William Lance Swan (born May 12, 1942) is an American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whi ...

singer-songwriter, best known for his 1974 single, "

I Can Help "I Can Help" is a song written and performed by Billy Swan. Released in July 1974, the song was a big crossover smash, reaching No. 1 on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and Hot Country Singles charts late that fall. Although Swan had other chartin ...

Biography

Swan was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, United States. As a child, he learned drums, piano and guitar, and began writing songs. His first big break was in 1962 when

Clyde McPhatter Clyde Lensley McPhatter (November 15, 1932 – June 13, 1972) was an American rhythm and blues, soul, and rock and roll singer. He was one of the most widely imitated R&B singers of the 1950s and early 1960sPalmer, Robert (1981)"Roy Brown, a Pi ...

recorded "

Lover Please "Lover Please" is a 1962 song written by Billy Swan and first recorded by the Rhythm Steppers in 1960. It is most known for the version performed by Clyde McPhatter on his 1962 album ''Lover Please!'' where it went to #7 on the U.S. pop chart. O ...

", a song written by Swan when he was in a local band called Mirt Mirly & the Rhythm Steppers, who had first recorded the song on

Bill Black William Patton Black Jr. (September 17, 1926 – October 21, 1965) was an American musician and bandleader who is noted as one of the pioneers of rock and roll. He played in Elvis Presley's early trio. Black later formed Bill Black's Combo. Ear ...

's Louis label. McPhatter's version quickly became a No. 7 pop hit. Swan moved to

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-mo ...

, to work with Black, but this was cut short with Black's illness and subsequent death in 1965. It was rumored that Swan worked as a security guard at Graceland. While he was friends with one of the security guards he never worked at Graceland. He then moved to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

, which enabled him to write hit

songs for numerous artists, including Conway Twitty,

Waylon Jennings Waylon Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He pioneered the Outlaw Movement in country music. Jennings started playing guitar at the age of eight and performed at age f ...

, and Mel Tillis. In 1969, Swan first took on the role of record producer, producing Tony Joe White's Top Ten hit " Polk Salad Annie". Swan also played bass guitar for Kris Kristofferson and then signed a solo recording deal with Monument Records. Swan moved to Nashville in 1972 and cut his first album, ''Rock on With Rhythm'' which included the track, "Lover Please". "

" was recorded in 1974 at Young'un sound in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. It was a

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 South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and b ...

number that topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 as well as the US and Canadian country

charts A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

in 1974, also becoming a hit in many other countries. Swan wrote the song on an RMI organ that Kristofferson and singer Rita Coolidge had bought for him as a wedding gift. It was recorded in two takes (without overdubs). However, other albums with Monument, A&M, and Epic did not have nearly the success of "I Can Help". In 1979, Swan traveled to

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, Cuba, to participate in the historic Havana Jam festival that took place between March 2–4, alongside

Stephen Stills Stephen Arthur Stills (born January 3, 1945) is an American musician, singer and songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. As both a solo act and member of two successful bands, Stills has co ...

, the CBS Jazz All-Stars, the Trio of Doom, Fania All-Stars,

Weather Report Weather Report was an American jazz fusion band active from 1970 to 1986. The band was founded in 1970 by Austrian virtuoso keyboardist Joe Zawinul, American saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Czech bassist Miroslav Vitouš, American drummer and vocalis ...

, Bonnie Bramlett, Mike Finnegan, Kris Kristofferson, Rita Coolidge, and

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo artist since th ...

, plus an array of Cuban artists such as Irakere,

Pacho Alonso Pacho Alonso (August 22, 1928 – August 27, 1982) was a Cuban singer and bandleader from Santiago de Cuba who is attributed with creating the musical form pilón in collaboration with percussionist/composer Enrique Bonne. He founded his first c ...

Tata Güines Federico Arístides Soto Alejo (June 30, 1930 – February 4, 2008), better known as Tata Güines, was a Cuban percussionist, bandleader and arranger. He was widely regarded as a master of the conga drum, and alongside Carlos "Patato" Valdés, in ...

, and Orquesta Aragón. His performance is captured on

Ernesto Juan Castellanos Ernesto, form of the name Ernest in several Romance languages, may refer to: * ''Ernesto'' (novel) (1953), an unfinished autobiographical novel by Umberto Saba, published posthumously in 1975 ** ''Ernesto'' (film), a 1979 Italian drama loosely b ...

's documentary ''Havana Jam '79''. Swan continued to tour as a member of Kristofferson's band and recorded with

Randy Meisner Randall Herman Meisner (born March 8, 1946) is a retired American musician, singer, songwriter and founding member of the Eagles. Throughout his professional musical career, Meisner's main role was that of bassist and backing high-harmony vocal ...

of The Eagles. In 1986, he entered a California studio (Bench Records) as part of a band called

Black Tie Black tie is a semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British and American conventions for attire in the 19th century. In British English, the dress code is often referred to synecdochically by its principal element f ...

and along with Meisner, Jimmy Griffin (

Bread Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made f ...

), David Kemper (drummer), David Miner, and David Mansfield recorded an album called ''When the Night Falls''. He recorded another solo album, ''Like Elvis Used to Do'' in 2000, and another Black Tie-style album with Meisner and Charlie Rich, Jr. billed as "Meisner, Swan & Rich". , Swan remained a backing singer and

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

Personal life

Swan was married to his late wife Marlu for 30 years. Marlu died on February 12, 2003, from cancer. They had two daughters, recording artists Planet Swan and

Sierra Swan Sierra Marie Swan (born April 5, 1978) is an American musician. She is known for her work with Dollshead, Black Eyed Peas and as a solo artist. Biography Early life Swan is the daughter of 1970s country and pop musician Billy Swan, who played ...

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

Interview with Billy SwanYahoo! Music biographyBilly Swan at Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swan, Billy 1942 births Living people American male singer-songwriters American country rock singers People from Cape Girardeau, Missouri American session musicians American country singer-songwriters Monument Records artists Red Baron Records artists Singer-songwriters from Missouri Country musicians from Missouri Black Tie (band) members