BillyG

About me:

I live in Fort Worth, Texas (a suburb of Ft. Worth). Deb and I have been together 33 years! I have two sons and two step-daughters who I love dearly and we have one cat, who isn"t so endearing!

I work for The Texas Department of Public Safety in the Lake Worth (driver license office). I've been with the state for 8 years now. I hope to do a couple more years, then retire!

I was born on July 20, 1947, the same day as Carlos Santana! I've spent almost all of my years right here in the Ft. Worth area, even though my Dad was in the Air Force. I lived in Anchorage, Alaska from 1955 until 1958. We came home just before the big earthquake and before it became a state! And I lived in the London, England area from 1962 until 1965! I heard "The Beatles" for the first time on the coach to school in November of 1962. What an impact on my life they had!!

I started the musical part of my life as a drummer. I was in marching band at Brewer Jr. High and at Northside High School.

As teenagers Barb and I loved to go dancing and to the local drive-ins with our friends. I developed a love for rhythm and blues watching and dancing to local bands like; Don Hudson and the Royal Kings, Little Al and the Hi-FI's, and Bruce Channel.( The only guy I know of who won more dance contests than me, was my good friend, then and now, Harley Harkins! We have coffee almost every day at "Ginger Brown's" before I go to work! He's retired Army.) I pretty much learned how to play a trap set sitting behind the juke box and banging on the table and floor to Don Hudson's beats! Which is why I play drums right-handed!

The first concert I ever went to was Fats Domino, at The Cowtown Colleceum.

In 1962 my Dad got an assignment for the Air Force in London, England. Barb and I were devastated! We both had relationships here at home that we didn't want to leave! Barb got married and solved that problem for a little while. I was only 15 so I had to go! She joined us the next year after her marriage failed.

Mom, Dad, Barry and I arrived in England in November 1962. We had flown to New York from Love Field in Dallas. There was no DFW Airport in 1962. From there we crossed the Atlantic aboard the S.S. America.( You can google earth and key in S.S.America to see what the tragic fate of that beautiful ship was!)

What a great experience that was! We docked at South Hampton and took a train to London. We took rooms at the Harrow on the Hill Hotel and about froze for the next few days til we got a rent house in Ruislip Manor.


I was enrolled at London Central High School which was a Dept of Defense school for dependants. (It officially closed it's doors in June of 2007!) I joined the band class there under the direction of a brilliant man named Wallace Threlkeld. He told me there was a guitar group at the school in need of a drummer and asked if I would be interested in playing for them. I of course said yes and that's how I met Jerry Donahue! I had no drums of my own, so I used the band class' rag tag set of drums. We were called "The Victors"; named for a movie Jerry's step-dad had just produced starring Vince Edwards. (Dr. Ben Casey on the hit TV show)

Playing drums in the band with Jerry and watching him play got me interested in learning to play guitar. I turned the strings around on my Dad's Silvertone and took it to rehearsal with me. Jerry taught me how to tune it at the fifth fret and my first couple of chords and I've been hooked on guitar ever since!
(Jerry lived in Hampton Park in a huge house called "The Hermitage". His mom was an actress named Patricia Donahue and she let us rehearse in what I assume used to be servants quarters. She was very gracious and sweet to us. I remembered her from a TV show I used to watch called "Mike Shayne" starring Richard Denning. She was his secretary, Lucy!)

Tom Richey and Bill Brandow migrated back to the states the following summer and I no longer had the band class' drums available to me, so that was the end of "The Victors"! Jerry formed a new group called "The Saints" with Dek Messecar on bass and Frank Badami on drums. I was friends with all the guys, so Frank let me sit in on drums occasionally. Thanks Frank!!

Since Al Gore invented the internet(LMAO!), I've been able to get back in touch with all these guys. Hopefully, we'll all meet again for a huge reunion for LCHS!!

We transferred back to Texas in December 1965. Dad was stationed in Big Spring, so I stayed in Ft.Worth at my Grandma Lakey's house so I could graduate from my old school, Northside High. There, at the shelterhouse where we would go for a smoke at lunch, I met my lifelong buddy Dave Shockey. We soon discovered our mutual interest in playing guitar and began hanging out together all the time. We spent many hours at Dave's house learning licks off our 45 records, so we didn't get in nearly as much trouble as we might have otherwise. Right Dave? I remember Dave's Dad George serving me what I thought was pork, only to find out afterward it was Armadillo!! Cantankorous old fart! LOL!!

