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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 ZWILLIAMS, Billy(b 28 Dec. '16, Waco TX; d 17 Oct. '72, Chicago) Led black vocal group with several well-deserved hits in '50s. Studied to be Methodist minister at Wilberforce College in Ohio, formed quartet Charioteers and broadcast on WLW in Cincinatti, WOR in NYC, worked on Bing Crosby show on West Coast; hit "My Adobe Hacienda' '47 on RCA; he formed own Billy Williams Quartet with Eugene Dixon, Claude Riddick and John Ball '50: had a few hits on MGM, on Mercury '53, became regulars on Sid Caesar's Show Of Shows on TV. Of ten hits on Coral '54-9, by far the biggest was "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter' (hit '35 by Fats Waller). He later worked as a social worker in Chicago. |