Billy Edd Wheeler
This poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. )Find sources: "Billy Edd Wheeler" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2019) |
Billy Edd Wheeler | |
---|---|
Birth name | Billy Edward Wheeler |
Born | December 9, 1932 |
Origin | Whitesville, West Virginia, United States |
Genres | Folk, Country |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, playwright |
Instrument(s) | Guitar |
Years active | 1964–2012 |
Labels | Kapp, United Artists, RCA, Radio Cinema, NSD |
Billy Edward "Edd" Wheeler[1] (born December 9, 1932, Boone County, West Virginia, United States) is an American songwriter, performer, writer, and visual artist.
His songs include "
Wheeler is the author-composer of eight plays and musicals, a folk opera (Song of the Cumberland Gap), commissioned by the National Geographic Society, and three outdoor dramas: the long-running Hatfields & McCoys at Beckley, West Virginia, Young Abe Lincoln at Lincoln Amphitheatre, Lincoln City, Indiana, and Johnny Appleseed, at Mansfield, Ohio. He has authored six books of humor, four with Loyal Jones of Berea, Kentucky: Laughter in Appalachia, Hometown Humor USA, Curing the Cross-Eyed Mule, and More Laughter in Appalachia, and two as sole author: Outhouse Humor, and Real Country Humor / Jokes from Country Music Personalities. His first novel, Star of Appalachia, was published in January 2004, and his second, co-written with Ewel Cornett, Kudzu Covers Manhattan, in 2005. Song of a Woods Colt, a book of poetry, was published in 1969. Travis and Other Poems of the Swannanoa Valley (With Some Poems and Prayers by Dr. Henry W. Jensen) was published in 1977. He was the featured author in Appalachian Heritage magazine's 2008 winter issue, which included 16 of his original paintings. North Carolina’s Our State magazine featured him in its December 2007 issue. In 2018, Billy Edd published a book of memoirs entitled "Hotter Than A Pepper Sprout", a Hillybilly poet's journey from Appalachia to Yale to writing hits for Elvis, Johnny Cash & More.
Biography
Wheeler was born on December 9, 1932. He graduated from
In the 1968 book by Milt Okun Something to Sing About: the personal choices of America's folk singers[5] Wheeler's choice was "Turtle Dove" (Fare Thee Well).
Discography
Albums
Year | Album | Chart Positions | Label | |
---|---|---|---|---|
US Country | US | |||
1961 | Billy Edd: USA | — | — | Monitor |
1962 | Billy Edd and Bluegrass, Too | — | — | |
1963 | A New Bag of Songs | — | — | Kapp |
1964 | Memories of America | 6 | 132 | |
1965 | The Wheeler Man | — | — | |
1966 | Goin' Town and Country | — | — | |
1967 | Paper Birds | — | — | |
1968 | I Ain't the Worrying Kind | — | — | |
1969 | Nashville Zodiac | — | — | United Artists |
1971 | Love | — | — | RCA |
1972 | Some Mountain Tales About Jack | — | — | Spoken Arts |
1979 | Wild Mountain Flowers | — | — | Flying Fish |
1995 | Songs I wrote With Chet | — | — | Sagittarius |
2001 | Milestones (A Self Portrait) | — | — | |
2006 | New Wine From Old Vines | — | — |
Singles
Year | Single | Chart Positions | Album | |
---|---|---|---|---|
US Country | US | |||
1964 | "Ode to the Little Brown Shack Out Back" | 3 | 50 | Memories of America |
1968 | "I Ain't the Worryin' Kind" | 63 | — | I Ain't the Worryin' Kind |
1969 | "West Virginia Woman" | 51 | — | single only |
"Fried Chicken and a Country Tune" | 62 | — | Nashville Zodiac | |
1972 | "200 Lbs. O' Slingin' Hound" | 71 | — | singles only |
1979 | "Duel Under the Snow" | 94 | — | |
1979 | "Ring the Bells of Freedom" | — | — | |
1980 | "Humperdink, the Coon-Hunting Monkey" | — | — | |
1981 | "Daddy" (with Rashell Richmond) | 55 | — |
Awards
Wheeler was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001, the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame in 2007, and the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2011.[6] He received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from his two alma maters: Berea College in 2004, and Warren Wilson College in 2011.
He has received 13 awards from
Bibliography
- Song of a Woods Colt, Droke House (Anderson, SC) 1969
- Travis & Other Poems of the Swannanoa Valley, Wild Goose, Inc.
References
- ^ Spencer Leigh interview Archived June 2, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Manheim, James. "Billy Edd Wheeler: Biography". allmusic.com. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
- ^ a b "Theatre West Virginia 2005 Program" (PDF). Theatre West Virginia. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 19, 2006. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
- ^ "Production History". Theatre West Virginia. Archived from the original on May 11, 2015. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
- ISBN 978-0-02-592820-6; pp. 192-94
- ^ "2011 Inductees". North Carolina Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
External links
- Billy Edd Wheeler, official web site