Bill Pearce
Encyclopedia
Bill Pearce was an American singer, solo trombonist, nationally syndicated broadcaster and inductee into the National Religious Broadcasters
Hall of Fame.
He died at age 83 on February 23, 2010 from complications of Parkinson's disease.
on May 20, 1926. His father was an itinerant Methodist minister with his own daily radio program, Christian Voices, which could be heard on WFIL, WIP and WCAM. He gave the message, his mother played the piano and sang. Bill, along with his brother and sister played together in a brass trio. However, Bill Pearce started out with a totally different instrument in the beginning.
"My first interest in music really was grade school orchestra," he said; "they needed a clarinet player and whether I looked like one or not, I was chosen to play an old metal clarinet. I did not take to that instrument at all, and it just frustrated the dickens out of me. I finally got angry enough to throw it down on my mattress hard enough that I slightly bent it, so we had a repair bill to start out with."
The clarinet would be repaired at the local music shop and Bill's band teacher suggested that he might try a different instrument, the trombone. At ten years old, Bill got his first trombone, "...an old King
trombone for $20 at a local second hand shop," he says. He began practicing with the aid of an old Victrola and a 78 rpm
of John Phillip Sousa
marches. His music teacher would come by once a week, and for his first lesson, tied the slide on his trombone so that Bill could not use it. The whole idea was to have him focus on his tone, rather than the notes.
Bill's introduction to jazz came by way of a "very unusual recording" he heard one day:
Bill would continue playing and at 11 years old would begin studying with Donald Rheinhardt, famous for his "Pivot" system of mouthpiece placement.
's radio show, recorded at Pinebrook summer camp (in the Poconos). Bill, along with Percy's wife, Ruth, as an accompanist, played the song "He Lives" — "Two verses and an extra refrain in B flat — no variations", he recalls. (Incidentally, a new Canadian singer by the name of George Beverly Shea
was on the same program!)
He would study with two additional teachers before stopping formal lessons altogether.
The third teacher was his band instructor in high school. "He was a military type and very strict about my doing everything it by the book," he recalls (by the way, the "book" in question was the Arban method
!). "When he would call me in for a lesson I would know that was pending so I would get about 5 minutes of cramming in to see what I could do with lip trills and making decent sounds and scales and things like that. He didn't dig that at all and finally he dismissed me, saying I wasn't serious enough, that he wanted to spend his time with musicians who really wanted to play."
His fourth teacher was his junior high school
teacher who "encouraged me all over the place," he says. "He gave me a solo to learn — he was trying to enter me into the state contest because he thought I showed some promise. I'll never forget that piece he gave me to play; it was called 'La Comparsita.' It was a Latin thing and I got kind of tired of that within 2 pages. I couldn't get into that at all, it was too technical, I thought, another planet for me. It just seemed too impossible, so I thought, well, I'll just try to do what comes to me naturally."
He then proceeded to spend time in the movie theater. "Back in those days you could get into the theater for about 50 cents but you could stay all day," recalls Pearce. "You would see the same movie, but between shows, as they were rewinding the reels, they had these name bands on stage doing a 20 or 30 minutes concert. The first time I heard Tommy Dorsey was when Gene Krupa
was his drummer. It was completely dark in the theater and you heard those drums begin - it was Krupa doing a tom-tom solo, and before you knew it they were into 'Song of India.' I was totally mesmerized by the whole thing. Later Glenn Miller
came through with his band and that was a precision unit if there ever was one. His brass players were right on the money, just amazing. So that's the kind of dream I had as a kid growing up."
He got to live that dream when he got a spot in Percy Crawford's brass quartet! "As we were better known and got more invitations," he recalls, "we spread out from the Philadelphia area to New York, New England
down to Baltimore and Washington DC and so on. That was good training for me - the first trumpet player
was sort of a hero to me. He looked sharp, he combed his hair right, his glasses even looked good, dressed correctly, and was just a very clean person. His playing matched his image. So, I learned a lot about purity, how to form a beautiful tone and to play 'within limits!'"
broke out and many high school teenagers were being drafted and joining the Army. Bill had other ideas. "Most people waited to be drafted and joined the Army. The Navy quota was full, and I decided I wanted to be a Marine like my father had been. He was a drill instructor
and an officer at Parris Island
(South Carolina
) and at the officer training center in Quantico, VA
during in World War I
. He used to tell me stories about the Marine Corps so, on the basis of that I went down one day and asked to enlist."
Bill enlisted and went through United States Marine Corps Recruit Training
at Parris Island, South Carolina; 15 weeks of jungle training at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina; and another several weeks of training at Camp Pendleton
, Rancho Santa Margarita
y Los Flores, California.
