Billy Edd Wheeler
Billy Edd Wheeler | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Billy Edward Wheeler |
| Born | December 9, 1932 |
| Origin | Whitesville, West Virginia |
| Genres | Country |
| Occupation | Singer-songwriter |
| Instrument | Guitar |
| Years active | 1964-1981 |
| Labels | Kapp, United Artists, RCA, Radio Cinema, NSD |
Billy Edward "Edd" Wheeler[1] (born December 9, 1932, Boone County, West Virginia) is an American songwriter, performer, writer and visual artist. He has written songs performed by over 90 different artists including Judy Collins, Jefferson Airplane, Bobby Darin, The Kingston Trio, Johnny Cash, Neil Young, Kenny Rogers, Hazel Dickens, and Elvis Presley. One of his co-writers, on the song "Hadn't Been For Baby" recorded by Soul group The Relatives, was noted singer-songwriter Jimmy Radcliffe.
Wheeler is also author of sixteen plays. These include several long-running outdoor dramas such as Hatfields & McCoys at Beckley, West Virginia and Young Abe Lincoln in Lincoln City, Indiana.
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 | The Worryin' Kind | — | — | |
| 1969 | Nashville Zodiac | — | — | United Artists |
| 1971 | Love | — | — | RCA |
| 1972 | Some Mountain Tales About Jack | — | — | Spoken Arts |
| 1979 | Wild Mountain Flowers | — | — | Flying Fish |
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 | — | |
| 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. He has received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from his two alma maters: Berea College, 2004, and Warren Wilson College, 2011.
He has received 13 awards from ASCAP, the “Best Appalachian Poetry” from Morris Harvey College, and Billboard Magazine’s “Pacesetter Award for Music and Drama.” In June, 2005, Country Music Television voted Wheeler’s song “Jackson,” one of the 10 Greatest Love Songs of Country Music. It was recorded by Joaquin Phoenix & Reese Witherspoon for the movie ''Walk the Line'', about the life of Johnny Cash and June Carter. Wheeler was the featured author in Appalachian Heritage magazine’s 2008 winter issue that included 16 of his original paintings in full color. North Carolina’s Our State magazine featured him in its December, 2007 issue.
Bibliography
- Songs of a Woods Colt, Droke House (Anderson, SC) 1969
References
External links
- Billy Edd Wheeler, official web site
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