Billy Mize
William Robert Mize (April 29, 1929 – October 29, 2017)[1] was an American country music singer-songwriter, steel guitarist, band leader, and TV show host.
Biography
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (November 2017) |
Mize was born in
Mize moved to
In 1955, Mize began to appear on a local Los Angeles television show hosted by Hank Penny.[1] By 1957, he was working on seven different weekly shows in the LA area, including The Hank Penny Show, The Cal Worthington Show, Country Music Time and Town Hall Party.[1] He recorded for Decca (Solid Sender/It Could happen - 1957), Challenge and Liberty, finally hitting the country charts in 1966 with "You Can't Stop Me" for Columbia.
That same year he began hosting and performing on
He won the Academy of Country Music's "TV Personality of the Year" award three years in a row between 1965 and 1967.[2]
In 1972, he taped two pilots of the "Billy Mize Music Hall",[3] which he hoped to sell into national syndication but it was not picked up.
A critically acclaimed documentary chronicling the life of Mize and his impact on the country music industry was released in 2015.[1] Titled Billy Mize and the Bakersfield Sound,[4] it screened at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June 2014.[5]
Mize died on October 29, 2017, at the age of 88.[6][7]
Discography
- Solid Sender/It Could Happen (Decca, 1957)
- Please Don't Let The Blues Make You Bad (Columbia, 1965)
- You Can't Stop Me (Columbia, 1966)
- It's Gonna Get Lonely (Columbia, 1966)
- Lights Of Albuquerque (Columbia, 1967)
- This Time and Place (Imperial, 1969)
- You're All Right With Me (United Artists, 1971)
- Love'N'Stuff (Zodiac, 1976)
- Billy Mize's Tribute To Swing (G&M, 1986)
- A Salute to Swing (Hag Records, 2006)
- Make it Rain (Sharecropper Records, 2006)
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| US Country | ||
| 1966 | "You Can't Stop Me" | 57 |
| 1968 | "Walking Through the Memories of My Mind" | 58 |
| 1969 | "Make It Rain" | 40 |
| "While I'm Thinkin' About It" | 43 | |
| 1970 | "Beer Drinking Honky Tonkin' Blues" | 49 |
| "If This Was the Last Song" | 71 | |
| 1972 | "Take It Easy" | 66 |
| 1973 | "California Is Just Mississippi" | 99 |
| 1974 | "Thank You for the Feeling" | 79 |
| 1975 | "You Can Get By" | |
| 1976 | "It Hurts to Know the Feeling's Gone" | 31 |
| 1977 | "Livin' Her Life in a Song" | 68 |
References
- ^ ISBN 9781476633183. Retrieved August 8, 2021 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Academy of Country Music : Winners". Archived from the original on 24 September 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ "Live from Bakersfield" Archived 2014-09-24 at the Wayback Machine, bakersfieldcalifornian.com; accessed November 3, 2017.
- ^ "Billy Mize and the Bakersfield Sound", The Hollywood Reporter; accessed November 3, 2017.
- ^ "Billy Mize Music". Billymizemusic.com. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ In Memory of Billy Mize April 29, 1929 - October 29, 2017, Obits.dignitymemorial.com, accessdate January 3, 2018
- ^ "Bakersfield Sound legend Billy Mize dies at age 88" Bakersfieldnow.com, November 2, 2017.
External links
- Billy Mize official website Official Billy Mize website with biography and documentary information.
- Article about the Bakersfield Sound Cousin Herb's TV Cousins.
- Billy Mize discography at Discogs
- Billy Mize at IMDb
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