He got shipped out to the 3rd Division, on the way to Iwo Jima
and the Pacific, and was ready to go to war. Unknown to him, at the time, his father was having a conversation with a few old war buddies, which would change his course. "My father, having been in the service in World War I, knew some of the military people
who had become generals later and one of his speaking engagements in Washington, DC found him over the Pentagon to look up some of his old buddies. As they discussed the old days, he said, 'I've got a son who's an army physician in the Army and a younger son who's in the Marine Corps down at LeJeune, shipping out.' They checked on me in the records and found I was indeed a machine gunner in the infantry, on the way to the Pacific."
Meanwhile, Bill was getting ready to board a train to take him to the west coast, and then, to the Pacific, when he heard a sergeant call his name, "'I don't know who in "H" you know [...] but you've been transferred out of this unit. Get your gear and move over to Hadnot Point' (the main barracks for Camp LeJeune)," he said. With that, Bill Pearce was back at Camp LeJeune in the Camp LeJeune staff band, as the first trombonist, marching in the pivot position of the front line next to the director. This would last for about six months, when they got a new general for Camp LeJeune. He was, as Pearce recalled, "a tough number and decided that no Marine should go through his tour of duty
without going overseas or seeing action or something like that. So before I knew it I was on the train again with my 60 pound pack and sea bag going out to the Pacific theatre. I made it as far as Hawaii."
In Hawaii, ready to ship out for combat duty, Pearce once again found himself wielding a trombone rather than a gun. "The day we were being shipped out," he recalls, "was an awfully rainy morning. I was depressed and in a blue funk when I heard this 'sound!' I went to see what it was and it was a big band
going through their paces, warming up. When they had a brief break I went to the Sergeant who was leading and said, 'Who do I talk to get into something like this?' He said, 'What's your interest?' and I said I play trombone. He said, 'I'll tell you what, we have rehearsal here at 10 o'clock every morning - get permission from your Commanding Officer
and come on around here tomorrow morning so we can audition you.' Well, the next day, I got my Don Reinhardt Mouthpiece out of my sea bag and grabbed a trombone from somewhere and they brought over a pianist and a fair to middling drummer and a bass player
and said, 'Well, what do you want to kick off?' So I thought a second and remembered we had played in junior high something called 'Honeysuckle Rose,' in the key of F, so I said, 'How about Honeysuckle
Rose, in the key of F?' And he said, 'Great.' So he gave me an intro. I guess I went about half way through it, having not played for quite a while, but evidently they had heard enough so the Sergeant said, 'Hold it!' He told me to go down to the quartermaster, and turn in my rifle and grab a trombone from the warehouse of musical instruments. Well, as you can imagine I hopped to and that warehouse had the best of everything - Steinway pianos and French Selmers - you name it. I picked out a beautiful French Selmer trombone with a white case and a purple plush lining inside and engraving all the way up the bell and a big "USMC" down the front and man, this was a class item! So, that's what I did during - playing my way, entertaining Navy and Marine Corps troops in the Pacific theatre and mainland China until discharge."
and went back to college. He soon found that college wasn't necessarily a good fit for him. "I never did too well in school. I was a learning disability
kid - of course we didn't know what it was back then. I didn't seem to be able to learn in the system, I wasn't able to concentrate, or to retain any kind of information. I think now they call it Attention Deficit Disorder
, or Learning Deficit Disorder." He continued to work as a truck driver, played a few dance jobs, he even joined the American Legion
drum and bugle corps
.
He wound up in Chicago, a while later, and decided to attend the Moody Bible Institute
. He lasted about a semester. He ended up flunking out. However, one door may have closed, but a second one was just about to open. "I wandered up to the radio department of Moody," Pearce recalls. "They owned about seven big stations, and the head announcer said to me, 'I can't get you out of my mind - would you ever have any interest in taking an announcing job here at WMBI radio?' I said, 'No, not really, because I have a pretty bad Philadelphia accent
and I don't know what to say.' And he said, 'Why don't you take a shot at it?' So I did; I took an audition, and he evidently passed me. I think he was either an angel or the Lord put him there, because he was 'the man in the middle' who was really standing there at the time I was wavering. He talked to the program director even though I didn't have the greatest record at the school, so they put me on six months' probation. I got the job and stayed for 25 years."
During the six months probation Pearce made the decision to make the most of the opportunity he'd been given, and become more eloquent. "I'm going to be a loser in life, I'm a drifter," he recalls. "Here's God's opportunity that He's given me, so I decided I was going to learn how to speak. Tape was just invented then and they had a Magnacord tape recorder at WMBI. So I got with that tape recorder and I practiced vocabulary through the Reader's Digest 'Word Power' section, learned a new word every couple of days and used it. I worked on the vowel sounds and listened to the great voices at NBC and CBS like Dave Garroway
and Paul Harvey. I was a newsman and announcer and I worked on my stuttering and my air-headedness and fortunately found an older man at the radio station who took an interest in helping me and got me into the Word of God. He taught me to think more clearly in some other areas than my own interest, and also urged me to keep a 'journal' which I do to this day. He really helped me to get my feet on the ground."
