Bill Myrick
Encyclopedia
Billie E. Myrick, known as Bill Myrick (born August 6, 1926, died March 12, 2011 at 7:08 PM (CST) ), is an American
Country music
ian, originally from Simpson County
in south central Mississippi
but a long-time resident of Odessa
in West Texas
.
s who moved their family to West Carroll Parish in northeastern Louisiana
, where they purchased their own farm shortly before the Great Depression
. He is the brother of Louisiana State Senator
W. Spencer Myrick
(1918–1991).
directly out of high school at the start of World War II
, and as a combat medic
in the Pacific with tours of duty in Japan
and the Philippines
.
Myrick returned to Louisiana after the war. His first professional singing job came by chance. He sat waiting to begin a temporary job putting up a tent at a circus, and was spotted picking his guitar and singing. He was immediately hired to fill a vacancy that had just occurred in the band of Bluegrass music
ian Bill Monroe
and the Bluegrass Boys. After a few years of performing at the Grand Ole Opry
and on the road in concert with Monroe, Myrick put together the first professional bluegrass group Myrick and the Mayfield Brothers with the ranching Mayfield brothers, Edd
, Herb
, and Smokey
, from the Texas Panhandle
area of Dimmitt
in Castro County. Myrick and the Mayfield Brothers performed on the Louisiana Hayride
in Shreveport, Louisiana
and became regulars on the show. Edd Mayfield was also invited to perform with Bill Monroe
and the Bluegrass Boys, precursors to the stylish, rancher look with starched and pressed blue jeans, crisp white shirts, cowboy hats, and cowboy boots, a look common in country music today but innovative in the 1950s
.
Bill Myrick moved his wife, Laverne S. Myrick (born 1930), and toddler daughter Bellinda Myrick
(born 1948) to Odessa, the county seat
of Ector County, on the advice on Myrick's friend Hank Williams. Myrick became known in the Odessa area, where country, bluegrass, and rockabilly music had become popular.
Myrick had been hired to perform with the Williams band as a singer and guitar
player as well as driving Williams' personal Cadillac
. Myrick had asked for a week or two to spend with his wife and daughter because he had been on the road extensively with Bill Monroe. Williams agreed but before Myrick could join Williams, the latter died in his vehicle en route to his next performance.
Myrick was instrumental in the early successes of Roy Orbison
, Buddy Holly
, Patsy Cline
, and Elvis Presley
, whose recording career gained its first national momentum from Myrick's radio program, the Pioneer Jamboree, Myrick arranged the only joint appearance of Holly and Presley. Sony
/RCA
researcher Ernst Jorgensen has gathered critical evidence of Myrick's part in Presley's success. Presley appeared throughout West Texas and the Panhandle, sometimes with Myrick and the Rainbow Riders as the opening act. At the Ector Theater in Odessa, Myrick and Presley watched Presley's film Jailhouse Rock. Many Presley biographers, however, have reported that Presley never saw Jailhouse Rock because of grief over the death of co-star Judy Tyler
and her husband in an automobile accident after the film had been completed.
Myrick appeared on West Texas radio
stations KECK, KOSA, and KOYL where he worked with his friend Waylon Jennings
, who had earlier been a member of Buddy Holly and the Crickets and had known Myrick since Presley performed in Lubbock
. As country music then did not pay most musicians well, Myrick assumed other paying jobs periodically, having worked as a peace officer and a truck driver. He and his wife had two more children, Martin and Billy. Life on the road traveling with Bob Wills
and the Texas Playboys, the Miller Brothers, Rex Allen
of Arizona
, and Jimmy Dean
of Plainview
, Texas, among others, took its toll. Myrick left behind his musical career and began a three-decade association with Big Three Industries, a major distributor of liquid oxygen to NASA
and hospitals around the country. Big Three was later purchased by Air Liquide of France
. He began driving trucks and ended his career as the transport and safety director.
On retiring from the company, Myrick returned to his first love of bluegrass music creating the National Public Radio show Silvergrass and Purple Sage which has a following in Japan
and among American military serving in Iraq
. He is also a master of ceremonies
at bluegrass festivals. He resides in Odessa with his wife, Laverne. He is a member of the choir at First Baptist
Church in Odessa. The Myricks have three children, Bellinda Myrick
, former Miss Texas
and Miss West Texas, singer/actress/and author, Martin C. Myrick, a Ph.D.
and author, and Billy R. Myrick (born 1958), a former police chief and the purchasing agent at the fire department in Murphy
, Texas. In 2010, there were seven grandchildren.
