My favorite Nashville-based musician, songwriter, recording artist and sometimes even record producer to boot, Bill may be best renowned ‘round rootier musical circles for his fine work within the unapologetically Everly-esque Foster And Lloyd duo. But it’s his incredible-indeed string of solo releases that always hit me hardest (“Set to Pop” especially!) while his grand new Paisley Pop release “Paparazzi,” cunningly crafted alongside Spongetone Jamie Hoover and Jersey’s own Dennis Diken, certainly deserves your immediate and undivided attention as well. All of which duly reminded me to ask Bill…..
1. "Munsters" or "Addams Family": Which one’s for you, and Why?
“Addams Family” all the way. Outside of having a great theme song, “The Munsters” was just a typical goofy ‘60’s TV show. The Addams offered bizarre eccentricity as an option of a lifestyle that could work in society... and taught that money could buy you out of many of your problems. Obviously, “The Addams Family” was more like real life than we ever considered.
2. Who in the world, living or dead, would you most like to play a game of "Twister" with?
Naked Twister with Ann-Margret in 1973 comes to mind... she was volump-tuous.
3. How many Sid King & The Five Strings records do you own?
Exactly none.
4. If you had been working the front gate at Graceland that night back in ’76 when a drunken Jerry Lee Lewis showed up, shotgun in hand, to "put that damn Elvis outta his mis’ry", what would you have done?
What I would have really done and what bravado I’d muster up for a fantasy question are two different things! What I probably would have really done was praised Jerry Lee for his own genius and abundance of talent …while quietly sliding out of his focus and running like hell. What I would have liked to have done would have somehow gotten him in a conversation about his considerable gifts, gone for coffee, and eventually produced the long string of hits on him he didn’t have in real life.
5. "Ginger" or "Mary-Ann": Which one’s for you, and for How Long?
I just saw a thing on TV the other night that was a “tell-all behind the scenes” look at that show, and Ginger was really so full of crap in her interviews, and looked drawn like she’d had several facelifts. Mary-Ann was still a cute 50-something. Time tells the tale!
6. What single song, living or dead, do you most wish you’d written… and Why Didn’t You?
Well, songs only die when they’re totally forgotten, so it’s got to be a living song. A favorite song of mine is “Young at Heart” that Frank Sinatra recorded. Written by Johnny Richards and Carolyn Leigh, who obviously got there before I did.
7. Whose guitar would you most like to be reincarnated as?
I just saw Charlie Christian’s guitar in the Smithsonian last month... that would be a good resting place. The glory of being one of the first electric guitars to boot.
8. In 2000 words or less, Your Hopes, Aspirations and Goals, musical and otherwise, for your life and your country?
I would hope to continue to stay musically active song-writing, playing and recording, and continue to have an active family life -- those are the biggies. Making a living is a good idea. My Country is an amazing thing... we can seemingly do our worst and because of the way it’s set up, altruism still has a chance. We be the peoples!
