Wilmer "Bill" Browning (May 16, 1931, Wayne, West Virginia – January 23, 1977) was an American

Rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

musician, recording studio and songwriter. He wrote the country music hit single '' Dark Hollow'', which was covered by both

Jimmie Skinner Jimmie Skinner (April 27, 1909 – October 28, 1979) was an American country and bluegrass music singer, songwriter and acoustic guitarist. He also was known for a mail-order record business and retail store in Cincinnati, Ohio. Biography Ski ...

and the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

Career

While working as a truck driver in 1957, Browning convinced Frank J. Videmsek, a local restaurant owner, to set up the

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

Island Records and become his manager. Browning's band, the Echo Valley Boys, consisted of eight musicians. The echo Valley Boys released Browning's song "Dark Hollow" in 1958. After releasing the song, the band joined the

WWVA Jamboree The ''Wheeling Jamboree'' is the second oldest country music radio broadcast in the United States after the ''Grand Ole Opry''. The Jamboree originated in 1933 in Wheeling, West Virginia on WWVA (AM), WWVA, the first radio station in West Virginia ...

, and Browning recruited

Wayne Moss Wayne Moss (born February 9, 1938 in Charleston, West Virginia, United States) is an American guitar player, bassist, record producer and songwriter best known for his session work in Nashville. Moss was one of the founders of Area Code 615 and Bar ...

into the Echo Valley Boys. Browning left Island Records at the end of 1958 for

Starday Records Starday Records was an American record label producing traditional country music during the 1950s and 1960s. History The label began in 1952 in Beaumont, Texas, when local businessmen Jack Starnes (Lefty Frizzell's manager) and Houston record di ...

where he recorded four album sides. Browning returned to truck driving the early 1960s and eventually established the Midway Recording Studio, recording

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

and

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

artists in West Virginia, Ohio, and

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. He continued driving trucks also.

Death

Browning had been diagnosed with

colitis Colitis is swelling or inflammation of the large intestine ( colon). Colitis may be acute and self-limited or long-term. It broadly fits into the category of digestive diseases. In a medical context, the label ''colitis'' (without qualification) ...

but in 1975 he discovered that it was actually

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

. He died January 23, 1977, at age 45. He was survived by his wife, Doris Jean, and children.

Discography

Island Records

* "Wash Machine Boogie" * "Ramblin' Man" (as the Echo Valley Boys) * "One Day A Month"/ * "Don't Wait Too Late" * "Makes You Feel-a So Good" * "Hula Rock" * "Breaking Hearts" * "Lay Me Low" * "First Prayer" * "Let The Bible Be Your Guide" * "Borned riginal spellingWith The Blues" * "Dark Hollow" * "Gonna Be A Fire" * "Down In The Holler Where Sally Lives" on a 45 EP labeled "W.W.V.A. Jamboree Special" that also included two songs each from the Cook Brothers, Buddy Durham and

Hardrock Gunter Sidney Louie Gunter Jr. (February 27, 1925 – March 15, 2013), known as Hardrock Gunter, was a singer, songwriter and guitarist whose music at the turn of the 1950s prefigured rock and roll and rockabilly music. Biography He was born in ...

. * "Just Because You Say Your riginal spellingSorry" * "Sinful Woman"

Starday Records

* "Don't Push Don't Shove" * "Dark Valley Walls" * "Down In The Hollow" * "Country Strings"

Salem Records

* "She's Not Such A Bad Girl" * "Lookout Girl"

Marbone Records (Browning's label)

* "Marbone Swamp" * "It's A Long, Long Way" * "I Heard That Train A-comin'" * "Dear Mom" * "I Was Touched By The Master's Hand" * "Precious Memories" (as Bill Browning and the Hilanders)

Alta Records (Browning's label)

* "He Sent His Only Son" * "People" * ''Bill Browning and the Hilanders'' (album) * "Gone Astray" * "The Church Is Gone" * "How Great Thou Art" * "I Believe In Jesus" * "I've Been Saved" * Today Was Yesterday's Future" * "Oh Lord, Do You Remember Me" * "Soul Salvation" * "There'll Be Singing" * "Don't Wait Too Late"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Browning, William Bluegrass musicians from West Virginia Country musicians from West Virginia American country singer-songwriters 1931 births 1977 deaths 20th-century American singers