|
Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZWHEELER, Billy Edd(b 9 December 1932, Whitesville WV) Country singer, songwriter, author, poet, historian and actor. The illegitimate son of a coal miner, he attended college in Asheville NC and Berea College KY gaining a BA degree '55. He was editor of Mountain Life And Work magazine '55-56; served in the U.S. Navy '57-8 and became a pilot. His interest in local folk history led to him singing traditional folk songs and his own self-written works. He was signed to Monitor Records '60-2; then studied at Yale Drama School; spent four years in New York writing plays and songs, gaining success with 'The Reverend Mr. Black' and 'Desert Pete' for the Kingston Trio '63. This led to a recording contract with Kapp and a country top 3 hit with self-penned 'Ode To the Little Brown Shack Out Back' '64. Though never a major success on the charts, his writing successes continued for years and included 'Jackson' for June Carter and Johnny Cash '67 and 'Coward Of The County' '80 for Kenny Rogers. He wrote several books of poems including Song Of A Woods Colt '69; writing and staging outdoor dramas Hatfields & McCoys and Song Of The Cumberland Gap staged in his beloved Appalachian mountains, where he has also written several published stories about life and the folks living there. He established the Mountain Hall Of Fame music room in Richmond WV and continued to make albums through early '80s, including Billy Edd - USA '61, Billy Edd & Bluegrass Too '62 on Monitor; Memories Of America '65, The Wheeler Man '65, Goin' Town & Country '66, Paper Birds '67, I Ain't The Worryin' Kind '68 on Kapp; Nashville Zodiac '69 on United Artists; Love '71 on RCA; Wild Mountain Flowers '79 on Flying Fish; Asheville '82 and Gee-Haw Whimmy Diddle '84 on Sagitarius. Billy Edd Wheeler's simple, moving country hymn 'Winter Sky', arranged by Jerry Teske and sung by Tammy Teske, was part of an Episcopal Christmas Eve service in Colorado Springs in 2016. |