Billy Mure born 7 July 1917

Billy Mure (born Sebastian Muré.; July 7, 1915 – September 25, 2013) was an American guitarist who recorded several albums in the 1950s and 1960s in a variety of styles, including surf, Hawaiian music, swing, pop, and lounge. He was one of those uncredited session men from the 1950s whose guitar licks have graced many a rock n roll record. Some aficionados of early electric guitar music rate him at least as highly as Les Paul.

Billy’s parents came from Sicily and settled in the Bronx. At five years old, he’d taught himself to play the violin, which he played outside his father’s barber shop, with the case open, to get money for the family. By the age of 7 he was a self-taught guitarist. By 13 he was composing.

Between 1937 and 1943 he was part of Val Ernie's prominent society orchestra. Enlisted from 1943-1945, he learned arranging while playing with an Air Force band. He played string bass in the jazz band and tuba in the marching band.

Upon returning to New York City in 1947, he played with the Archie Bleyer Orchestra on Arthur Godfrey’s show, where he stayed for seven years. He picked up occasional studio work on the side, playing on a couple of singles by the Three Suns. The first record he played on that made it to number one was “Rag Mop” by the Ames Brothers in 1950 after which his work as a session guitarist began to increase. Especially the Atlantic and Jubilee labels often made use of his services, resulting in sessions with artists like LaVern Baker, Ivory Joe Hunter, Joe Turner, Bobby Darin ("Splish Splash"), Ben E. King, Bobby Freeman ("Do You Wanna Dance"), Don Rondo, Della Reese, the Sparkletones and Ersel Hickey and many others. On these sessions he often also served as arranger and / or conductor. Other artists he worked with include Paul Anka, Frankie Laine, Perry Como, Patti Page and Tony Bennett.

Already in 1957, Mure had started making albums featuring his "Super- sonic" guitar. His first LP was recorded for RCA Victor and was called "Supersonic Guitars in Hi-Fi". For this album Mure utilized four guitars with amplified rhythm, two drums and one bass. The playing was wild and frantic and would fit right into the new sounds of rock n roll. His next LP was "Fireworks", this time recorded in "living stereo". It included four of Billy's own songs, "Firecrackers", "Dancing Guitars", "Guitar Theme" and "Crackerjack". He added a third drummer and eight vocalists for these sessions, giving him a unique sound. Billy followed this with a third album for RCA entitled "Supersonics In Flight".

                              

His first MGM LP, "Supersonic Guitars" is in the same vein. It is primarily on these four LP's that Mure's reputation as an exceptional guitarist is based. He followed Les Paul's pioneering work in multi-tracking, recording separate guitar tracks, often speeding them up for spectacular effects. Unlike Les Paul, he didn't enjoy consistent label sponsorship, so his albums sold poorly and are now hard to find.

Mure was also a prolific songwriter, with 243 entries in the BMI database. He produced and wrote "Got A Match" for the Daddy-O's (# 39 in 1958) on the Cabot label, but more interesting is his composition "Gazachstahagen", a good R&R instrumental, which the Wildcats took to # 57 on the Billboard charts in early 1959. It's not clear if Billy himself played on the record ; according to Joel Whitburn, the Wildcats were a trio (discovered by Mure)  But there is also a Wildcats LP, "Bandstand Record Hop" (United Artists UAL 3031), which is credited to "The Wildcats featuring Billy Mure". Another chart success was "String Of Trumpets" by the Trumpeteers, a big-band styled group directed by Billy Mure. Also released in the UK was "Jambalaya"/"Kaw-Liga" on Top Rank Two fine guitar instrumentals.

In 1963 he left RCA, where he had been on the A&R staff, and formed his own independent production company, BM Productions. He worked with a variety of pop and rock and roll acts, most of them minor, but achieved at least one Top 3 hit with Marcie Blane's "Bobby's Girl" (1962). He also recorded later albums, on MGM, Kapp, Everest and the budget label Strand.

When he was 64, Mure moved to Florida, and he started playing solo guitar in a lounge, which resurrected his career. He ended up playing all over the restaurant circuit in Florida – sometimes two or three times a week, every week, up until his death. Billy had been performing for seven years with his band (Top Hats) at Squid Lips in Sebastian, Florida, where he last performed on August 2, 2013 playing his Dixieland banjo.

Billy Mure passed away from natural causes on September 25, 2013 at the age of 97. (Compiled and edited from various sources mainly Black Cat Rockabilly & Vintage Guitar)