Dave and I went to check out some other Northside guys at their rehearsal one night. Turns out they needed a drummer and asked me to join the band. I didn't have a set so Danny Welborn's Dad borrowed some from a friend for me to use! That became the 1966 version of "The Mystics". It was me, Danny Welborn on guitar and vox keyboards, Dusty Rhodes on Bass, Roger Doyle on lead guitar, and Steve Rhodes on vocals. After I left the band to move to Big Spring, the band changed their name to "The Kyngs" as there was another group in Dallas using "The Mystics".

After that, I didn't do much musically for quite a while. I jammed around a bit is all. I was too busy finding a "REAL" job and getting married the first time. I got married in August of 1968. My son Alan was born in December of 1970. Just so you'll know.....LOL!

In 1970-71 my brother Barry and I put a band together with a workmate of mine Danny Powell and his friend Tuffy Green. We called ourselves "Harmony", because we were trying to do a more CSNY type sound. We added Newton Fallis on guitar.(He could play Clapton's "Crossroads" note for note.) I've got a couple of poor quality tapes of this band somewhere. I think we played a total of three gigs before disbanding!

Somewhere right about here, Barry and I put another group together with Rick Webb on guitar and Terry Zurovitz on bass. I played rythm and Barry on drums. We had a lead singer named Pete who sang great and played a killer harmonica. Pete had to leave town in a hurry for some reason and we never played a gig!

I got divorced in 1974 and shortly after that I joined a band Barry was drumming for called "Stynger". They needed a bass player to replace Pat Dupont who was leaving to further his education. I had played bass for "Harmony", so I auditioned and got the spot. The first line-up I was in included Jerry Kelly on lead, Barry on drums, Gary Coots on keyboards, and Brent Smith on vocals. I used to have a really great tape of this bunch , but someone stole it!

Jerry and Gary left the band in 1975 and I switched to guitar. We brought in Steve Koover on guitar, Jim Slack on bass and Gary Kelly on keyboards. With Brent still on vocals and Barry on drums, this is the line-up you see in the"Stynger" Animation.

We reformed in 1976 minus Barry, Jim, Steve and Gary. Jerry Kelly came back on lead guitar and I went back to my bass duties. We recruited Robert Harris on drums and Brent filled in on some keyboards. This is the line-up you hear on the Demo Tape.

Sometime in 1976 Robert and I left the band briefly for some reason and Brent and Jerry carried on with some other guys. It wasn't for long though!

In about 1979 Tuffy Green joined the band briefly! He played at exactly 1/2 gig! He's the guy in the middle on the banner at the top of my page.

Somewhere along the way (the late) Gaylord "Wolfman" Hayter joined us on keyboards and I somehow talked the band into using my old band name, "The Mystics". Gaylord liked to call us "The Dirt Movers" because he and Brent were in construction. (At least I think that was his reason!!) I never did like the name "Stynger"! This is the line-up you hear on the "live" tapes and see in "The Mystics" animation. This incarnation stayed together until 1981.

Debbie and I got together in 1979 and were married in 1981

In 1981 Robert Harris left for some unknown reason, and Gaylord left to focus on his construction business. We got Dale Daniels on drums and Brent again filled in on keyboards. On a lot of the gigs, Robert showed up and contributed his awesome vocals to the band! I have to admit, his vocals were even better without the distraction of playing drums. Thanks Robert!

I left the band in early 1982 shortly before the birth of Brad to help at home. It was supposed to be temporary but turned out permanent. Pat Dupont came back on bass to replace me and the cirle was complete! I did fill in for Pat on a couple of gigs after that, but the band folded by the end of 1982.

After that I haven't done much, just trying my hand at some song writing and home recording. I still jam every chance I get and I'm not too lazy!
I was forced to "voluntarily" retire from the Electric Company in 1992 and I tried a couple of businesses of my own that didn't work out. I ended up delivering pizza for several years just to get by! I got fed up with the way pizza delivery people are treated by management and quit in June of 2004! Deb and I moved in with our daughter Angie and I began searching for a new job with some security. At the age of 57 this is a pretty scary proposition!

I found an opening online for Texas Department of Public Saftey. I didn't think I had a chance in hell of getting it, but I applied anyway! I was told that too by some other folks! I was called in to test for the job along with 50 someodd other people. I was then called back for a board interview. After a lengthy background check I was called in October and told I had the job. Immediately after that I had a heart attack! (While waiting on the background check, I had gone to work for the Post Office and I hated every second of that job! Three days after the heart attack I walked back in to the Post Office and told them I quit and picked up my last check!) I started with DPS on December 13th 2004! God bless the State of Texas!!!

That's my story and I'm sticking to it! Some names and events have been intentionally left out to protect the guilty!(Namely Me!!!! LOL!)
Rock On, My Friends!!.......BillyG