William Arthur Gaither (April 21, 1910 – October 30, 1970), sometimes known as "Little Bill" Gaither or Leroy's Buddy, was an American blues guitarist and

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

Biography

Born in Belmont, Bullitt County, Kentucky, Gaither recorded over one hundred songs in the 1930s for labels such as

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

and

Okeh Okeh Records () is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name was spelled "OkeH" from the initials of Ott ...

. He often wrote and recorded with the

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

George "Honey" Hill. After his friend

Leroy Carr Leroy Carr (March 27, 1904 or 1905 – April 29, 1935) was an American blues singer, songwriter and pianist who developed a laid-back, crooning technique and whose popularity and style influenced such artists as Nat King Cole and Ray Charles. Mus ...

's death in 1935, Gaither was often credited as "Leroy's Buddy". One of Gaither's most famous blues songs was "Champ Joe Louis", recorded on June 23, 1938, the day after

Louis Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ( ...

won his rematch against Max Schmeling. The blues scholar Paul Oliver has cited Gaither among a group of important, but understudied, 20th century musicians. His blues lyrics have been appreciated as poetry.''Perfect in Their Art: Poems on Boxing from Homer to Ali'' Michael Waters, Robert Hedin, editors. . Southern Illinois Univ. Press. 2003. p. 47 Gaither ran a

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

repair shop in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, for some time. He died in Indianapolis,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, in 1970, and is buried in New Crown Cemetery in Indianapolis. He is not to be confused with another musician, William Augustus "Bill" Gaither (1927–1985), who recorded with

Roy Milton Roy Bunny Milton (July 31, 1907 – September 18, 1983) was an American R&B and jump blues singer, drummer and bandleader. Career Milton's grandmother was Chickasaw. He was born in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, and grew up on an Indian reservation bef ...

References

External links

*
Bill Gaither recordings
at the Discography of American Historical Recordings. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaither, Bill Songwriters from Kentucky American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singers People from Bullitt County, Kentucky 1910 births 1970 deaths 20th-century American singers Blues musicians from Kentucky Singers from Kentucky 20th-century American guitarists Guitarists from Kentucky 20th-century American male singers American male songwriters