Myrick is sometimes a guest host on the Odessa country music station KOCV (FM)
.
Bill Myrick received the Bronze Star medal on February 20, 2011 for his service during WWII in the Army as a Staff Sgt. & Combat Medic with the 25th Infantry Division based in Hawaii seeing combat in the Pacific under General Douglas MacArthur. The award was presented before a standing room only crowd of over 1,900 people and over 30 family members flying in from around the country at his church First Baptist Church in Odessa, Texas just a few weeks before his death.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
ian, originally from Simpson County
Simpson County, Mississippi
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 27,639 people, 10,076 households, and 7,385 families residing in the county. The population density was 47 people per square mile . There were 11,307 housing units at an average density of 19 per square mile...
in south central Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
but a long-time resident of Odessa
Odessa, Texas
Odessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small portion of the city extends into Midland County. Odessa's population was 99,940 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Odessa, Texas Metropolitan...
in West Texas
West Texas
West Texas is a vernacular term applied to a region in the southwestern quadrant of the United States that primarily encompasses the arid and semi-arid lands in the western portion of the state of Texas....
.
Family
He was one of ten children of James Martin "Jim" Myrick and his wife, the former Allie Artimissa Parker, tenant farmerTenant farmer
A tenant farmer is one who resides on and farms land owned by a landlord. Tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and management; while tenant farmers contribute their labor along with at times varying...
s who moved their family to West Carroll Parish in northeastern Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, where they purchased their own farm shortly before the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. He is the brother of Louisiana State Senator
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
W. Spencer Myrick
Spencer Myrick
Willie Spencer Myrick, known as W. Spencer Myrick was a Democratic member of both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature from West Carroll Parish in northeastern Louisiana....
(1918–1991).
Life and career
Spencer and Bill Myrick both at times worked for Governor Earl Kemp Long. Bill Myrick joined the United States ArmyUnited States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
directly out of high school at the start of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and as a combat medic
Combat medic
Combat medics are trained military personnel who are responsible for providing first aid and frontline trauma care on the battlefield. They are also responsible for providing continuing medical care in the absence of a readily available physician, including care for disease and battle injury...
in the Pacific with tours of duty in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
.
Myrick returned to Louisiana after the war. His first professional singing job came by chance. He sat waiting to begin a temporary job putting up a tent at a circus, and was spotted picking his guitar and singing. He was immediately hired to fill a vacancy that had just occurred in the band of Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
ian Bill Monroe
Bill Monroe
William Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader...
and the Bluegrass Boys. After a few years of performing at the Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
and on the road in concert with Monroe, Myrick put together the first professional bluegrass group Myrick and the Mayfield Brothers with the ranching Mayfield brothers, Edd
Thomas Edd Mayfield
Thomas Edward "Edd" Mayfield was a Bluegrass singer and guitarist, mostly known for being a member of the Bill Monroe and Bluegrass Boys band during the 1950s. Edd Mayfield and two of his Texas brothers, Smokey Mayfield of Spearman and Herbert E...
, Herb
Herbert Mayfield
Herbert Earl Mayfield was a bluegrass musician and a member of the Mayfield Brothers band of West Texas. Playing the mandolin and the guitar, Mayfield played alongside his brothers, Thomas Edd Mayfield and Arlie V...
, and Smokey
Smokey Mayfield
Arlie Vincent Mayfield, I, known as Smokey Mayfield , was a ranch supervisor in the Texas Panhandle and a bluegrass musician...
, from the Texas Panhandle
Texas Panhandle
The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a rectangular area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east...
area of Dimmitt
Dimmitt, Texas
Dimmitt is a city in Castro County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,375 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Castro County. It is located on the old Ozark Trail, a road system from St. Louis, Missouri, to El Paso, Texas...
in Castro County. Myrick and the Mayfield Brothers performed on the Louisiana Hayride
Louisiana Hayride
Louisiana Hayride was a radio and later television country music show broadcast from the Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium in Shreveport, Louisiana, that during its heyday from 1948 to 1960 helped to launch the careers of some of the greatest names in American music...
in Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
and became regulars on the show. Edd Mayfield was also invited to perform with Bill Monroe
Bill Monroe
William Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader...
and the Bluegrass Boys, precursors to the stylish, rancher look with starched and pressed blue jeans, crisp white shirts, cowboy hats, and cowboy boots, a look common in country music today but innovative in the 1950s
1950s
The 1950s or The Fifties was the decade that began on January 1, 1950 and ended on December 31, 1959. The decade was the sixth decade of the 20th century...
