Rare Texas Country Blues Hillbilly Bop BILL NEELY "Deep Elm Blues" Arhoolie

NEELY, BILL (1916-1990). Bill Neely, composer and singer of country blues music, was born in Collin County, Texas, on September 19, 1916. He was the son of sharecroppers. He grew up in McKinney. At thirteen he met his greatest musical influence, country singer Jimmie (James Charles) Rodgersqv, who gave him his first guitar lesson. Because of the depression, Neely dropped out of the eighth grade to look for work at the age of fifteen. He began working at Civilian Conservation Corps camps and traveling about the country on freight trains. Although he had begun composing his own music, his musical career was arrested for four years (1939-43) by service in the army. In 1943 he moved to Arizona.

In 1949 he moved to Austin, where he met musician Kenneth Threadgillqv. Before long, Neely was a regularly scheduled Wednesday-night act at Threadgill's restaurant, where he played for most of the 1950s. In 1968 he befriended another Austin musician, Larry Kirbo. The two played together for nearly twelve years, including special performances in programs hosted by the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Neely also played with such notable musicians as Janis Joplin, Mance Lipscomb,qqv and Pete Seeger. In 1974 he released his only album, Blackland Farm Boy. In December 1989 he traveled to Paris, France, with three other Texas musicians to perform for two weeks at the House of World Cultures.

Besides performing onstage, Neely owned restaurants, worked as a hotel chef, and drove a truck for the state of Texas. He married Bobbie Hamilton in 1948. The couple had three daughters, a son, and a step-daughter. On March 22, 1990, Neely died of leukemia at home. He was buried at Capital Memorial Park. His influence lives on in such Austin artists as Dan del Santo, Alejandro Escovedo, and Nanci Griffith. Neely was an inductee into the Austin Music Memorial in 2009.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• BILL NEELY
• DEEP ELM BLUES
• ARHOOLIE
• COUNTRY BLUES
• HILLBILLY
• BOP
• BOOGIE
• ROCKABILLY
• JIMMIE RODGERS
• texas
• HONKY TONK
• PETE SEEGER
• WOODY GUTHRIE
• FOLK

[timallensband]

Thanks so much for posting this video!!! I used to sit in Bill's kitchen with him and listen to him play and drink coffee with him. I still have the Guild guitar he gave me and it still has the picture of Jimmy Rodgers on the headstock that he glued there.

Tim Allen

[kingfrat78]

@timallensband , Thanks Tim, This is a fantastic LP. No one really talks about this guy. i think he should be a household name. Is he still alive? -dan

[catfishstephenson]

i played harp with Bill&larry kirbo &jesse Ashlock &ken Threadgill back in 1973 1980 . He was always an inspiration to me.Catfish Stephenson.

[haleymdavenport]

I am very proud to say this man is my great grandfather.

[timallensband]

He left us in 1990,

[jahzoone]

I'm a big fan of Chris Strachwitz and the Arhoolie label. I am glad you are posting this kind of material to youTube, I hope to see/hear more! Thanks.