William James Edwards "Bill" Lee III (born July 23, 1928) is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 musician. He has played the bass for many artists including Cat Stevens

Cat Stevens

Yusuf Islam , commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam....

, Harry Belafonte

Harry Belafonte

Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...

, Chad Mitchell Trio

Chad Mitchell Trio

The Chad Mitchell Trio were a North American vocal group who became known during the 1960s. They performed folk songs, some of which were traditionally passed down and some of their own compositions. Unlike many fellow folk music groups, none of the trio played instruments...

, Gordon Lightfoot

Gordon Lightfoot

Gordon Meredith Lightfoot, Jr. is a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music, and has been credited for helping define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s...

, Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin

Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...

, Odetta

Odetta

Odetta Holmes, known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter, and a human rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals...

, Simon and Garfunkel

Simon and Garfunkel

Simon & Garfunkel are an American duo consisting of singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel. They formed the group Tom & Jerry in 1957 and had their first success with the minor hit "Hey, Schoolgirl". As Simon & Garfunkel, the duo rose to fame in 1965, largely on the strength of the...

, and Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

. On the original release of Dylan's classic song "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue

It's All Over Now, Baby Blue

"It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan and featured on his Bringing It All Back Home album, released on March 22, 1965 by Columbia Records . The song was originally recorded on January 15, 1965 with Dylan's acoustic guitar and harmonica and William E. Lee's bass...

", Lee on bass guitar

Bass guitar

The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

 is the only musician performing other than Dylan himself.

Lee was born in Snow Hill, Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

, the son of Alberta G., a concert pianist, and Arnold W. Lee, a musician. With his first wife, Jackie, he had five children, including film director Spike Lee

Spike Lee

Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....

 (born 1957), still photographer David Lee (born 1961), actress Joie Lee

Joie Lee

Joie Susannah Lee is an American screenwriter, film producer and actress. She has appeared in many of the films directed by her brother, Spike Lee, including She's Gotta Have It , School Daze , Do the Right Thing , and Mo' Better Blues...

 (born 1962), and filmmaker Cinqué Lee (born 1966) and has composed original music

Soundtrack

A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...

 for many of his son's films, including She's Gotta Have It

She's Gotta Have It

She's Gotta Have It is a 1986 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Spike Lee. It was also Lee's first feature-length film. The film stars Tracy Camilla Johns, Tommy Redmond Hicks and John Canada Terrell. Also appearing are cinematographer Ernest Dickerson as a Brooklyn resident and...

, School Daze

School Daze

School Daze is a 1988 American musical-drama film, written and directed by Spike Lee, and starring Laurence Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito, and Tisha Campbell-Martin...

, Do the Right Thing

Do the Right Thing

Do the Right Thing is a 1989 American dramedy produced, written, and directed by Spike Lee, who is also a featured actor in the film. Other members of the cast include Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, and John Turturro. It is also notably the...

and Mo' Better Blues

Mo' Better Blues

Mo' Better Blues is a 1990 drama film starring Denzel Washington, Wesley Snipes, and Spike Lee, who also directed. It follows a period in the life of a fictional jazz trumpeter Bleek Gilliam as a series of bad decisions result in his jeopardizing both his relationships and his playing career...

. With his second wife, Susan, he has one son, Arnold Lee, who plays alto saxophone.

Film work

• Music director and performer on the song "Nola," She's Gotta Have It (also see below), Island, 1986.
• Music conductor of Natural Spiritual Orchestra, School Daze (also see below), Columbia, 1988.
• Music conductor of Natural Spiritual Orchestra, Do the Right Thing(also see below), Universal, 1989.
• Music director, Mo' Better Blues (also see below), Universal, 1990.

Film appearances

• Sonny Darling, She's Gotta Have It (also see below), Island, 1986.
• Bassist in the Phyllis Hyman Quartet, School Daze (also see below), Columbia, 1988.
• Father of the Bride, Mo' Better Blues (also see below), Universal,1990.

Stage work

• (With Stuart Scharf) Music arranger, A Hand is on the Gate, Longacre Theatre, New York City, 1966.

Television appearances

• Has appeared on the television show Today and Harry Belafonte television specials.

Album appearances

• The Descendants of Mike and Phoebe: A Spirit Speaks
• The Brass Company: Colors (Strata East)
• Richard Davis: On Philosophy of the Spiritual (Buddah), Fancy Free (Galaxy) and With Understanding (Muse)
• Richard Adams: Harvest (Muse)
• The Warm Voice of Billy "C": Where have you been Billy Boy (Strata East)
• Clifford Jordan: Glass Bead Games (Strata East)
• Peter, Paul & Mary: Album (Warner Bros.)
• Harold Mabern: A Few Miles From Memphis (Prestige), Rakin' and Scrapin' (Prestige)
• First Ian & Sylvia Album

Film music

• Score, She's Gotta Have It, Island, 1986.
• Score, and songs "Straight and Nappy," "Be One," and "Wake Up Suite," School Daze, Columbia, 1988.
• Score, Do the Right Thing, Universal, 1989.
• "Mo' Better Blues" and "Again Never," Mo' Better Blues, Universal,1990.
• Composer of score for the short film "Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads."

Opera

• Composer. The Depot, One Mile East, Baby Sweets, The Quarter, The Rabbi, Monica, Juan Valdez and the children's opera Little Johnny.

External links