Billy Eldridge
Bill "Billy" Eldridge is an American song-writer, singer, and guitarist. He has written hundreds of country-western songs, and co-wrote over fifty songs with Gary Stewart.
Early Life[edit]
William Jesse Eldridge was born on October 4, 1940 in Fort Pierce, Florida to William Alfred Eldridge (1898-1979), a carpenter and sign painter, and Gladys Elmira King (1905-1980). He was the youngest of three children, with brother Robert "Bob" Thomas (1929-2012), and sister Melba Jean (1932-2001).
The Fireballs[edit]
Originally known as Pat Richmond and the Fireballs, The Fireballs were formed in the late 1950s in Fort Pierce, FL. Members included: Billy Eldridge and Jimmy Sanders on guitar, Leo Law on the piano, Jac Morris on drums, and Vern Strickland on electric guitar. Local Ft. Pierce record shop owner, Irving Vulgamore spotted the group during a club date in 1958, and offered to record them.[1] In 1959, The Fireballs recorded at Criteria in Miami, where Billy was asked to "sing that song we've been messin' around" with as the B-side, which became the as yet untitled, "Let's Go Baby". Written by band member Jim King, the song wasn't more than an idea when they decided to record it during the session. On that same session, the Fireballs backed up local DJ Doug Dickens with Eldridge on lead guitar. Dickens recorded "Raw Deal" and "Lucy's Graveside."[2]
"Eldridge's bullish aggression and the Fireballs' guitar dominated back-up are compelling elements in a sound that was rapidly falling out of fashion."[3] The song was a hit and Eldridge had his first single, later recording the song again with United Artists.
After another album,"Take My Love" / "Half a Heart", was recorded with Vulco in 1959.
While "There's a Reason" was a typical ballad from those days, the flip "It's Over" is an haunting performance by the band, although it is considered to be inferior to "Let's Go Baby" by collectors. The disc was arranged and produced by Fireballs member Vern Strickland and both songs were Eldridge originals. One more record appeared ("Sneaky" / "Maria Elena", Vulco #1510) but soon after, the Fireballs probably disbanded.[2]
The Four Jades[edit]
Sometime in 1961-1962, Eldridge joined the Four Jades, a band in Florida, with Eldridge on guitar, Bob Duggar (bass), Charles Sanders, Jerry Caskey (keyboard and drums).
Relationship with Gary Stewart[edit]
While working as a police officer in Fort Pierce, FL, Eldridge joined The Tomcats, a band created by Gary Stewart. The two became song-writing partners. Stewart stated, "He was a few years older than I was and he had a band when he was a teenager called the Fireballs. He was like the town hero when it came to rock music. He had a few contacts in Nashville, and one day I saw him at a local shopping center and I suggested that we get together and write some songs. I knew that he had written some good songs before so we finally got around to writing some together."[3] After writing the minor hit Poor Red Georgia Dirt for Stonewall Jackson in 1965, Eldridge and Stewart moved to Nashville.
Eldridge wrote over 50 songs with Stewart and within a few years the pair emerged as one of the most successful writing partnerships in country music.
Billy Walker scored a top five hits with She Goes Walking Through My Mind, When A Man Loves A Woman, Traces Of A Woman and It’s Time To Love Her. Cal Smith made the charts with You Can’t Housebreak A Tom Cat and It Takes Me All Night Long. Jack Greene scored with There’s A Whole Lot About A Woman A Man Don’t Know. The Eldridge/Stewart team also provided top songs for artists such as Jim Ed Brown, Peggy Little, Roy Drusky, Johnny Russell, Ernest Tubb and Nat Stuckey.[4]
During this time, the pair also copyrighted the popular song 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall, after realizing no one had ever claimed it before.
Bradley's Barn[edit]
The two also had "day jobs" at Bradley's Barn studios, getting coffee and setting up mics for the country stars who recorded there. One benefit of working at Bradley's was the pair got a leg up on placing their songs by being at the studio when the artists and their managers walked in. The other benefit is that Gary and Bill were given carte blanche to use the studio on off hours to record their own stuff.[5]
In 1965, Owen Bradley converted a 50-year-old pole barn into a demo studio in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee. “Bradley’s Barn,” as it was called, was used by Gordon Lightfoot, Joan Baez, the Beau Brummels, and other pop acts, as well as dozens of country artists.[6] In March 1969, Bradley's Barn became Nashville's first 16-track recording studio.
In its life, the Barn held sessions for Loretta Lynn, Conway Twitty, and Brenda Lee, among others.
On October 20, 1980, Bradley's Barn was destroyed by a fire caused by a faulty light fixture. Hundreds of master recording tapes stored in the vault were destroyed by the fire.
Life After Nashville[edit]
In 1972, both Eldridge and Stewart returned to Fort Pierce, Florida and resumed playing countrified rock 'n' roll in local clubs and bars.
Eldridge had a hand in every song on Stewart's 1973 You're Not The Woman You Used To Be album, except Caffeine, Nicotine, Benzedrine. A photo of Eldridge (and his '49 Ford truck) with Stewart is featured on the reverse of the album.
