Billy Sandlin
CP-4573 ~ Teenager's Dream G-79
CP-4574 ~ Cha Cha Bop G-80
CP-4574 ~ Cha Cha Bop G-80
Both wr. Sandlin, Perry Music BMI
Gala 115
November 1960
Billy Sandlin, the son of Mr and Mrs H.C. (Buck) Sandlin, farmers in Williston, Florida, began singing professionally while still in high school.
His first record was out on Vim Records in 1959. It was recorded at the nearby Jacksonville Magnum studios owned by Tom Markham and Tom Rose, "with the real echo from the tank out back". The record, "She's Mean", was issued again on Gala Records.
After this second record on Gala, Billy served with the Army in Germany where he was stationed with the Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol Air Borne at Frankfurt. He still performed at various occasions and made appearances in Army teenage clubs throughout USAREUR. He sang with a German combo known as the Strangers :
After this second record on Gala, Billy served with the Army in Germany where he was stationed with the Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol Air Borne at Frankfurt. He still performed at various occasions and made appearances in Army teenage clubs throughout USAREUR. He sang with a German combo known as the Strangers :
“Billy Sandlin was a GI….One evening, this colossus with his natural blond short crop climbed te stage urging us to let him sing what we graciously allowed him. Later on, he asked us if we’d like to be his backing band in the recording-studio – everything would be paid by him. So we recorded a few songs, he sent the tapes to some American record company, and the next – and last – thing we would hear from this session was in a box full of single-plays." ["My Little Twisting Baby" / Billy Sandlin, The Strangers & The Bluetones, Strike Records, 1963]
After his discharge, coming back home, he recorded in the sixties with The Embers "You´ll Always Have Someone" (Viking Records) and, with the Interns "Poor Rich Girl" , on Royala Records,
In the early 70s, he and ex-Royal Guardsmen, Barry Winslow , released a 45 on Mega Records ("Seen a Rainbow Lately". They co-wrote with Roland Lavoie (Lobo) "Let Me Down Easy"
Sad to say, Billy got killed in a car crash : Billy Sandlin and Melinda, his wife, were killed in a car crash with a drunk driver who was being pursued by the police in his hometown of Ocala, Florida, in 1973.
Sad to say, Billy got killed in a car crash : Billy Sandlin and Melinda, his wife, were killed in a car crash with a drunk driver who was being pursued by the police in his hometown of Ocala, Florida, in 1973.
I can remember Billy. He was a close friend of my dad's (Fred Blair) in Ocala. I was a young girl but still recall how sad my father was when he came home to tell us of Billy's death. So tragic.....but man could Billy ever sing!!
ReplyDelete