Vocation : Entertain/Music : Song writer

Lew_Williams

Lewis Wayne Williams (January 12, 1934 – September 1, 2019, born Chillicothe, Texas) was an American rockabilly singer and songwriter, known as the "Cab Calloway of rockabilly".
Williams began singing at age four, and moved with his family to Dallas at age eleven. He played in local clubs after graduating Adamson High School and entered Midwestern State University in 1952. However, a few months later he secured a job as a headliner for a radio program on Frederick, Oklahoma station KTAT.
The following year, Williams recorded demos at Jim Beck's recording studio and managed to get a single released on Flair Records in June 1953, but "I've Been Doin' Some Slippin' Too" was not a hit, and he did not release further material from these sessions. He sent some of the demos to Imperial Records, who offered him a publishing contract; Williams attempted to secure a recording contract as well but was unsuccessful initially. Imperial finally signed him as a recording artist in 1955, and his first releases came out in 1956. A few singles were issued in 1956 and 1957, with Jimmie Haskell producing and Barney Kessell on guitar; they did not sell and Williams was dropped early in 1957.
He graduated from the university in 1957 and devoted himself to songwriting full-time. He wrote material for Jimmy Hughes (with Mae Axton), Ferlin Husky, Floyd Cramer, Porter Wagoner, and Hoyt Johnson. After serving time in the Army, Williams took the pseudonym Vik Wayne for one final release on Dot Records, "The Girl I Saw on Bandstand"; when it did not sell, he opened a recording studio and started a talent agency. He left music for good in the early 1960s, moving into the publishing and mail order businesses.
After Bear Family Records released some of his material in the 1990s, fed by the burgeoning interest in rockabilly in Europe and Japan, he made a comeback, appearing in Las Vegas in 2000 and touring widely thereafter.
Lew Williams died at age 85 on September 1, 2019 at an assisted living facility in Winnsboro, Texas.

Clint_Ballard,_Jr.

Clinton Conger Ballard Jr. (May 24, 1931 – December 23, 2008) was an American songwriter, singer, and pianist. He wrote two Billboard Hot 100 number one hits. The first was "Game of Love" by Wayne Fontana and The Mindbenders in 1965. The second was the 1975 hit, "You're No Good" by Linda Ronstadt (first sung by Dee Dee Warwick, covered by The Swinging Blue Jeans, Betty Everett and later recorded by Van Halen). He wrote two UK number one singles, recorded by Jimmy Jones ("Good Timin'", 1960) and The Hollies ("I'm Alive", 1965).
Ballard also pursued a solo singing career. With minor success he recorded under his own name, as well as under the pseudonym Buddy Clinton.

Benabar

Bruno Nicolini (born 16 June 1969), better known by his stage name Bénabar, is a French songwriter and singer, who could be compared to Vincent Delerm and other singers from his generation. As many of them he was influenced by Georges Brassens, Renaud, Jacques Higelin and also Tom Waits. His songs describe day-to-day life events with humour and a tender cynicism. His songs are influenced by French chanson and a heavy influence is placed on the piano or the accordion and on typical French fanfare (brass band) for the most upbeat of them. This genre of music is very typically French and differs from most in that emphasis is placed on appreciation of the lyrics and that it is linked to a specific culture of modern "guinche" (slang for "guinguette") appreciated a lot by Bobos among others.

Eric_Charden

Éric Charden (French pronunciation: [eʁik ʃaʁdɛ̃]; born Jacques-André Puissant [ʒak‿ɑ̃dʁe pɥisɑ̃]; 15 October 1942 – 29 April 2012) was a French singer and songwriter, best known for his collaborations with singer Stone, with whom they formed the band Stone et Charden.Éric Charden was born in Haiphong, French Indochina during World War II. He is from a French father (who was a port engineer in France and overseas) and a Tibetan mother. He moved to Marseille, France, in 1950 with his mother (his father returned to France in 1954) and graduated with a Baccalauréat from HEC Paris in 1960.
He alongside Annie Gautrat were both decorated with the honorable Legion of Honour on 1 January 2012 just months before his death from cancer at age 69.