliyah" which helped inspire the singer/songwriter to release country songs in 2021 produced by "Beach Boys" cousin Randy Green of AudioTraxWest Recording studio in Portville, New York. [5] Bill toured for two-and a-half years with the bluegrass ensemble, The Tony Furtado Band. [1]

Rich's work was an influence on many other musicians, such as Jaco Pastorius and tuba player Howard Johnson. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noel Redding</span> English musician

David Noel Redding was an English rock musician, best known as the bass player for the Jimi Hendrix Experience and guitarist/singer for Fat Mattress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mitch Mitchell</span> English drummer and child actor

John Graham "Mitch" Mitchell was an English drummer and child actor, who was best known for his work in the Jimi Hendrix Experience for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eddie Kramer</span> British audio engineer and producer

Edwin H. Kramer is a British recording producer and engineer. He has collaborated with several artists now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, including Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, the Kinks, Kiss, John Mellencamp, and Carlos Santana, as well as records for other well-known artists in various genres, including Anthrax, Joe Cocker, Loudness, Peter Frampton, John Mayall, Ten Years After, Mott the Hoople, John Sebastian, Carly Simon, Dionne Warwick, Small Faces, Sir Lord Baltimore and Whitesnake.

<i>Band of Gypsys</i> 1970 live album by Jimi Hendrix

Band of Gypsys is a live album by Jimi Hendrix and the first without his original group, the Jimi Hendrix Experience. It was recorded on January 1, 1970, at the Fillmore East in New York City with Billy Cox on bass and Buddy Miles on drums, frequently referred to as the Band of Gypsys. The album mixes funk and rhythm and blues elements with hard rock and jamming, an approach which later became the basis of funk rock. It contains previously unreleased songs and was the last full-length Hendrix album released before his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buddy Miles</span> American drummer

George Allen "Buddy" Miles Jr. was an American composer, drummer, guitarist, vocalist and producer. He was a founding member of the Electric Flag (1967), a member of Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys (1969–1970), founder and leader of the Buddy Miles Express and later, the Buddy Miles Band. Miles also played and recorded with Carlos Santana and others. Additionally, he sang lead vocals on the critically and commercially acclaimed California Raisins claymation TV commercials and recorded two California Raisins R&B albums.

<i>Blues</i> (Jimi Hendrix album) 1994 compilation album by Jimi Hendrix

Blues is a compilation album of blues songs recorded by American singer/songwriter/musician Jimi Hendrix. Compiled by interim Hendrix producer Alan Douglas, it was released April 26, 1994, by MCA Records. The album contains eleven songs recorded by Hendrix between 1966 and 1970, six of which were previously unreleased. Hendrix wrote seven of the pieces; other writers include Muddy Waters, Booker T. Jones, and Elmore James. Most are demos, jams, and live recordings, which Hendrix may or may not have completed for release.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Cox</span> American bassist

William Cox is an American bassist, best known for performing with Jimi Hendrix. Cox is the only surviving musician to have regularly played with Hendrix: first with the experimental group that backed Hendrix at Woodstock, followed by the trio with drummer Buddy Miles that recorded the live Band of Gypsys album, and, lastly, The Cry of Love Tour trio with Mitch Mitchell back on drums. Cox continues to perform dates with the Band of Gypsys Experience and the Experience Hendrix Tour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Randy Hansen</span> American guitarist (born 1954)

Randy Hansen is an American guitarist best known for his "Rock Tribute Act" honoring Jimi Hendrix. He composed 17 minutes of the soundtrack for the 1979 movie Apocalypse Now,. His debut album was released in 1980 on Capitol Records and was recorded at the Automatt Studios in San Francisco with Scott Rosburg on bass and vocals and Charles Tapp on drums and vocals. That group played two North American tours which included several coliseum shows with Bob Seger, Sammy Hagar, REO Speedwagon, Head East, Triumph, Poco and Blue Öyster Cult.

"Have You Ever Been " is a song by English-American rock band the Jimi Hendrix Experience, featured on their 1968 third album Electric Ladyland. Written and produced by frontman Jimi Hendrix, the song acts as the title track of the album, as well as essentially the opening track following the short instrumental intro "...And the Gods Made Love".

