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Damned if this isn’t the story that rock ’n’ roll dreams are almost made of. In 1973, Wilson, an unknown 26-year-old Indiana native, had a batch of songs he’d written and wanted to record. Being a Dylan fan, he decided to knock on the door of Bob Johnston, producer of several Dylan albums as well as seminal Leonard Cohen and Johnny Cash albums, and ask him to make a record.
Although having no idea who Wilson was, Johnston put common sense aside and asked Wilson to play one of his songs on the spot; that same evening, Bill Wilson was in Ray Stevens Sound Lab Studio in Nashville, and Johnston producing his first album! There with him was a selection of Johnston’s “go to” Nashville session players – Kenny Buttrey (drums), Charlie Daniels and Jerry Reed (guitars), Charlie McCoy (harmonica), Mac Gayden (slide), Pete Drake (pedal steel), singer Cissy Houston, and Bob Wilson on piano. It has the makings of a fairy tale of Disney proportions.
What is beyond argument is that Bill Wilson was an extraordinarily gifted songwriter and recording artist just waiting for the “big break.” Although recorded in Nashville, the 11 songs are more steeped in the influences of Austin’s outlaw country with a faint Southern tinge; there are echoes of Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, Mickey Newbury, and even Mike Nesmith’s 1st National Band (check out the exhilarating opener ‘Rainy Day Resolution’).
As is usual, the lyrics are about the themes that generally run through the genre – heartbreak, social commentary, tales of drifters and lost love (the abject pain in ‘Long Gone Lady’ is palpable). There’s even some country gospel thrown in for good measure, Cissy Houston harmonising gloriously on ‘Following My Lord’ and ‘Father Let Your Light Shine Down’. Gayden’s slide playing is sublime throughout, particularly on ‘Ballad Of Cody’ and ‘Pay Day Give Away’; neither would be out of place on an Allman Brothers album. All that’s needed is the “happily ever after” flashing neon and the fairy tale is complete.
Sadly, that never transpired. Wilson took his album to Columbia where it sank almost without trace; Wilson himself struggled to actually find a copy of his own album. As he somewhat prophetically sings in the title track: “another crazy dream had come undone.” Josh Rosenthal (Tompkins Square founder) stumbled across the album in a vinyl bargain bin at a San Francisco record fair in January and bought it for 25 cents, purely on the strength of the producer’s name.
When contacted by Rosenthal, Johnston recalled that he never saw or spoke with Wilson again after the recording session, but “the fucker could really write.” Bill Wilson died from a heart attack in 1993, aged 46, having made less than $100 from his record and never seeing its resurrection. Not all fairy tales have happy endings.
by Trevor J. Leeden
Tracks
1. Rainy Day Resolution - 3:33
2. Pay Day Give Away - 4:00
3. To Rebecca - 5:54
4. Black Cat Blues - 5:13
5. Father Let Your Light Shine Down - 2:58
6. Long Gone Lady - 3:33
7. Following My Lord - 4:13
8. Ballad Of Cody - 4:27
9. The Good Ship Society - 2:59
10.Ever Changing Minstrel - 3:06
11.Monday Morning Strangers - 3:50
Words and Music by Bill Wilson
Musicians
*Bill Wilson - Vocals Guitar
*Mac Gayden - Slide Guitar
*Charlie Daniels - Guitar
*Bob Wilson - Piano
*Charlie McCoy - Harmonica
*Kenny Buttrey - Drums
*Jerry Reed - Guitar
*Pete Drake - Steel Guitar
*Cissy Houston - Vocals
Free Text
Thanks very much. This really is a lost classic.
ReplyDeleteNot entirely certain if it's a lost classic, but it's certainly a lost treat! Haven't heard this in years. In fact, I'd forgotten about it completely. Thanks for the refresh!
ReplyDeleteLOL...!! Poor Bill.. He has quite a complexion problem..
ReplyDeleteAnd today is Bill Wilson's birthday.
ReplyDeleteBorn March 14, 1947
Really loved this and went online to find out more about Bill. Apparently there was three albums recorded and from some of the YouTube links that i've heard the songs are way more in the "outlaw" mould of things...If ANYONE has access any chance of Marios posting more Bill Wilson?
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly why I love this site. A great artist I would probably never have heard of otherwise...
ReplyDeleteJust bought the CD a couple months ago. I love it. Bill was great.
ReplyDeleteGreat great album! A hidden treasure!! Cheers from The Lake Band!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this. I'd never even heard of him before, and this is a really fun album.
ReplyDeleteBill Wilson didn't have a complexion problem. It was just a funky album cover. Bill was a standout local performer in my college days. Saw him multiple times with and without his band. In Indianapolis, IN, this IS a standout classic. I play several of his songs and they are always accepted with big
ReplyDeleteapplause and comments.
Came here to check if it could be Duane Allman that I was hearing... two years after his untimely death.
ReplyDeletemarios could you please re up
ReplyDeletewinston smith, "Bill Wilson – Ever Changing Minstrel", renew....
ReplyDeletePlease, Marios... could you re upload. I'm very interested... Thank you so much
ReplyDelete