Stewart returned to Nashville in 1973, peaking his career with the 1975 album Out of Hand'. In the 1980s, Stewart again returned to Florida, where alcoholism, drug use, and grief over the suicide of his son, destroyed the remaining friendship with Eldridge
For the following two decades, Eldridge worked as a foreman on orange groves, while still playing the clubs at night. He joined a band called Vanishing Breed, and they became the house band at the local club, Franky and Johnnies.
Sometime in the 1990s, Eldridge and Stewart made amends, with Stewart giving him a guitar as an apology for "stealing" a song of his. In December 2003, shortly after the death of his wife from pneumonia, Stewart committed suicide in his Fort Pierce home.
Personal Life[edit]
In December 1961, Eldridge married Doris Jeannette Ashley In Broward, Florida. They had two daughters: Lynn Jeannette (1962) and Jennifer Lee (1971). On February 7, 1980, the couple divorced in St. Lucie, Florida.
On August 23, 1980, Eldridge married Myra Ann Gossett (née Chestnutt) in Indian River, Florida. The pair met around 1976 at Frankie and Johnny’s, during one of Eldridge's shows, and struck up a friendship. Despite both being life-long Floridians, in 2004, the couple moved to Hampshire, Tennessee to be closer to family and friends. In 2012, they returned to Florida. They reside in Trenton, Florida and have nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Eldridge is a life-long Florida Gators football fan.
Awards & Accolades[edit]
Certificate of Achivement 1970
Broadcast Music Inc.
For Sweet Thang and Cisco
Certificate of Achivement 1971
Broadcast Music Inc.
For When a Man Loves a Woman (the Way I Love You)
Discography[edit]
VulcoRecords[7]
1958: Don't Stop the Rockin'/Honey Bee Baby as Pat Richmond and the Fireballs
Feb. 1959: My Blue Tears/Let's Go Baby as Billy Eldridge with the Fireballs
Jun. 1959:Take My Love/Half A Heart as Billy Eldridge with the Fireballs
Aug. 1961: There's A Reason/It's Over as Billy Eldridge
Nov. 1969: River Town/Birmingham as Bill Eldridge
May 1970: So Many Ways of Saying She's Gone/I Need a Woman as Bill Eldridge
RCA Victor[8]
Jun. 1978: Sometimes Good Sometimes Bad / We Are The One
Credits[edit]
| Sweet Tater and Cisco | Nat Stuckey (as Sweet Thang and Cisco) | RCA | 1969 |
| Gary Stewart | Kapp | 1969 | |
| Del Reeves | United | 1970 | |
| Compton Brothers (as Sweet Thang and Cisco) | Dot | 1970 | |
| It Takes Me All Night Long | Del Reeves | United | 1969 |
| Cal Smith | Kapp | 1969 | |
| You Can't Housebreak a Tomcat | Cal Smith | Kapp | 1969 |
| Brian Maxine | Starline | 1972 | |
| She Goes Walking (Through My Mind) | Jan Crutchfield | Decca | 1968 |
| Billy Walker | MGM | 1970 | |
| Ernest Tubb | Decca | 1971 | |
| Peggy Little (as He Goes Walking Through My Mind) | Dot | 1971 | |
| When A Man Loves A Woman (The Way I Love You) | Bobby Lord | Decca | 1970 |
| Spooner Oldham | Family | 1972 | |
| Billy Walker | Gusto | 1978 | |
| Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer (On The Wall) | Bill Howard | Decca | 1970 |
| Happy Anniversary | Roy Rogers | Captitol | 1971 |
| Hui Ohana | Poki | 1978 | |
| Charlotte, North Carolina | Bobby Lord | Decca | 1968 |
| Los Angeles | Compton Brothers | Decca | 1968 |
| Only A Woman Like You | Jack Greene | Decca | 1970 |
| Vanishing Breed | Hank Snow | RCA Victor | 1970 |
| It's Time To Love Her | Billy Walker | MGM | 1971 |
| My Mind Is On You | Leroy Van Dyke | Decca | 1972 |
| Big Bertha, The Truck Driving Queen | Bud Brewer | RCA Victor | 1972 |
| Hobo Stringband | Negram | 1976 | |
| You're Not The Woman You Used To Be | Bobby Nelson | GNP | 1972 |
| Gary Stewart | MCA | 1975 | |
| Traces Of A Woman | Billy Walker | MGM | 1971 |
| It Takes Me All Night Long | Cal Smith | MCA | 1973 |
| Merry-Go-Round | Gary Stewart | MCA | 1975 |
| Easy People | Gary Stewart | RCA Victor | 1976 |
| Cold Turkey | Gary Stewart | RCA Victor | 1982 |
| There’s A Whole Lot About A Woman (A Man Don’t Know) | Jack Greene | Decca | 1971 |
| Poor Red Georgia Dirt | Stonewall Jackson | 1969 |
References[edit]
- "LimestoneLounge"
2. "Mellow's Log Cabin: Billy Eldridge"
3. "Bear Family Records"
4."AlanCackett - Gary Stewart"
5. "DelmoreRecordings"
6."OWEN BRADLEY | Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum | Nashville, Tennessee".
7. "Billy Eldridge Discography"
8. "Praguefrank's Country Music Discography"
External links[edit]
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