Wilfred Williams (December 28, 1910 – October 12, 1972) was an American singer. He had a successful

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

Fats Waller Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, violinist, singer, and comedic entertainer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz pi ...

's "

I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter" is a 1935 popular song with music by Fred E. Ahlert and lyrics by Joe Young. It has been recorded many times, and has become a standard of the Great American Songbook. It was popularized by Fa ...

" in 1957. The record sold over one million copies, and was awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

. His trademark hook for his

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

s was to shout "Oh, Yeah" at the end of

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, a ...

Early years

A Methodist minister's son, Williams was born in

Waco Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. His early youth was spent in Texas, before the family moved to Ohio. Growing up, he sang in choirs at churches where his father was the pastor, with his mother often serving as choir director. He was often a soloist, and he also learned to help her arrange music.

Military service

Williams served in the Army during World War II; he received a medical discharge in 1944.

Career

While he was a student at

Wilberforce University Wilberforce University is a private historically black university in Wilberforce, Ohio. Affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), it was the first college to be owned and operated by African Americans. It participates in t ...

, Williams became the lead singer of

the Charioteers The Charioteers were an American gospel and pop vocal group from 1930 to 1957. History The Charioteers were put together in 1930 by Professor Howard Daniel at Wilberforce University, in Wilberforce, Ohio. They originally called themselves the ...

; he went on to sing with the group from 1930 to 1950, when he formed his own Billy Williams Quartet with Eugene Dixon, Claude Riddick and John Ball. Many radio and television appearances followed: as regular guests and chorus on the extremely popular Bing Crosby radio show 0 million listenersfrom 1942 to 1946 and ''

Your Show of Shows ''Your Show of Shows'' is a live 90-minute variety show that was broadcast weekly in the United States on NBC from February 25, 1950, through June 5, 1954, featuring Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca. Other featured performers were Carl Reiner, Howar ...

'' with

Sid Caesar Isaac Sidney Caesar (September 8, 1922 – February 12, 2014) was an American comic actor, comedian and writer. With a career spanning 60 years, he was best known for two pioneering 1950s live television series: ''Your Show of Shows'' (1950� ...

. On April 5, 1959, the Billy Williams Quartet appeared on ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' and performed a rousing version of "Goodnight Irene". Williams also headed the Billy Williams Revue, "a complete show package of dancers, singers, musicians and comedians." The troupe performed in Canada, in the Caribbean, and across the United States.

Later years

By the early 1960s Williams struggled to retain his

voice The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production in ...

due to complications of

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

. He subsequently moved to

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and sang on

WGN-TV WGN-TV (channel 9) is an Independent station (North America), independent television station in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, it is sister station, sister to the company's sole radio property, talk ra ...

's "All Time Hits" TV show (for which videotape exists). In the years before his death, Williams worked in New York City with a program to help homeless men.

Personal life

Williams was married to the former Lois Traverse, and they had two children, Sharon and Leslie. In 1957, Mrs. Williams had charges of desertion and non-support against him dismissed after the two reached a financial support agreement. The case was heard in Bergen County, New Jersey.

Death

On October 12, 1972, Williams died in Chicago, Illinois, after having a heart attack. He was 61 years old.

Discography

Charted singles

References

External links

The Charioteers, The Quartet, and Billy Williams
* 1910 births 1972 deaths People from Waco, Texas Singers from Texas Burials at Burr Oak Cemetery Wilberforce University alumni 20th-century African-American male singers {{US-singer-stub