Bill would move up to become "Special Events Director" for WMBI, he would also branch out and start doing interviews. One morning, he was chatting with a morning announcer, and the announcer happened to ask him if he sang, to which Bill replied he hadn't thought about it. "Well, why don't you do a solo for us sometime one morning?" the announcer asked.
He did just that, and was teamed up with a new arrival in the station, named Dick Anthony. This would become the team of Pearce and Anthony, Bill Pearce's vocal ministry, which would last 30 years (at least one album is still available) Bill and Anthony would later become one of the first of a stable of artists to record for Word Records
. (Word Records in Waco, Texas, was for many years the leading Christian music record label). Interestingly enough, he recorded not only with Dick Anthony, but also with another group, a quartet called "The Melody Four" which was also formed at WMBI, and also recorded for Word Records.
Bill Pearce also played multiple times with Kurt Kaiser
. "Kurt Kaiser came playing piano through Chicago," he recalls. "He and I hooked up with my trombone and before I knew it we were recording 'head arrangements' for Word. Then things at Word really started shaking and Paul Mickelson and Ralph Carmichael were raising the level, using professional sidemen and before we knew it Word Records was paying our production fees. We were playing with name people, including members of the Chicago Symphony string section, lead trumpet Bobbie Lewis, Mark
McDunn and studio players; John Haynor was playing bass trombone
with us. Guys like this were playing backgrounds. We were just at the right place at the right time. I was working hard and new young arrangers came through with good ideas and we were doing albums with top musicians. It was just a gift of God with timing that put me in the middle of all this. I was the only one doing anything at Word in brass work at all apart from a guy in Detroit named Chuck Ohman who was a fine trumpeter whom I had worked with in Percy Crawford's days. I was just blowing bubbles, making 30 or 40 albums over the years - there were so many I lost count."
In between recording with Kurt Kaiser, the Melody Four & Pearce and Anthony, Pearce started a local radio program he called "Nightwatch." By 1970 the show was syndicated under the name "NightSounds" with an opening song of "Beau Soir", a Claude Debussy
song arranged for orchestra and voice by Larry Mayfield.
. But I wasn't making it. I turned my back on the audience and I said to the Lord, 'What is this?!' I tried it again and things just weren't working right - the audience didn't seem to care, but I knew something was up. So I told the audience that this is my final solo concert after 47 years on the road and so it was. There's a certain kind of exertion when playing that emotionally and physically causes my arms to get into tremor and my 'playing arm' loses control." He would later be diagnosed with Parkinson's disease
.
Before he stopped playing entirely, he wanted to record one more album; however, he was not able to do so, due to the Parkinson's.
He opted, instead to record one final track. "I knew my trombone playing days were nearing an end, so I asked the Lord if he would give me one more shot at it so I could do one more solo album but the Lord said 'No.' So I asked my friend Otis Skillings if he would help me put down one more track. I really wanted to record 'Beyond the Sunset.' Would you believe it took us four three-hour sessions to get through one simple little solo? I used to do an entire album in 10 hours! I worked and worked a note at a time, a phrase at a time. Otis worked with me very graciously and patiently on that. The only reason I did it was because I wanted to encourage people who may be struggling with something, with their playing, with a disease, maybe they're a paraplegic, maybe they need help, and let them know that where Christ is there's hope. It may not seem like it's that much of an effort when you hear it, but I was struggling with every note. My horn was shaking like crazy and I couldn't get a fix on the mouthpiece. So that's track 49, maybe the Lord will use it in some special way sometime. Even though I don't play publicly any more, I'm ready to give it all - to Him! I keep the trombone out of the case . . . on the stand - keeping it warm and 'ready to fly!'"
As of 2007, Bill Pearce also stopped recording his radio program NightSounds. It remains in syndication both on the internet and on Christian radio
stations, in reruns. He moved to Florida for a few years, but opted to move back to Pennsylvania. Later he decided to move to an assisted living home in Ohio.
National Religious Broadcasters
National Religious Broadcasters is an American organization that represents Christian religious broadcasters on American television and radio, including several high-profile televangelists and Christian radio show hosts. It claims a membership of more than 1700 organizations...
Hall of Fame.
He died at age 83 on February 23, 2010 from complications of Parkinson's disease.
