Billy Reid (British songwriter)

William Gordon Reid (19 September 1902 – 12 December 1974) was a British orchestra leader, songwriter, pianist and an accordionist. He was one of the biggest show business names of his generation during the 1930s to 1950s in the UK and beyond.

Biography

Reid was one of the most famous bandleaders in London in the 1930s, and a top recording star for Decca Records. His songs were recorded by Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Vera Lynn, the Ink Spots, Peggy Lee, Al Martino and Louis Armstrong. He topped the bill all over the country (UK), especially with Dorothy Squires, and he was the first British songwriter to top the US charts, following that first hit by two more US No. 1s. He held that record until the Beatles broke it in the 1960s and his career died with the advent of beat music in that decade. From a massive star and millionaire songwriter, by 1974, his public had forgotten him and he died penniless, in obscurity from acute kidney disease.

When the Welsh vocalist Dorothy Squires joined his band, he took it as an opportunity to write songs especially for her, many of them, such as "The Gypsy," "A Tree in the Meadow," and "I'm Walking Behind You," became hits in the United States for other vocalists. This duo had their first hit, "Coming Home", at the end of the Second World War, a song also recorded by Vera Lynn.

He formed a number of accordion bands, primarily The London Piano Accordion Band.

Family life

Reid married Jane Gordon, a singer, who was his second wife. Their son, a.k.a. Billy Reid (born 1957), was also a singer. Billy Reid (senior) was Southampton born and he and his second wife moved to the Isle of Wight. Both Billy and his son, who died several years ago, are survived by Jane, who still resides on the island.