Dan Gould Posted January 13, 2004 Report Share Posted January 13, 2004 What's the story with Billy Vera? I only knew him for his blue-eyed soul hit, "At This Moment" (memorialized on Family Ties) but now I've noticed him on a number of jazz reissues, writing liner notes, getting credit as producer or even, in the case of some Vee Jay reissues, being "Series Supervisor". Is he just a closet jazzhead? Clearly a hipper cat than I thought (and as blue-eyed soul goes, I'd much rather hear him sing "At This Moment" than anything Hall and Oates ever waxed)! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted January 13, 2004 Report Share Posted January 13, 2004 He seems to be quite a collector and historian of the r and b and vocal jazz material, and he's got good taste along those lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted January 13, 2004 Report Share Posted January 13, 2004 Vera goes back quite a way, parterning with the late Judy Clay on Atlantic (Atco?) as the first ongoing interracial/intergender singing team. I think he comes to jazz more from the R&B angle, but the era of R&B he's into the deepest was one were it and jazz were next door neighbors who often had property disputes, if you know what I mean. The first Billy & The Beaters album, the one that spawned "At This Moment" features some really great horn writing, as well as a more than decent cover of T-Bone Walker's "Strollin' With Bones". Might be up your alley, Dan. I know it is mine. I accidentally stumbled onto the band in 1982 through a blues bassist I worked with in Albuquerque who was always buying off the wall indie stuff that nobody else was into. One listen to this, and I dug it. We went on to cover about half the album, and transcribing the horn charts proved both a challenge and a pleasure. I don't know how hip Billy Vera really is, and I don't think I'd want him writing liner notes to A LOVE SUPREME or such, but the niche he occupies seems to be one that he comes by honestly and occupies authoritatively. Check out his website for more info/detail: http://www.billyvera.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted January 13, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2004 Thanks Jim, that LP sounds like a winner. BTW, though, according to AMG, Vera has written liners for a couple of Duke Ellington comps, so its not just the region of that property line dispute Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted January 13, 2004 Report Share Posted January 13, 2004 Hey, I think more and more Duke was one of the Dukes of r and b---isn't that much of a stretch really! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted January 13, 2004 Report Share Posted January 13, 2004 Rock City Rock, baby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted January 13, 2004 Report Share Posted January 13, 2004 Oh yeah, that first Billy & The beaters album features guest artist Skunk Baxter on pedal steel, If you're worried about how a pedal steel fits into R&B, don't be, The cat can play! Pedal steel is one of those "mystery instruments" for me. In the first place, I don't see how anybody plays the damn thing (you use your hands AND your knees!), and the possibilities of voicing and texture seem nearly unlimited. In the wrong hands, it's a tragedy, but in the right hands, it's a freakin' miracle! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDK Posted January 13, 2004 Report Share Posted January 13, 2004 Vera used to have a great Sunday morning radio show here in town back in the late 80s-early 90s. Not jazz, but old r & b, jump blues, early rock and roll, etc. He's the guy who turned me on to the brilliance that was Specialty Records, still one of my favorite all-time record labels. I remember one time he played, back-to-back, 3 or 4 versions of "The Hucklebuck," including Charlie Parker's version called "Now's the Time." It was enlightening to see how the same tune was "appropriated" by others back in the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost of miles Posted January 13, 2004 Report Share Posted January 13, 2004 (edited) verahomepage And this from AMG: Not only is Billy Vera (born $William McCord, Jr., May 28, 1944, Riverside, CA) a rock historian, he's made some rock history himself over the last quarter century. Vera wrote for the likes of Barbara Lewis and Rick Nelson during the mid-'60s before recording his "Storybook Children" as an R&B duet with Judy Clay in 1967 for Atlantic. It proved a solid hit, as did their 1968 follow-up "Country Girl - City Man." Vera surfaced as a solo artist in 1987 when "At This Moment," a song he'd cut in 1981 with his band, Beaters, was featured on the popular TV sitcom Family Ties and topped the pop charts on Rhino. Vera recently returned to a soulful duet format, this time with ex-Labelle belter Nona Hendryx, for "You Have to Cry Sometime" on Shanachie. Vera has also compiled and annotated many CD reissue projects, notably the Legends of Specialty series For some reason I thought that he'd died recently, but I think I'm confusing him with somebody else who wrote a lot of the liner notes for Capitol's Black and White/Imperial re-issue program--Pete Welding. Edited January 13, 2004 by ghost of miles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted January 13, 2004 Report Share Posted January 13, 2004 NONA HENDRYX????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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