Billy Guy

Billy Guy (June 20, 1936 – November 5, 2002) was an American singer, best known as a lead singer for the Coasters. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.

Born Frank Phillips in Texas, Guy is best known as a member of the Coasters, singing lead on such hits as "Searchin'", "Little Egypt", "Run Red Run", "Wait A Minute", among others. Songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller praised his "marvelous sense of comedy and timing."

Before Guy joined The Coasters in 1955, he was part of a comedy singing duo called "Bip and Bop". One single, "Ding Dong Ding", b/w "Du-Wada-Du", was released on Aladdin Records in 1955. He made a number of solo records during the 1960s and 1970s. He did about a dozen or so solo recordings in 1963 for Double-L Records which later show up on collections as by The Coasters, most notably the albums "Hungry" (Joy #189, 1971, released in the UK) and "It Ain't Sanitary" (Trip #8028, 1973).

He also produced records for others in the late 60s and early 70s, including "Love Won't Wear Off" (Calla Records) in 1968 by J.R. Bailey and a spoken words album by Universal Messengers called "An Experience In The Blackness Of Sound" (Turbo/All Platinum Records) about 1969. Bailey was a former member of The Cadillacs and writing partner of Vernon Harrell (who had replaced Guy as a member of The Coasters in the 1960s on stage only). Guy and Bailey had a record company, GuyJim Records. A single released by C. Alexander And The Natural 3 called "Pay Them No Mind" b/w "Somebody Special" was released on the GuyJim label. Guy released a comedy album on Snake Eyes/All Platinum Records in 1972 called "The Tramp Is Funky". . His record "Foxey Baby/Shake A Leg" was the only release on Chalco Records, a label created by Ed Chalpin and Jocko Henderson in 1966. The label's first release was intended to be Jayne Mansfield's record "Suey" but it was later released on London Records instead.

He produced a double-album by Pearl Box Revue called "Call Me Miss-ter" on Snake Eyes/All Platinum Records, which was a spoken word album with four drag queens, including Dorian Corey. These two records are X-rated material. On his single "The Ugly", b/w "Hug One Another", it states that the songs were from the album "A Little Of This, A Little Of That". In 1977, he appeared, along with Grady Chapman and Jerome Evans, on a recording "Paid The Price" by Michelle Phillips on her album "Victim Of Romance".

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.