curlio.com Special: One of Rock's Founders, Billy Ward

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One of Rock's Founders, Billy Ward

doctorrandom

2003-02-07 04:32:40

In honor of Black History Month, Curlio.com will be publishing biographies of some of the great musicians who have helped to form our modern musical heritage. The next in this series is dedicated to Billy Ward, one of the founding fathers of Rock and Roll.

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When looking at the roots of Rock and Roll, one of the most often overlooked forces in its creation were the contributions of Billy Ward and the Dominoes. Many view Rock’s beginnings in the mid 50’s with artists like Elvis Presley and Bill Haley, but in reality it goes much further back than that. Elvis was still in school when the Dominoes released their first record. And its here that I believe Rock really began.

Billy Ward was born in Los Angeles on September 19, 1921 to a minister father and a musician mother. From very early on, his musical prowess showed. His first recognition was to come at the age of 14 when he won a musical composition award. He served in the Armed Forces in World War II, and upon his return, he pursued further musical education. He studied at the Chicago Art Institute, and went on to study at the very prestigious Juilliard School of Music in New York. He would later become a voice coach at Juilliard, and it was here he met the vocalists who would form the Dominoes; Clyde McPhatter as lead singer, Charlie White(tenor), Joe Lamont (baritone), and Bill Brown(bass). Originally billing as a Gospel group, they appeared on the TV show Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts (where many budding artists were to get their start in the early ’50’s). Their success on the Talent Scouts was to get them a huge number of concert gigs, but more importantly, it would get the attention of Ralph Bass, head of King Record’s brand new spin off label, Federal.

Federal’s very first record, catalog #12001 released in December of 1950, was to feature Billy Ward and the Dominoes’ first recorded song “Chicken Blues”. It’s a great little number, and its Rock and Roll right down to the bone. It has your basic boogie woogie backbeat rhythm that defines Rock, with a great twangy lead guitar, percussive rhythm piano, and a fabulous vocal headed by bass singer Bill Brown. But their real breakthrough was yet to come.

In May 1951, Billy Ward put together a very racy number, “Sixty Minute Man”. It was to even contain reference to Rock and Roll in the lyrics:

There'll be 15 minutes of kissing
Then you'll holler "please don't stop"
There'll be 15 minutes of teasing
And 15 minutes of squeezing
And 15 minutes of blowing my top.

If your man ain't treating you right
Come up and see ol' Dan
I Rock 'em, Roll 'em all night long
I'm a sixty-minute man, oh yeah
SIXTY-MINUTE MAN

Again, the vocals were lead by bass singer Bill Brown, and featured an even more hopped up rhythm. By many its considered to be the template by which all Rock songs of 50’s would be built around. It was also to cross musical genres and racial lines. It made it to #1 on the R&B Charts by selling over 1.5 million copies, and crossed over to the Pop Charts peaking at #8.

It is rumored that Billy Ward ran an extremely tight ship, controlling every aspect of the group. This would lead to in-fighting that would break the group up shortly after it started. Clyde McPhatter would go on to sign with Atlantic Records, forming “The Drifters”, and Charlie White and Bill Brown would go on to become part of a short lived group, “The Checkers”. Despite the breakup, though, the Dominoes would continue on with Billy Ward leading the way. He brought in new comer Jackie Wilson to fill McPhatter’s place. Again, the Dominoes would see a string of hits, until Jackie Wilson left the group for a monstrously successful solo career. The Dominoes would continue to tour, with a few minor hits along the way, but the heyday was over.

While The Dominoes have long since faded into the background of time, Billy Ward’s “Sixty Minute Man” will always hold a sacred spot in Rock’s history.