<i>Nine to the Universe</i> 1980 compilation album by Jimi Hendrix

Nine to the Universe is a posthumous compilation album by American guitarist Jimi Hendrix. It was released in March 1980 in the US and in June 1980 in the UK. It was the third album of Hendrix recordings to be produced by Alan Douglas.

"1983… " is a song recorded in 1968 for the third studio album, Electric Ladyland, by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Written and produced by Jimi Hendrix, the song features flute player Chris Wood of the band Traffic, and at over 13 minutes in duration is the second longest track released by the group.

"Bold as Love" is the title track of Axis: Bold as Love, the second album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. The song, which closes the album, was written by Jimi Hendrix and produced by band manager Chas Chandler.

"Are You Experienced?" is the title song for the Jimi Hendrix Experience 1967 debut album. It has been described as one of Jimi Hendrix's most original compositions on the album by music writer and biographer Keith Shadwick. The song is largely based on one chord and has a drone-like quality reminiscent of Indian classical music. It features recorded guitar and drum parts that are played backwards and a repeating piano octave. Live recordings from 1968 are included on The Jimi Hendrix Concerts album and Winterland box set.

Alan Douglas Rubenstein was an American record producer from Boston, who worked with Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, John McLaughlin, Lenny Bruce and the Last Poets. He ran his own record label, Douglas Records.

"The Stars That Play with Laughing Sam's Dice", also known as "STP with LSD" and various related abbreviations and shortenings, is a song by English-American psychedelic rock band The Jimi Hendrix Experience, featured as the B-side to their 1967 fourth single "Burning of the Midnight Lamp". Written by vocalist and guitarist Jimi Hendrix, the song was later featured on the UK Version of the 1968 compilation album Smash Hits and the posthumous Loose Ends and South Saturn Delta compilations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valleys of Neptune (song)</span> 2010 single by Jimi Hendrix

"Valleys of Neptune" is a song by American rock musician Jimi Hendrix, featured on his 2010 posthumous studio album Valleys of Neptune. Written and produced by Hendrix, the song was originally recorded between 1969 and 1970.

Tony Braunagel is an American drummer, producer, and songwriter from Houston, Texas, United States, who is based in Los Angeles, California. Braunagel has played on many film scores and television shows as well as numerous albums as a musician, composer and producer. He is best known as a session drummer and/or percussionist of over 200 albums including those of Otis Rush, Eric Burdon, Johnny Nash, Coco Montoya, Lucky Peterson, as well as Grammy winning albums of Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal, Buddy Guy (percussion) and for performing live with dozens of music icons including Bonnie Raitt, Rickie Lee Jones, BB King, Lightnin’ Hopkins, John Lee Hooker, Robert Cray, Bette Midler, Lyle Lovett, and Taj Mahal to name just a few.

Stemziel "Stemsy" Hunter is a saxophonist and vocalist. During the 1960s, he was a member of The Electric Flag. He has also played on recordings by Buddy Miles, as well as being a member of Miles's band. Other artists to whose recordings he has contributed are by Crackin' and Gil Scott-Heron. He is also the owner of the Olive Branch Records label, and a record producer.

The Buddy Miles Express was a musical group fronted by American drummer/vocalist Buddy Miles. It was formed after the 1968 breakup of Miles's earlier group Electric Flag. They released four albums.

Herbie Rich was an American multi-instrumentalist from Omaha, Nebraska, who was a member of The New Breed, The Electric Flag, and the Buddy Miles Express. He also played with Jimi Hendrix, Mike Bloomfield and others.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Press Kit & Articles". BillRichMusic.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  2. ↑ Jimi Hendrix - from the Benjamin Franklin Studios 3rd Edition Part 1, By Gary Geldeart, Steve Rodham - Page 26
  3. ↑ Jimi Hendrix - From The Benjamin Franklin Studios Part 2, By Gary Geldeart, Steve Rodham - Page 90
  4. ↑ Nebraska Music Hall of Fame website - BILL RICH
  5. ↑ "Aliyah by Daniel W Merrick - DistroKid".
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.