William R. Flagg (born March 11, 1934) is an American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

and

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 Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

singer, who was the first to use the term ''rockabilly''.

Life

Childhood and youth

Bill Flagg was born and raised in

Waterville, Maine Waterville is a city in Kennebec County, Maine, United States, on the west bank of the Kennebec River. A college town, the city is home to Colby College, a New England Small College Athletic Conference, NESCAC college, and Thomas College. As ...

. Shortly after the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the family moved to

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

Career

Flagg began his career in radio as a "singing cowboy" calling himself ''The Lone Pine Cowboy''. He then moved to bluegrass before he and his friend, John Sligar, changed to rockabilly in 1954. Flagg is the first musician known to use this term. The musical style as such had already existed and had been played by musicians such as Hardrock Gunter and Roy Hall. Because of his rising popularity on the radio, he got a recording contract with Tetra Records in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. With his band members, Cat Gibson and Ted Barton, henceforth calling themselves ''The Rockabillies'', Flagg recorded his first record in 1956, Howie Stange. The first singles, including ''Go Cat Go'' and ''Guitar Rock'', recorded with a contrabass and two acoustic guitars, did not show on the

Billboard charts The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ' ...

. The records were marketed as "rockbillie" by Tetra. In 1958, Flagg changed to MGM Records and released his last single. After that, he worked in his family's business and helped his father, who had previously suffered a heart attack. He only appeared in bars on weekends. Twenty-seven years after his musical career, his son, Bob, persuaded him to actively join the music scene again. After that, Flagg started a bluegrass band called ''Hobo Bill and the Last Ride''. Since then, Bill Flagg has again been making appearances in the public.

Discography

References

External links

Biography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flagg, Bill 1934 births American country singer-songwriters American rockabilly musicians Singers from Maine Living people People from Waterville, Maine 20th-century American singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from New York (state) Songwriters from Maine Country musicians from Connecticut Singer-songwriters from Connecticut