Early life
Pearce was born in Carlisle, PennsylvaniaCarlisle, Pennsylvania
Carlisle is a borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The name is traditionally pronounced with emphasis on the second syllable. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2010 census, the borough...
on May 20, 1926. His father was an itinerant Methodist minister with his own daily radio program, Christian Voices, which could be heard on WFIL, WIP and WCAM. He gave the message, his mother played the piano and sang. Bill, along with his brother and sister played together in a brass trio. However, Bill Pearce started out with a totally different instrument in the beginning.
"My first interest in music really was grade school orchestra," he said; "they needed a clarinet player and whether I looked like one or not, I was chosen to play an old metal clarinet. I did not take to that instrument at all, and it just frustrated the dickens out of me. I finally got angry enough to throw it down on my mattress hard enough that I slightly bent it, so we had a repair bill to start out with."
The clarinet would be repaired at the local music shop and Bill's band teacher suggested that he might try a different instrument, the trombone. At ten years old, Bill got his first trombone, "...an old King
King Musical Instruments
King Musical Instruments was a musical instrument manufacturing company located in Cleveland, Ohio.The company was founded as the H.N. White Company in 1893 by Henderson White, an engraver and instrument repairman. White designed a trombone for Thomas King, a local player...
trombone for $20 at a local second hand shop," he says. He began practicing with the aid of an old Victrola and a 78 rpm
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
of John Phillip Sousa
John Philip Sousa
John Philip Sousa was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era, known particularly for American military and patriotic marches. Because of his mastery of march composition, he is known as "The March King" or the "American March King" due to his British counterpart Kenneth J....
marches. His music teacher would come by once a week, and for his first lesson, tied the slide on his trombone so that Bill could not use it. The whole idea was to have him focus on his tone, rather than the notes.
Bill's introduction to jazz came by way of a "very unusual recording" he heard one day:
"On one side of the disc was a recording of Knute RockneKnute RockneKnute Kenneth Rockne was an American football player and coach. He is regarded as one of the greatest coaches in college football history...
, the famous football coach of Notre Dame, speaking — no, rather, yelling — at his team during halftime and they were losing, so you can imagine the energy there. However.... on the flip side of this funny old recording was a trombone solo by somebody named Tommy DorseyTommy DorseyThomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
. It was called 'I'm Getting Sentimental Over You.' Well, you know the rest of the story. I was absolutely intrigued by the sound this guy got on that old scratchy 78, so I thought, well, why can't that be me?"
Bill would continue playing and at 11 years old would begin studying with Donald Rheinhardt, famous for his "Pivot" system of mouthpiece placement.
First performance
Bill made his debut performance on a nationally broadcast radio program in the summer of 1937 on Percy CrawfordPercy Crawford
Percy Bartimus Crawford was an evangelist and fundamentalist leader who especially emphasized youth ministry. During the late 1950s, he saw the potential of FM radio and UHF television and built the first successful Christian broadcasting network...
's radio show, recorded at Pinebrook summer camp (in the Poconos). Bill, along with Percy's wife, Ruth, as an accompanist, played the song "He Lives" — "Two verses and an extra refrain in B flat — no variations", he recalls. (Incidentally, a new Canadian singer by the name of George Beverly Shea
George Beverly Shea
George Beverly "Bev" Shea is a Grammy Award-winning Canadian-born American gospel singer and hymn composer. Shea has often been described as "America's beloved Gospel singer" and is considered "the first international singing 'star' of the gospel world," as a consequence of his solos at Billy...
was on the same program!)
He would study with two additional teachers before stopping formal lessons altogether.
The third teacher was his band instructor in high school. "He was a military type and very strict about my doing everything it by the book," he recalls (by the way, the "book" in question was the Arban method
Arban method
The Arban Method is a complete pedagogical method for students of trumpet, cornet, and other brass instruments. The original edition was published by Jean-Baptiste Arban in 1864 and it has never been out of print since. It contains hundreds of exercises, ranging enormously in difficulty...
!). "When he would call me in for a lesson I would know that was pending so I would get about 5 minutes of cramming in to see what I could do with lip trills and making decent sounds and scales and things like that. He didn't dig that at all and finally he dismissed me, saying I wasn't serious enough, that he wanted to spend his time with musicians who really wanted to play."
His fourth teacher was his junior high school
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
teacher who "encouraged me all over the place," he says. "He gave me a solo to learn — he was trying to enter me into the state contest because he thought I showed some promise. I'll never forget that piece he gave me to play; it was called 'La Comparsita.' It was a Latin thing and I got kind of tired of that within 2 pages. I couldn't get into that at all, it was too technical, I thought, another planet for me. It just seemed too impossible, so I thought, well, I'll just try to do what comes to me naturally."
