Sebastian "Billy" Mure (Born on November 4, 1915 – September 25, 2013) was an American guitarist and songwriter who recorded several albums in the 1950s and 1960s in a variety of styles, including surf, Hawaiian music,

swing Swing or swinging may refer to: Apparatus * Swing (seat), a hanging seat that swings back and forth * Pendulum, an object that swings * Russian swing, a swing-like circus apparatus * Sex swing, a type of harness for sexual intercourse * Swing ri ...

, pop, and lounge. Mure was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and played violin at age 9, before making guitar his primary instrument. He played in bands while in the service during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and found work at radio station WNEW after the war until 1957. In addition to his solo recordings, he worked as a

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 ...

, composer, and arranger. He wrote the popular instrumental "Toy Balloons". In 1959, he released the single "A String of Trumpets", credited to Billy Mure and the Trumpeteers; the song reached #64 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Joel Whitburn Joel Carver Whitburn (November 29, 1939 – June 14, 2022) was an American author and music historian, responsible for setting up the Record Research, Inc. series of books on record chart placings. Early life Joel Carver Whitburn was born in W ...

, ''Top Pop Singles 1955-2008''. 12th edn, p. 1000. Mure had been performing for the past seven years with his band (Top Hats) at Squid Lips in Sebastian, Florida.

Discography

*''Super-Sonic Guitars in Hi-Fi'' (

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

, 1957) *''Fireworks'' (

, 1957) *''Supersonics In Flight'' (

, 1959) *''Supersonic Guitars'' (

MGM Records MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings (later LP albums) of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the ...

SE3780 Stereo, 1959) *''Bandstand Record Hop'' (

United Artists Records United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B. History Genres In 1959, ...

, 1959) *''A String of Trumpets'' (

Everest Records Everest Records was a record label based in Bayside, Long Island, started by Harry D. Belock and Bert Whyte in May 1958. It was devoted mainly to classical music. History The idea for starting a label was related by electronics inventor Harr ...

, 1960) *''Strictly Cha Cha'' (

, 1960) *''Around The World In Percussion'' ( Strand Records, 1961) *Tough Strings (Great Guitar Hits) (Kapp Records, 1961) *''Hawaiian Percussion'' ( Strand Records, 1961) *''Blue Hawaii'' (Premier Records, 1963) *''Teen Bossa Nova'' (

, 1963) *''Hawaiian Moods'' (Spin-O-Rama Records, 1965) A few hits that he played on in the 1950s and 1960s as a studio guitar player: *

Paul Anka Paul Albert Anka (born July 30, 1941) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter and actor. He is best known for his signature hit songs including " Diana", " Lonely Boy", " Put Your Head on My Shoulder", and "(You're) Having My Baby". Anka also ...

— "Diana" (reached #1) *

Frankie Laine Frankie Laine (born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio; March 30, 1913 – February 6, 2007) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned nearly 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final ...

— "Rawhide" (reached #6) *

Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an Italian-American singer, actor and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, after signin ...

— "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes" (reached #1) *

Ames Brothers The Ames Brothers were a singing quartet, consisting of four siblings from Malden, Massachusetts, who were particularly famous in the 1950s for their traditional pop music hits. Biography The Urick brothers were born in Malden, Massachusetts. ...

— "Ragg Mopp" (reached #1) *

Eddie Fisher Edwin Jack Fisher (August 10, 1928 – September 22, 2010) was an American singer and actor. He was one of the most popular artists during the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show, ''The Eddie Fisher Show''. Actress Eli ...

— "Oh My Papa" (reached #1) * Eddie Fisher — "Anytime" (reached #2) *

Don Rondo Don Rondo (born Donald T. Rondeau; January 5, 1930 – January 27, 2011) was an American singer of popular music ballads during the mid-1950s, known for his distinctive baritone voice. Career Rondo, born in Ware, Massachusetts, first became popula ...

— "White Silver Sands" (reached #7) *

Marty Robbins Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, multi-instrumentalist, and NASCAR racing driver. Robbins was one of the most popular and succ ...

— "White Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation" (reached #1) *

Bobby Darin Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American musician and actor. He performed jazz, pop, rock and roll, folk, swing, and country music. He started his career as a songwriter for Connie ...

— "Splish Splash" (reached #1) *

Eydie Gorme Eydie may refer to: * Eydie Gormé (1928–2013), American singer. * Steve and Eydie, an American pop vocal duet, * Eydie Whittington, a Democratic politician in Washington, D.C. * The World Of Steve & Eydie, a 1972 album released by Steve Law ...

— "Blame It on the Bossa Nova" (reached #7) *

Rosemary Clooney Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song " Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as " Botch-a-Me", " Mambo Italiano" ...

— "Come on-a My House" (reached #1) *

Connie Francis Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero (born December 12, 1937), known professionally as Connie Francis, is an American pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Called the “First Lady of Rock & Roll” ...

— "Among my Souvenirs" (reached #7) *

Guy Mitchell Guy Mitchell (born Albert George Cernik; February 22, 1927 – July 1, 1999) was an American pop singer and actor, successful in his homeland, the UK, and Australia. He sold 44 million records, including six million-selling singles. In the fa ...

— "Heartaches by the Number" (reached #1 on C&W listing) * Perez Prado — "Patricia" (reached #1) *

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birt ...

— "Because of You" (reached #1) *

Kay Starr Katherine Laverne Starks (July 21, 1922 – November 3, 2016), known professionally as Kay Starr, was an American singer who enjoyed considerable success in the late 1940s and 1950s. She was of Iroquois and Irish heritage. Starr performed multip ...

— "Wheel of Fortune" (reached #1) * Tony Bennett — "Cold Cold Heart" (reached #1) *

Brian Hyland Brian Hyland (born November 12, 1943) is an American pop singer and instrumentalist who was particularly successful during the early 1960s. He continued recording into the 1970s. AllMusic journalist Jason Ankeny says "Hyland's puppy-love pop v ...

— "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" (reached #1) * Billy Williams — "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter" (reached #3) *

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standard music, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum s ...

— "Chances Are" (reached #1) *

Patti Page Clara Ann Fowler (November 8, 1927 – January 1, 2013), known professionally as Patti Page, was an American singer and actress. Primarily known for pop and country music, she was the top-charting female vocalist and best-selling female ar ...

— "How Much is that Doggie in the Window?" (reached #1) * Marcie Blane — "Bobby's Girl" (reached #2) ** (Produced by Billy Mure) * Ray Peterson — "Tell Laura I Love Her" (reached #7) ** *

Bobby Freeman Robert Thomas Freeman (June 13, 1940 – January 23, 2017)"Bobby Freeman"
Ace Records.co.uk. Retrieve ...

— "Do You Want to Dance" (reached #7) ** *

Johnnie Ray John Alvin Ray (January 10, 1927 – February 24, 1990) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Highly popular for most of the 1950s, Ray has been cited by critics as a major precursor to what became rock and roll, for his jazz and bl ...

— "Cry" (reached #1) Played as "Sebastian Mure" ** *

Della Reese Delloreese Patricia Early (July 6, 1931 – November 19, 2017), known professionally as Della Reese, was an American jazz and gospel singer, actress, and ordained minister whose career spanned seven decades. She began her long career as a s ...

— "And That Reminds Me" (reached #15) ** * Ralph Young - " Moonlight Gambler" with orchestra conducted by Billy Mure (Everest Records 9-19324, 1960)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mure, Billy 1915 births 2013 deaths Jubilee Records artists American military personnel of World War II Guitarists from New York (state) American male guitarists 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians