Bill Anderson (country music)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bill Anderson
Bill Anderson album
Background information
Birth name	James William Anderson III
Born	November 1, 1937
Origin	Columbia, South Carolina
Genre(s)	country music
Occupation(s)	country singer/songwriter
Instrument(s)	singing/guitar
Years active	1960s-Present
Label(s)	Decca Records, MCA Records
Website	Bill Anderson Official Website

James William Anderson III (born November 1, 1937 in Columbia, South Carolina) is an American country music singer and songwriter, nicknamed "Whisperin' Bill". Arguably his biggest hit was the 1963 single "Still". He also wrote the country standard "Once A Day" for Connie Smith. The song has subsequently been covered by a large number of artists, including Martina McBride, Van Morrison, and The Triffids.

1 Rise to Fame
2 The Whisperin' Bill
3 Other Careers & Life Today
4 Bill Anderson's Biggest Hits
5 Sources
6 External links

[edit] Rise to Fame

Although Bill was born in Columbia, he was raised in Atlanta, Georgia. Anderson had actually been writing songs since high school and he wrote Ray Price's classic 1958 hit "City Lights" when he was just nineteen. "City Lights" b/w "No Song To Sing" were recorded and produced by a fellow disc jockey, Bob Ritter. Some say these early recordings are his best. He attended college at the University of Georgia and earned a degree in journalism. He also attened the Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, where he got his Bachelor's Degree. Eventually, he laned a job for the Atlanta Constitution. During the same he landed this job, he signed with Decca Records and soon began reording with the legendary producer Owen Bradley. Bradley has been considered one of the founders of the Nashville Sound and had worked with many famous singers like Loretta Lynn and Patsy Cline. As a recording artist, he landed his first single in 1959 with "That's What It's Like To Be Lonesome". In 1960,he scored his first top 10 with "Walk Out Backwards". In 1961,he released what would become his trademark song, "Po' Folks"(which would become the name of his band called the Po' Boys in the 60's and beginning in the mid 70's changed to the Po' Folks when he added female members to his band) That same year, he would become a member of the Grand Ole Opry which he remains a member to this day. In 1962,he would score his 1st #1 with "Mama Sang A Song". His next single "Still" would become his biggest hit in 1963 not only reaching number 1 on the country charts but number 8 on the pop charts as well and became his best known recording to date and became one of the biggest hits in Country music. Other songs in the 60's that were major hits for Bill included, "I Get The Fever"(1966), "I Love You Drops"(1966), "Get While The Gettin's Good"(1967), "Wild Weekend"(1968), "Happy State Of Mind"(1968), "My Life(Throw It Away If I Want To)"(1969) and "But You Know That I Love You"(1969)

Bill Anderson was also a very successful songwriter and became one of the top songwriters of the 60s. He wrote the hit "The Tip of My Fingers" for Roy Clark and Eddy Arnold and had discovered Connie Smith, which he wrote her first single called "Once a Day". Anderson's vocal style was whisper-like and sounded nice but was nothing completely out of the ordinary for that time. He also did recitations in which he spoke rather than sang, "Mama Sang A Song" and "Still" being prime examples of this. Other songs including "Bright Lights And Country Music" also showed his honky-tonk side.

[edit] The Whisperin' Bill

Into the 70s, Anderson's career fell down a little bit but he was still charting songs with regularity. His major hits in the 70's included "Love Is A Sometimes Thing"(1970), "Quits"(1971), "Don't She Look Good"(1972), "If You Can Live With It(I Can Live Without It)"(1973), "Corner Of My Life"(1973), "World Of Make Believe"(his last solo number 1 in 1974), and many others. He had also cut some duets with Jan Howard starting in 1966 with "I Know You're Married(But I Love You Still)", then in the fall of 1967 they went to number 1 for 4 weeks on the country charts with the song, "For Loving You", their other hits included "If It's All The Same To You"(1970), their version of Diana Ross and the Supremes "Someday We'll Be Together"(1970), and "Dis-Satisfied"(1971), Mary Lou Turner in which he scored his last number 1 with "Sometimes" in 1976 and "That's What Made Me Love You"(1976) and also in an odd pairing with country outlaw David Allan Coe with their revival of Bill's hit from 1962, "Get A Little Dirt On Your Hands" in 1980. Anderson also became a member of the Association of Country Entertainers, which was a group that criticized country music's pop influences. Oddly, in 1978, he released a disco flavored country hit with "I Can't Wait Any Longer" which reached #4 on the country charts and #80 on the pop 100. With his singles after 1980 failing to reach the top 40 on the country charts, Anderson's label MCA Records dropped him in 1982 after nearly 25 years on the label. In 1975, Bill Anderson was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2001, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

[edit] Other Careers & Life Today

He has also served as a television game show host, emceeing The Better Sex on ABC (as a co-host with Sarah Purcell) and Fandango, which aired on The Nashville Network. He also co-produced the The Nashville Network show, You Can Be a Star!, which was hosted by fellow country singer Jim Ed Brown. Anderson also occasionally appeared on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live. He was also a frequent guest on Match Game in the '70s. The video for the song "Whiskey Lullaby" won Anderson Video of the Year and Vocal Collaboration of the Year in 2004. July 15, 2006 marked Anderson's 45th year as a member of the Grand Ole Opry.