He then proceeded to spend time in the movie theater. "Back in those days you could get into the theater for about 50 cents but you could stay all day," recalls Pearce. "You would see the same movie, but between shows, as they were rewinding the reels, they had these name bands on stage doing a 20 or 30 minutes concert. The first time I heard Tommy Dorsey was when Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa was an American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.-Biography:...
was his drummer. It was completely dark in the theater and you heard those drums begin - it was Krupa doing a tom-tom solo, and before you knew it they were into 'Song of India.' I was totally mesmerized by the whole thing. Later Glenn Miller
Glenn Miller
Alton Glenn Miller was an American jazz musician , arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big Bands"...
came through with his band and that was a precision unit if there ever was one. His brass players were right on the money, just amazing. So that's the kind of dream I had as a kid growing up."
He got to live that dream when he got a spot in Percy Crawford's brass quartet! "As we were better known and got more invitations," he recalls, "we spread out from the Philadelphia area to New York, New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
down to Baltimore and Washington DC and so on. That was good training for me - the first trumpet player
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
was sort of a hero to me. He looked sharp, he combed his hair right, his glasses even looked good, dressed correctly, and was just a very clean person. His playing matched his image. So, I learned a lot about purity, how to form a beautiful tone and to play 'within limits!'"
USMC
About this time, World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
broke out and many high school teenagers were being drafted and joining the Army. Bill had other ideas. "Most people waited to be drafted and joined the Army. The Navy quota was full, and I decided I wanted to be a Marine like my father had been. He was a drill instructor
Drill instructor
A drill instructor is a non-commissioned officer or Staff Non-Commissioned Officer in the armed forces or police forces with specific duties that vary by country. In the U.S. armed forces, they are assigned the duty of indoctrinating new recruits entering the military into the customs and...
and an officer at Parris Island
Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island
Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island is an military installation located within Port Royal, South Carolina, approximately south of Beaufort, the community that is typically associated with the installation. MCRD Parris Island is used for the training of enlisted Marines...
(South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
) and at the officer training center in Quantico, VA
Quantico, Virginia
- Demographics :As of the census of 2000, there are 561 people, 295 households, and 107 families living in the town. The population density is . There are 359 housing units at an average density of .-Racial composition:...
during in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. He used to tell me stories about the Marine Corps so, on the basis of that I went down one day and asked to enlist."
Bill enlisted and went through United States Marine Corps Recruit Training
United States Marine Corps Recruit Training
United States Marine Corps Recruit Training, commonly known as "boot camp", is a program of initial training that each recruit must successfully complete in order to join the United States Marine Corps...
at Parris Island, South Carolina; 15 weeks of jungle training at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina; and another several weeks of training at Camp Pendleton
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and serves as its prime amphibious training base...
, Rancho Santa Margarita
Santa Margarita
Santa Margarita may refer to:*Santa Margarita , a shipwreck off the coast of Florida near Key WestPlaces*Santa Margarita, Mosta, Malta*Santa Margarita Island, Mexico*Santa Margarita, Samar, Philippines...
y Los Flores, California.
He got shipped out to the 3rd Division, on the way to Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...
and the Pacific, and was ready to go to war. Unknown to him, at the time, his father was having a conversation with a few old war buddies, which would change his course. "My father, having been in the service in World War I, knew some of the military people
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
who had become generals later and one of his speaking engagements in Washington, DC found him over the Pentagon to look up some of his old buddies. As they discussed the old days, he said, 'I've got a son who's an army physician in the Army and a younger son who's in the Marine Corps down at LeJeune, shipping out.' They checked on me in the records and found I was indeed a machine gunner in the infantry, on the way to the Pacific."
Meanwhile, Bill was getting ready to board a train to take him to the west coast, and then, to the Pacific, when he heard a sergeant call his name, "'I don't know who in "H" you know [...] but you've been transferred out of this unit. Get your gear and move over to Hadnot Point' (the main barracks for Camp LeJeune)," he said. With that, Bill Pearce was back at Camp LeJeune in the Camp LeJeune staff band, as the first trombonist, marching in the pivot position of the front line next to the director. This would last for about six months, when they got a new general for Camp LeJeune. He was, as Pearce recalled, "a tough number and decided that no Marine should go through his tour of duty
Tour of duty
In the Navy, a tour of duty is a period of time spent performing operational duties at sea, including combat, performing patrol or fleet duties, or assigned to service in a foreign country....
without going overseas or seeing action or something like that. So before I knew it I was on the train again with my 60 pound pack and sea bag going out to the Pacific theatre. I made it as far as Hawaii."