.
Bill Myrick moved his wife, Laverne S. Myrick (born 1930), and toddler daughter Bellinda Myrick
Bellinda Myrick
Bellinda Myrick, also known as Bellinda Myrick-Barnett , is an American singer and actress.-Early years:Myrick was born in Louisiana and raised in Odessa, Texas, by parents LaVerne & bluegrass performer Bill Myrick. She is a niece of the late Louisiaan State Senator W...
(born 1948) to Odessa, the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of Ector County, on the advice on Myrick's friend Hank Williams. Myrick became known in the Odessa area, where country, bluegrass, and rockabilly music had become popular.
Myrick had been hired to perform with the Williams band as a singer and guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
player as well as driving Williams' personal Cadillac
Cadillac
Cadillac is an American luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors . Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mostly in North America. Cadillac is currently the second oldest American automobile manufacturer behind fellow GM marque Buick and is among the oldest...
. Myrick had asked for a week or two to spend with his wife and daughter because he had been on the road extensively with Bill Monroe. Williams agreed but before Myrick could join Williams, the latter died in his vehicle en route to his next performance.
Myrick was instrumental in the early successes of Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...
, Buddy Holly
Buddy Holly
Charles Hardin Holley , known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll...
, Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline , born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Gore, Virginia, was an American country music singer who enjoyed pop music crossover success during the era of the Nashville sound in the early 1960s...
, and Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, whose recording career gained its first national momentum from Myrick's radio program, the Pioneer Jamboree, Myrick arranged the only joint appearance of Holly and Presley. Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
/RCA
RCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
researcher Ernst Jorgensen has gathered critical evidence of Myrick's part in Presley's success. Presley appeared throughout West Texas and the Panhandle, sometimes with Myrick and the Rainbow Riders as the opening act. At the Ector Theater in Odessa, Myrick and Presley watched Presley's film Jailhouse Rock. Many Presley biographers, however, have reported that Presley never saw Jailhouse Rock because of grief over the death of co-star Judy Tyler
Judy Tyler
Judy Tyler was an American actress.-Early life and career:Born Judith Mae Hess in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she came from a show business family and was encouraged to study dance and acting...
and her husband in an automobile accident after the film had been completed.
Myrick appeared on West Texas radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
stations KECK, KOSA, and KOYL where he worked with his friend Waylon Jennings
Waylon Jennings
Waylon Arnold Jennings was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Jennings began playing at eight. He began performing at twelve, on KVOW radio. Jennings formed a band The Texas Longhorns. Jennings worked as a D.J on KVOW, KDAV and KLLL...
, who had earlier been a member of Buddy Holly and the Crickets and had known Myrick since Presley performed in Lubbock
Lubbock, Texas
Lubbock is a city in and the county seat of Lubbock County, Texas, United States. The city is located in the northwestern part of the state, a region known historically as the Llano Estacado, and the home of Texas Tech University and Lubbock Christian University...
. As country music then did not pay most musicians well, Myrick assumed other paying jobs periodically, having worked as a peace officer and a truck driver. He and his wife had two more children, Martin and Billy. Life on the road traveling with Bob Wills
Bob Wills
James Robert Wills , better known as Bob Wills, was an American Western Swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader, considered by music authorities as the co-founder of Western Swing and universally known as the pioneering King of Western Swing.Bob Wills' name will forever be associated with...
and the Texas Playboys, the Miller Brothers, Rex Allen
Rex Allen
Rex Elvie Allen was an American film actor, singer and songwriter, known as the Arizona Cowboy, particularly known as the narrator in many Disney nature and Western film productions. For contributions to the recording industry, Allen was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.-Family...
of Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, and Jimmy Dean
Jimmy Dean
Jimmy Ray Dean was an American country music singer, television host, actor and businessman. Although he may be best known today as the creator of the Jimmy Dean sausage brand, he became a national television personality starting in 1957, rising to fame for his 1961 country crossover hit "Big Bad...
of Plainview
Plainview, Texas
Plainview is a city in and the county seat of Hale County, Texas, United States. The population was 22,336 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Plainview is located at ....
