Billy Fury

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Billy Fury (April 17, 1940 – January 28, 1983) was an English pop singer and songwriter of the 1950s to 1980s from Wavertree, Liverpool.

Born Ronald Wycherley, he attended a gig in Liverpool run by impresario Larry Parnes, in the hope of interesting established artiste Marty Wilde in some of the songs he had written. Instead, in an episode that has become pop music legend, Parnes pushed young Ronnie on stage. He was such a success that Parnes signed him, added him to the tour, and renamed him Billy Fury.

He released his first hit for Decca, "Maybe Tomorrow", in 1959. By March 1960, he hit UK No.9 with his own composition "Collette", followed by "That's Love" and his first album The Sound Of Fury (1960), which featured a young Joe Brown on lead guitar, with backup vocals by The Four Jays. This album is seen as one of the most important self-penned British rock and roll albums ever.

After further hits and sacking his band The Blue Flames — which included keyboardist Georgie Fame, auditions were held for a new group and held by Parnes in Liverpool. Among those who failed were the pre-fame Beatles, who for the first time, called themselves The Silver Beatles. They were offered the job for £20 a week on condition that they sacked bass player Stuart Sutcliffe. John Lennon refused and the band left after Lennon had secured Fury's autograph. The Beatles were salvaged however by being sent on a tour of Scotland with Johnny Gentle and Duffy Power, who were a couple more of Parnes' acts.

Fury concentrated less on Rock 'n' Roll and more on mainstream ballads, such as "Halfway To Paradise" and "Jealousy" (both 1961, each of which reached number 2 in the British Singles Chart). This was Decca's decision to mould Fury into a teen idol after his last self penned song, "My Christmas Prayer", had failed to chart. The years 1962 and 1963 were Billy Fury's best years chart wise. However, he was not a typical teen-idol, there was too much sexuality in his performances and his renditions were never light weight in the mould of some singers like Craig Douglas or Jimmy Justice. Fury's fans and contemporaries in music knew he was a rocker and the real thing musically.

In 1962 Fury appeared in his first film Play It Cool, modelled on the Elvis movies. It featured Helen Shapiro, Danny Rivers, Shane Fenton and Bobby Vee, the latter who appeared with the Vernons Girls. The hit single from the film was "Once Upon A Dream". In the film Fury did not get the girl but stayed with his friends. There are notable performances by many well known British actors and performers such as Richard Wattis, Lionel Blair, and the famous Dennis Price of the horror film genre. The music highlight of the film is Fury's singing of the title track.

Billy Fury was known for excellent albums. His We Want Billy (released 1963, with The Tornados) was one of the first live albums in British rock history and featured renditions of his major hits and covers of several classic R and B songs such as "Unchain My Heart" by Ray Charles.

In 1965 he appeared in the film I've Gotta Horse, which featured the band The Bachelors. The movie was not a success but it seemed more real and there are many interesting references to the UK sea-side towns of the 1960s. A few minor roles are noticeable for people like Michael Medwin and Jon Pertwee of Doctor Who fame. The album from the film is available in stereo. Having had more UK hits, such as "It's Only Make Believe" "I Will" both in 1964 and "In Thoughts of You" in 1965, Fury began a lengthy absence from the charts in 1967, and underwent surgery for heart problems which led to his abandoning touring. He remained popular even after his hits stopped.

In 1973, he came out of retirement to play rock 'n' roller Stormy Tempest in the film That'll Be The Day. The film starring David Essex and Ringo Starr was roughly based on the early days of The Beatles. Ringo Starr was from the same Dingle area of Liverpool as Fury, and had originally played drums for Rory Storm & The Hurricanes, who the Stormy Tempest group were said to be modelled on.

In 1981 and 1982, Fury was signed to Poldor Records by A& R man Frank Neilson and recorded a comeback album, The One And Only (released posthumously) with Shakin' Stevens' producer Stuart Colman and several singles. He recorded a live performance for the television show Unforgettable featuring six of his old hits - at the request of his mother, only four were broadcast, however, as the two others had such great emotional attachment to her.

Because of his health, he did little touring to promote the new album. His last public appearance was at the Sunnyside, Northampton, in December 1982.

He died in the London flat of his long-term companion, property heiress Lisa Rosen, on 28 January 1983.

Billy Fury was also a keen amateur birdwatcher.

[edit] Notes

Despite spending many weeks on the charts, Billy Fury never achieved a number one single.
The song "Wondrous Place" was a great favourite of Billy's, so he recorded it at least four times during his career. It later received much airplay when used on British television as the theme for a Toyota Yaris car advertisement in 1999 and 2000.
"Turn Your Lamp Down Low" (recorded in 1965 with backing band the Gamblers), was one of the earliest examples of a British act recording a track in the reggae style, (with the emphasis on the second and fourth beats of each bar).