In Hawaii, ready to ship out for combat duty, Pearce once again found himself wielding a trombone rather than a gun. "The day we were being shipped out," he recalls, "was an awfully rainy morning. I was depressed and in a blue funk when I heard this 'sound!' I went to see what it was and it was a big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
going through their paces, warming up. When they had a brief break I went to the Sergeant who was leading and said, 'Who do I talk to get into something like this?' He said, 'What's your interest?' and I said I play trombone. He said, 'I'll tell you what, we have rehearsal here at 10 o'clock every morning - get permission from your Commanding Officer
Commanding officer
The commanding officer is the officer in command of a military unit. Typically, the commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitude to run the unit as he sees fit, within the bounds of military law...
and come on around here tomorrow morning so we can audition you.' Well, the next day, I got my Don Reinhardt Mouthpiece out of my sea bag and grabbed a trombone from somewhere and they brought over a pianist and a fair to middling drummer and a bass player
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
and said, 'Well, what do you want to kick off?' So I thought a second and remembered we had played in junior high something called 'Honeysuckle Rose,' in the key of F, so I said, 'How about Honeysuckle
Honeysuckle
Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or twining vines in the family Caprifoliaceae, native to the Northern Hemisphere. There are about 180 species of honeysuckle, 100 of which occur in China; Europe, India and North America have only about 20 native species each...
Rose, in the key of F?' And he said, 'Great.' So he gave me an intro. I guess I went about half way through it, having not played for quite a while, but evidently they had heard enough so the Sergeant said, 'Hold it!' He told me to go down to the quartermaster, and turn in my rifle and grab a trombone from the warehouse of musical instruments. Well, as you can imagine I hopped to and that warehouse had the best of everything - Steinway pianos and French Selmers - you name it. I picked out a beautiful French Selmer trombone with a white case and a purple plush lining inside and engraving all the way up the bell and a big "USMC" down the front and man, this was a class item! So, that's what I did during - playing my way, entertaining Navy and Marine Corps troops in the Pacific theatre and mainland China until discharge."
College days and two more careers
After WWII, Bill took advantage of the GI billG.I. Bill of Rights
The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 , known informally as the G.I. Bill, was an omnibus law that provided college or vocational education for returning World War II veterans as well as one year of unemployment compensation...
and went back to college. He soon found that college wasn't necessarily a good fit for him. "I never did too well in school. I was a learning disability
Learning disability
Learning disability is a classification including several disorders in which a person has difficulty learning in a typical manner, usually caused by an unknown factor or factors...
kid - of course we didn't know what it was back then. I didn't seem to be able to learn in the system, I wasn't able to concentrate, or to retain any kind of information. I think now they call it Attention Deficit Disorder
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a developmental disorder. It is primarily characterized by "the co-existence of attentional problems and hyperactivity, with each behavior occurring infrequently alone" and symptoms starting before seven years of age.ADHD is the most commonly studied and...
, or Learning Deficit Disorder." He continued to work as a truck driver, played a few dance jobs, he even joined the American Legion
American Legion
The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...
drum and bugle corps
Drum and bugle corps (modern)
A drum and bugle corps, also known as a drum corps, is a musical marching unit consisting of brass instruments, percussion instruments, and color guard. Typically operating as independent non-profit organizations, drum corps perform in competitions, parades, festivals, and other civic functions...
.
He wound up in Chicago, a while later, and decided to attend the Moody Bible Institute
Moody Bible Institute
Moody Bible Institute is a Christian institution of higher education and related ministries that was founded by evangelist and businessman Dwight Lyman Moody in 1886. Since its founding, MBI's main campus has been located in the Near North Side of Chicago. MBI's primary ministries are education,...
. He lasted about a semester. He ended up flunking out. However, one door may have closed, but a second one was just about to open. "I wandered up to the radio department of Moody," Pearce recalls. "They owned about seven big stations, and the head announcer said to me, 'I can't get you out of my mind - would you ever have any interest in taking an announcing job here at WMBI radio?' I said, 'No, not really, because I have a pretty bad Philadelphia accent
Philadelphia accent
The Philadelphia dialect is the dialect of English spoken in Philadelphia; and extending into Philadelphia's suburbs in the Delaware Valley and southern New Jersey. It is one of the best-studied dialects of American English since Philadelphia's University of Pennsylvania is the home institution of...
and I don't know what to say.' And he said, 'Why don't you take a shot at it?' So I did; I took an audition, and he evidently passed me. I think he was either an angel or the Lord put him there, because he was 'the man in the middle' who was really standing there at the time I was wavering. He talked to the program director even though I didn't have the greatest record at the school, so they put me on six months' probation. I got the job and stayed for 25 years."
