Billy Beeman

Legendary fiddler Billy Beeman, born in Memphis, Texas on Dec. 19, 1926, passed away in California on the afternoon of April 5, 2011. For over seven decades Billy Beeman impressed his friends and fans with his unique fiddling and songwriting ability. As a child, Billy's first music teacher was the legendary Woody Guthrie, who also started Billy in radio. At first, Billy played guitar, but before he was born, Billy's father had bet Bob Wills that Billy would play the fiddle, and since 1933, he has played fiddle like no one else. As Billy was growing up, Bob Wills was one of his greatest influences, as were Stephan Grappelli, Hugh Farr and Spade Cooley. Cooley once invited Billy to play twin fiddles with him on stage, a great thrill for the youngster. Perhaps as a result of the guidance and friendship he was shown by his musical heroes as a boy, Billy was always been ready to pass along friendly tips to today's youngsters, all of whom greatly admired him.

   Performing with his brothers and sister Shirley, Billy appeared on the same bill with the Paul Whiteman Orch., the Original Dixieland Band, Eddie Foy and the Seven Little Foys, Kay Kyser, Ted Lewis, the Hoosier Hot-Shots, Patsy Montana, Tex Williams, Stuart Hamblen, Roy Rogers (Trigger danced to Billy's music!), Eddie Dean and a host of others. They performed numerous times on the National Barn Dance and worked with Tex Ritter for several seasons. They once played a special request for President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the 30s and 40s, they worked with all of Hollywood's leading stars contributing their Western music to raise money for the British War Relief. Billy and his family were instrumental in bringing Western music to Knott's Berry Farm in California, where it thrived for years. From 1959 until 1968 Billy led the Wagonmasters at Knott’s Berry Farm and recorded several albums with the group which are highly prized by collectors today and have been re-issued on CD. The family also contributed much to continuing the western music tradition in radio in the 1930s and 40s.

   Billy and his late brother, Bobby, were a major force in the creation of the Western Music Association. For the first years of the Association's existence, Billy and the Lobo Rangers were annual headliners at the WMA's festivals, with Billy's fiddle and compositions making up a significant portion of the Rangers' repertoire. CHRONICLES OF AN OLD FIDDLER, Billy's autobiography, documents the extensive career of this spellbinding fiddle player. He was inducted into the Western Music Hall of Fame in 1998.

by O. J. Sikes