, Texas, among others, took its toll. Myrick left behind his musical career and began a three-decade association with Big Three Industries, a major distributor of liquid oxygen to NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
and hospitals around the country. Big Three was later purchased by Air Liquide of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. He began driving trucks and ended his career as the transport and safety director.
On retiring from the company, Myrick returned to his first love of bluegrass music creating the National Public Radio show Silvergrass and Purple Sage which has a following in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and among American military serving in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. He is also a master of ceremonies
Master of Ceremonies
A Master of Ceremonies , or compere, is the host of a staged event or similar performance.An MC usually presents performers, speaks to the audience, and generally keeps the event moving....
at bluegrass festivals. He resides in Odessa with his wife, Laverne. He is a member of the choir at First Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
Church in Odessa. The Myricks have three children, Bellinda Myrick
Bellinda Myrick
Bellinda Myrick, also known as Bellinda Myrick-Barnett , is an American singer and actress.-Early years:Myrick was born in Louisiana and raised in Odessa, Texas, by parents LaVerne & bluegrass performer Bill Myrick. She is a niece of the late Louisiaan State Senator W...
, former Miss Texas
Miss Texas
The Miss Texas competition was founded in 1936 as a scholarship contest for young women. The winner represents Texas in the Miss America pageant; three winners have gone on to be crowned Miss America ....
and Miss West Texas, singer/actress/and author, Martin C. Myrick, a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
and author, and Billy R. Myrick (born 1958), a former police chief and the purchasing agent at the fire department in Murphy
Murphy, Texas
Murphy is a city in Collin County, Texas, United States and a suburb of Dallas, located to the north east of the city. The 2010 census reported Murphy's population as 17,708.-About:...
, Texas. In 2010, there were seven grandchildren.
Myrick is sometimes a guest host on the Odessa country music station KOCV (FM)
KOCV (FM)
KOCV is a listener-supported public radio station in the Odessa, Texas market, and is owned and operated by Odessa College. It is the National Public Radio member station for West Texas. KOCV-FM operates at an assigned frequency of 91.3MHz with an effective radiated power of 5,000 watts from its...
.
Bill Myrick received the Bronze Star medal on February 20, 2011 for his service during WWII in the Army as a Staff Sgt. & Combat Medic with the 25th Infantry Division based in Hawaii seeing combat in the Pacific under General Douglas MacArthur. The award was presented before a standing room only crowd of over 1,900 people and over 30 family members flying in from around the country at his church First Baptist Church in Odessa, Texas just a few weeks before his death.
See also
- Bellinda Myrick-Barnett
- Bellinda MyrickBellinda MyrickBellinda Myrick, also known as Bellinda Myrick-Barnett , is an American singer and actress.-Early years:Myrick was born in Louisiana and raised in Odessa, Texas, by parents LaVerne & bluegrass performer Bill Myrick. She is a niece of the late Louisiaan State Senator W...
- Spencer MyrickSpencer MyrickWillie Spencer Myrick, known as W. Spencer Myrick was a Democratic member of both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature from West Carroll Parish in northeastern Louisiana....
- Earl Kemp Long
- Bill MonroeBill MonroeWilliam Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader...
- Elvis PresleyElvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
- Buddy HollyBuddy HollyCharles Hardin Holley , known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll...
- Roy OrbisonRoy OrbisonRoy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...
- Hank Williams
- Patsy ClinePatsy ClinePatsy Cline , born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Gore, Virginia, was an American country music singer who enjoyed pop music crossover success during the era of the Nashville sound in the early 1960s...
- Waylon JenningsWaylon JenningsWaylon Arnold Jennings was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Jennings began playing at eight. He began performing at twelve, on KVOW radio. Jennings formed a band The Texas Longhorns. Jennings worked as a D.J on KVOW, KDAV and KLLL...
- Bob WillsBob WillsJames Robert Wills , better known as Bob Wills, was an American Western Swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader, considered by music authorities as the co-founder of Western Swing and universally known as the pioneering King of Western Swing.Bob Wills' name will forever be associated with...
- Rex AllenRex AllenRex Elvie Allen was an American film actor, singer and songwriter, known as the Arizona Cowboy, particularly known as the narrator in many Disney nature and Western film productions. For contributions to the recording industry, Allen was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.-Family...
- Jimmy DeanJimmy DeanJimmy Ray Dean was an American country music singer, television host, actor and businessman. Although he may be best known today as the creator of the Jimmy Dean sausage brand, he became a national television personality starting in 1957, rising to fame for his 1961 country crossover hit "Big Bad...