Billy Wright was an American

United States

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

 jump blues

Jump blues

Jump blues is an up-tempo blues usually played by small groups and featuring horns. It was very popular in the 1940s, and the movement was a precursor to the arrival of rhythm and blues and rock and roll...

 singer.

Biography

Billy Wright was born in Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...

. Throughout his career, he was known as the "Prince of the Blues." He was a key figure in Atlanta blues after World War II

World 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...

 and had a major influence on rock and roll

Rock and roll

Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

 pioneer Little Richard

Little Richard

Richard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...

, whom he helped get his first recording contract

Recording contract

A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...

.

He recorded his last recordings in 1959. He continued to do shows around Atlanta until he suffered a stroke

Stroke

A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...

, and then died of a pulmonary embolism

Pulmonary embolism

Pulmonary embolism is a blockage of the main artery of the lung or one of its branches by a substance that has travelled from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream . Usually this is due to embolism of a thrombus from the deep veins in the legs, a process termed venous thromboembolism...

, just before his 1991 Halloween Show at the Royal Peacock in Atlanta.

Singles

• "Blues For My Baby" / "You Satisfy" (Savoy #710) (11/1949)
• "I Keep Drinkin'" / "Billy’s Boogie Blues" (Savoy #715) (1950)
• "Back Biting Woman" / "Thinking Blues" (Savoy #733) (1950)
• "After Dark Blues" / "Heavy Hearted Blues" (Savoy #741) (1951)
• "Fore Day Blues" / "Empty Hand" (Savoy #761) (1951)
• "Mean Old Wine" / "Keep Your Hands On Your Heart" (Savoy #776) (11/1951)
• "Stacked Deck" / "Mercy Mercy" (Savoy #781) (1951)
• "Hey Little Girl" / "Gotta Find My Baby" (Savoy #810) (1951)
• "New Way Of Lovin'" / "When The Wagon Comes" (Savoy #819) (1952)
• "Turn Your Lamps Down Low" / "Drinkin' And Thinkin'" (Savoy #827) (1952)
• "Married Woman’s Boogie" / "Every Evening" (Savoy #837) (1952)
• "If I Didn’t Love You So" / "Goin' Down Slow" (Savoy #870) (12/1952)
• "After Awhile" / "Four Cold Cold Walls" (Savoy #1100) (5/1953)
• "Live The Life" / "I Remember" (Savoy #1127) (4/1954)
• "Bad Luck, Heartaches, And Trouble" / "The Question" (Peacock #1657) (7/1955)
• "Have Mercy Baby" / "I Love You Sweetheart" (Carrollton #801) (1959)
• "Man’s Brand Boogie" / "Beg A Dog" (Atlanta #6000) (1959)

Other recordings

• "Walking The Blues" (Savoy) (unreleased) (9/23/1949)
• "Ride On Little Girl" (Savoy) (unreleased) (1/7/1950)
• "Misfortune Blues" (Savoy) (unreleased) (4/24/1950)
• "Restless Blues" (Savoy) (unreleased) (1951) (appears on Savoy LP-1146)
• "This Love Of Mine" (Savoy) (unreleased) (1951) (appears on Savoy LP-1146)
• "If I Had My Life To Live Over" (Savoy) (unreleased) (1952) (appears on Savoy LP-1146)
• "Sad Hour Blues" (Savoy) (unreleased) (1952) (appears on Savoy LP-1146)
• "Do Something For Me" (1952) (live at Harlem Theater, Atlanta, Georgia) (appears on Stacked Deck album)
• "Keep Your Hand On Your Heart And Your Mind On Me" (Savoy) (1953) (appears on Savoy LP-2255)
• "Will You Need Me" (Savoy) (unreleased) (1954) (appears on Savoy LP-1146)
• "Baby Don’t You Want A Man Like Me" (Peacock) (unreleased) (1955)
• "Let’s Be Friends" (Peacock) (unreleased) (1955)
• Titles Unknown (Fury/Fire) (1959) (unreleased)

Albums

• Stacked Deck (Route 66) (1980)
• Goin Down Slow (Savoy #LP-1146) (1984)
• Various Artists: Southern Blues: Roots Of Rock And Roll Volume 11 (Savoy #LP-2255) (1985)
• Billy Wright/Little Richard: Baby Don’t You Want A Man Like Me (Ace #193) (1987)
• Billy Wright (Savoy Jazz) (1994)
• Classics 1949-1951 (Melodie Jazz Classics) (2003)
• Billy Wright (Savoy Jazz) (1994)
• Have Mercy Baby (Blue City #BCCD-810) (includes his Peacock, Carrollton, and Atlanta recordings)

External links

• [ Allmusic on Billy Wright]