Bill Coday (May 10, 1942 – June 7, 2008) was an American musician and singer.

Career

Bill Coday was born in

Coldwater, Mississippi Coldwater is a town in Tate County, Mississippi, United States, and is part of the Memphis Metropolitan Area. The population was 1,677 at the 2010 census. History The current town square of Coldwater is approximately two miles south of the Col ...

, United States. As a young man he began singing in

juke joint Juke joint (also jukejoint, jook house, jook, or juke) is the vernacular term for an informal establishment featuring music, dancing, gambling, and drinking, primarily operated by African Americans in the southeastern United States. A juke joint ...

s in and around

Blytheville, Arkansas Blytheville is the county seat and the largest city in Mississippi County, Arkansas, United States. It is approximately north of West Memphis. The population was 13,406 at the 2020 census, down from 15,620 in 2010. History Blytheville was found ...

.Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris; & Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2003)
''All Music Guide to Soul''
p. 150. Hal Leonard Corporation. Later, Coday moved to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, where he was discovered by

Denise LaSalle Ora Denise Allen (July 16, 1934 – January 8, 2018), known by the stage name Denise LaSalle, was an American blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, and record producer who, since the death of Koko Taylor, had been recognized as the "Queen of ...

. LaSalle signed Coday to her Crajon label, and introduced him to Willie Mitchell of

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. Mitchell's reputation in the soul and soul blues music industry includes producing such artists as

Al Green Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), better known as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Take Me to the River", ...

and

Ann Peebles Ann Lee Peebles (born April 27, 1947) is an American singer and songwriter who gained celebrity for her Memphis soul albums of the 1970s for Hi Records. Two of her most popular songs are " I Can't Stand the Rain", which she wrote with her husband ...

. Mitchell agreed to work with Coday, and the Mitchell-Coday team produced songs such as "Sixty Minute Teaser", "I Get High on Your Love", "You're Gonna Want Me", "I'm Back to Collect", and "Get Your Lie Straight". Coday signed with

Ecko Records Ecko Records is an American blues and soul blues record label, founded in 1995 by John Ward in Memphis, Tennessee. Ecko Records has released albums by Rufus Thomas, Barbara Carr, Denise LaSalle, Lee "Shot" Williams, Bill Coday, Earl Gaines, ...

and recorded the album ''Sneakin' Back'', which included the songs "Her Love Is Good Enough to Put in Collard Greens", "I Can Move the Hoochie Coochie Man" and "Doctor Thrill Good". Coday's second album with Ecko Records, ''Can't Get Enough'', included the songs "In the Room Next to the Room", and "Not a Word". On the third album with Ecko Records, ''Put Me in the Mood'', Coday recorded the song "We're Gonna Miss You Johnnie", which was a tribute song to

Johnnie Taylor Johnnie Harrison Taylor (May 5, 1934 – May 31, 2000) was an American recording artist and songwriter who performed a wide variety of genres, from blues, rhythm and blues, soul, and gospel to pop, doo-wop, and disco. In 2022, Taylor was ...

. Bill Coday suffered a massive stroke on June 7, 2008 and died at age 66.

References

External links

Ecko Records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coday, Bill 1942 births 2008 deaths People from Coldwater, Mississippi 20th-century American singers 20th-century American male singers