During the six months probation Pearce made the decision to make the most of the opportunity he'd been given, and become more eloquent. "I'm going to be a loser in life, I'm a drifter," he recalls. "Here's God's opportunity that He's given me, so I decided I was going to learn how to speak. Tape was just invented then and they had a Magnacord tape recorder at WMBI. So I got with that tape recorder and I practiced vocabulary through the Reader's Digest 'Word Power' section, learned a new word every couple of days and used it. I worked on the vowel sounds and listened to the great voices at NBC and CBS like Dave Garroway
Dave Garroway
David Cunningham "Dave" Garroway was the founding host of NBC's Today from 1952 to 1961. His easygoing, relaxed, and relaxing style belied a battle with depression that may have contributed to the end of his days as a leading television personality—and, eventually, his life...
and Paul Harvey. I was a newsman and announcer and I worked on my stuttering and my air-headedness and fortunately found an older man at the radio station who took an interest in helping me and got me into the Word of God. He taught me to think more clearly in some other areas than my own interest, and also urged me to keep a 'journal' which I do to this day. He really helped me to get my feet on the ground."
Bill would move up to become "Special Events Director" for WMBI, he would also branch out and start doing interviews. One morning, he was chatting with a morning announcer, and the announcer happened to ask him if he sang, to which Bill replied he hadn't thought about it. "Well, why don't you do a solo for us sometime one morning?" the announcer asked.
He did just that, and was teamed up with a new arrival in the station, named Dick Anthony. This would become the team of Pearce and Anthony, Bill Pearce's vocal ministry, which would last 30 years (at least one album is still available) Bill and Anthony would later become one of the first of a stable of artists to record for Word Records
Word Records
Word Records is a Christian record label based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a division of Word Entertainment , which, itself is co-owned by Warner Music Group and Curb Records...
. (Word Records in Waco, Texas, was for many years the leading Christian music record label). Interestingly enough, he recorded not only with Dick Anthony, but also with another group, a quartet called "The Melody Four" which was also formed at WMBI, and also recorded for Word Records.
Bill Pearce also played multiple times with Kurt Kaiser
Kurt Kaiser
Kurt Kaiser, is an award winning songwriter of Contemporary Christian music and member of the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. He has produced and arranged albums for the likes of: Kathleen Battle, Ernie Ford, Larnelle Harris, Burl Ives, Ken Medema, Christopher Parkening, George Beverly Shea, Joni...
. "Kurt Kaiser came playing piano through Chicago," he recalls. "He and I hooked up with my trombone and before I knew it we were recording 'head arrangements' for Word. Then things at Word really started shaking and Paul Mickelson and Ralph Carmichael were raising the level, using professional sidemen and before we knew it Word Records was paying our production fees. We were playing with name people, including members of the Chicago Symphony string section, lead trumpet Bobbie Lewis, Mark
Mark Lewis
Mark Lewis may refer to:*Mark Lewis , infielder in Major League Baseball*Mark Lewis , documentary film and television producer*Mark Lewis , Arena Football League placekicker...
McDunn and studio players; John Haynor was playing bass trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
with us. Guys like this were playing backgrounds. We were just at the right place at the right time. I was working hard and new young arrangers came through with good ideas and we were doing albums with top musicians. It was just a gift of God with timing that put me in the middle of all this. I was the only one doing anything at Word in brass work at all apart from a guy in Detroit named Chuck Ohman who was a fine trumpeter whom I had worked with in Percy Crawford's days. I was just blowing bubbles, making 30 or 40 albums over the years - there were so many I lost count."
In between recording with Kurt Kaiser, the Melody Four & Pearce and Anthony, Pearce started a local radio program he called "Nightwatch." By 1970 the show was syndicated under the name "NightSounds" with an opening song of "Beau Soir", a Claude Debussy
Claude Debussy
Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
song arranged for orchestra and voice by Larry Mayfield.
All good things...
Pearce continued playing up to 1995. He then began to notice that he had less control with his playing arm. "I began to notice that I didn't have the control I used to have when playing," he recalls. "Everything else seemed to be fine but playing got rough. It was tough to understand. Near the end of 1995 I began to notice less control when I played the horn. One day I was doing a huge concert in Michigan, 1000 people out there, a beautiful auditorium, great sound, great piano playerPianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
. But I wasn't making it. I turned my back on the audience and I said to the Lord, 'What is this?!' I tried it again and things just weren't working right - the audience didn't seem to care, but I knew something was up. So I told the audience that this is my final solo concert after 47 years on the road and so it was. There's a certain kind of exertion when playing that emotionally and physically causes my arms to get into tremor and my 'playing arm' loses control." He would later be diagnosed with Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
.
Before he stopped playing entirely, he wanted to record one more album; however, he was not able to do so, due to the Parkinson's.
