Bill Cunningham (musician)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bill Cunningham (born 19??) is the original bassist for the Box Tops. He left the band in 1969 and rejoined them in 1996 when the band reformed.

From Box Tops webpage:

Bill Cunningham
   * Born January 23, 1950, Memphis Tennessee.
   * Plays bass (both bass guitar and upright bass), cello, piano,   
and organ.
   * Bill's father was a SUN recording artist and worked with Sam 
Phillips at SUN studio intermittently from 1953-61. He first recorded 
under the name Buddy Cunningham and later under the name Buddy Blake. 
Buddy was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame as the first 
percussionist on an Elvis Presley record. That session at SUN took 
place September 10, 1954 and included the following songs:
'Tomorrow Night, Blue Moon Of Kentucky,
I'll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin'), 
Just Because, Satisfied, 
Good Rockin' Tonight, 
I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine'
      Musicians: Elvis Presley, Scotty Moore, and Bill Black; 
      Doug Poindexter - guitar, Buddy Cunningham - drum sounds
   * Bill's older brother, B.B. Cunningham Jr., was a member of
The Hombres and sang and co-wrote the hit 'Let It All Hang Out.'
Currently, he plays bass for Jerry Lee Lewis.
   * Bill played various instruments in a number of early 1960s
Memphis bands, before joining the group that eventually became The  
Box Tops. 
One of these bands, The Jynx, included Chris Bell (who later founded 
Big Star). Between The Jynx and The Box Tops Bill played with another 
Memphis group called The Jokers, which included Richard Rosebrough   
who later would play on a number of Big Star, Alex Chilton, and 
Chris Bell recordings.
   * Bill remained a member of the Box Tops until September of 1969,
when he decided to return to school to get a music degree in
performance(upright bass).
   * Though Bill virtually vanished from the pop music scene after he
left the Box Tops, he rose in the ranks of classical musicians, playing
in many symphony orchestras and in ballet and opera companies
throughout the Midsouth while attending university. During this
period he backed in  performance artists as diverse as Eddy Arnold,
Van Cliburn, Isaac Hayes,  the Romeros (Spanish guitarists), and
 Dionne Warwick.
   * For a brief period Bill became a resident of Germany and worked,
studied, and traveled in many European countries.
   * During work on his Masters Degree in music (back in the United 
States), Bill worked with Chris Bell at Ardent Studio, providing the.
string arrangement for Chris' "You And Your Sister. " 
Around this period, Bill competed with numerous bassists from across
the country for an opening in the White House orchestra in Washington,
DC. He won and moved to Washington. 
In the mid to late 1970s, he played for most White House dinners,
receptions, and special quest performances  for Presidents Ford and
Carter and for many State Department celebrations for Secretaries of
State Kissinger and Vance. During this period Bill played for numerous
dignitaries, including the Queens of England and Holland, as well as
various heads of states from around the world. 
Also, during this period Bill recorded sound tracks for a number of
TV specials, including some with Jim Henson and the Muppets.
   * Throughout his classical music career he played with many of the 
world's best known performers and conductors. For example, Bill's last
classical-music public performance was backing Itzhak Perlman and 
Pinchas Zukerman in a White House celebration at the signing of the
Camp David Accord ( the Middle East peace agreement signed by
Sadat,Begin, and Carter).
   * In 1979, Bill was studying in Philadelphia with Roger Scott, the
principal bassist of the Philadelphia Philharmonic,when he decided to
change professions. This shift led to a MBA (Masters of Business
Administration) degree in international business and to a profession
that assists with U.S. bilateral and multilateral trade issues.
   * In 1996, Bill played the principal role in reforming the original
Box Tops. He played bass and shared responsibility for keyboard parts
with John on the 'Tear Off' album. Bill has toured with the group since
1997, holding down the bottom end on stage with his bass lines.