He opted, instead to record one final track. "I knew my trombone playing days were nearing an end, so I asked the Lord if he would give me one more shot at it so I could do one more solo album but the Lord said 'No.' So I asked my friend Otis Skillings if he would help me put down one more track. I really wanted to record 'Beyond the Sunset.' Would you believe it took us four three-hour sessions to get through one simple little solo? I used to do an entire album in 10 hours! I worked and worked a note at a time, a phrase at a time. Otis worked with me very graciously and patiently on that. The only reason I did it was because I wanted to encourage people who may be struggling with something, with their playing, with a disease, maybe they're a paraplegic, maybe they need help, and let them know that where Christ is there's hope. It may not seem like it's that much of an effort when you hear it, but I was struggling with every note. My horn was shaking like crazy and I couldn't get a fix on the mouthpiece. So that's track 49, maybe the Lord will use it in some special way sometime. Even though I don't play publicly any more, I'm ready to give it all - to Him! I keep the trombone out of the case . . . on the stand - keeping it warm and 'ready to fly!'"
As of 2007, Bill Pearce also stopped recording his radio program NightSounds. It remains in syndication both on the internet and on Christian radio
Christian radio
Christian radio is a category of radio formats that focus on transmitting programming with a Christian message. In the United States, where it is more established, many such broadcasters play popular music of Christian influence, though many programs have talk or news programming covering...
stations, in reruns. He moved to Florida for a few years, but opted to move back to Pennsylvania. Later he decided to move to an assisted living home in Ohio.
Death
Bill Pearce pioneering radio broadcaster and founder of the Nightsounds radio program died February 23, 2010 from complications of Parkinson's disease. He was 83.Discography
- Bill Pearce - Trombone, with the Dick Anthony Orchestra. Arrangements by Dick Anthony. Word WST-8045-LP. Out of print.
- The Remarkable Trombone of Bill Pearce. Arrangements by Kurt Kaiser. Word WST-8312-LP. Out of print.
- A Quiet Place: The Rich Trombone of Bill Pearce. 1965. Arrangements by Kurt Kaiser. Word WST-8460-LP. available on CD through "Nightsounds."
- Reach Out: Bill Pearce, Trombone. 1975. Arrangements by Larry Mayfield. Word WST-8663-LP. Available on Cd through Nightsounds.
- Son Of My Soul. 1975. (Vocal album) Arrangements by Larry Mayfield. Word WST-8662-LP. Out of print.
- This is Bill Pearce. Arrangements by Larry Mayfield. FourMost LP FM7121CS. Out of print.
- Bill Pearce, Trombone. 1979. Arrangements by Larry Mayfield. New Dawn ZLP 3103. Out of print.
- Bill Pearce. 1981. Arrangements by Larry Mayfield. New Dawn ZLP-3187. Out of print.
- Great Hymns of the Faith. Bill Pearce sings hymns and tells the stories behind them. Nightsounds CD Available from "Nightsounds."
- Together Again LIVE!. Bill Pearce in concert with George Beverly Shea, and the Melody Four Quartet. Nightsounds CD Available from "Nightsounds."
- What Wondrous Love. Bill Pearce, trombone and vocal (includes previously released material from out of print discs). Available soon on CD from "Nightsounds."
- In His Likeness. Bill Pearce, trombone and vocal (includes previously released material from out of print discs). Available soon on CD from "Nightsounds."
- The Gentle Touch. Bill Pearce and Dick Anthony, vocal duo (includes previously released material from out of print discs). Available soon on CD from "Nightsounds."
- Encore. Bill Pearce, trombone (includes previously released material from out of print discs). Available on CD from "Nightsounds."
- Bright and Beautiful. Bill Pearce, trombone and vocal. Arrangements by Otis Skillings. Compact Disc CDBB. Available from "Nightsounds."
- Learning to Lean. Bill Pearce, trombone and vocal. Available soon on CD from "Nightsounds."
- 16 Singing Men In Concert. Bill Pearce with the "16 Singing Men". Available soon on CD from "Nightsounds."
- Christmas In The Air. Bill Pearce, trombone and vocal (includes previously released material from out of print discs). Arrangements by John InnesJohn InnesJohn Innes is a major force in the preservation and study of Guadalcanal history, working to identify wreck sites and Missing In Action cases, as well as accompanying veterans back to the locations in which they served....
and Larry Mayfield. Available on CD from "Nightsounds." - Favorites. Bill Pearce, trombone and vocal (includes previously released material from out of print discs). Available on CD from "Nightsounds."
- Touch of Gold. Bill Pearce, trombone and vocal (includes previously released material from out of print discs). 50 selections spanning 50 years of trombone and radio broadcast ministry. Available on double CD from "Nightsounds."