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Biography
Infobox musical artist| name = Billy Fury| image = Billy Fury statue Albert Dock Liverpool.jpg| caption = The Billy Fury statue at Albert Dock Liverpool | background = solo_singer| alias =| birth_name = Ronald Wycherley| birth_date = Birth date|1940|4|17|df=yes|birth_place = Liverpool , England | death_date = Death date and age|1983|01|28|1940|4|17|df=yes|death_place = Paddington , London , England| origin =| instrument = Guitar , piano , drums | genre = Rock and roll , Rock music|Rock , Pop music|Pop , Rockabilly | occupation = Singing|Singer , songwriter , musician Actor | years_active = 1958–1983| label = Decca Records|Decca , Parlophone Polydor Records|Polydor | associated_acts = The Tornados Georgie Fame | website = http://www.billyfury.com/ www.billyfury.com| notable_instruments = Vocals Billy Fury (17 April 1940 - 28 January 1983), born Ronald Wycherley , was an internationally successful England|English singer from the late-1950s to the mid-1960s, and remained an active songwriter until the 1980s. Rheumatic fever , which he first contracted as a child, damaged his heart and ultimately contributed to his death.cite web |first= |last= |url=Allmusic|class=artist|id=p4324/biography|pure_url=yes |title=Biography by Bruce Eder |publisher=Allmusic.com |accessdate=15 July 2009 An early British rock and roll (and film ) celebrity|star , he equalled The Beatles ' record of 24 hits in the 1960s, and spent 332 weeks on the United Kingdom|UK record chart|charts , without a record chart|chart-topping single (music)|single or album .cite book | first= David | last= Roberts | year= 2006 | title= British Hit Singles & Albums | edition= 19th | publisher= Guinness World Records Limited | location= London | isbn= 1-904994-10-5 | page= 217 Allmusic music journalism|journalist , Bruce Eder, stated, "His mix of rough-hewn good looks and unassuming masculinity, coupled with an underlying vulnerability, all presented with a good voice and some serious musical talent, helped turn Fury into a major rock and roll star in short order". Others have suggested that Fury's rapid rise to prominence was due to his "Elvis Presley-influenced, hip-swivelling, and at times highly suggestive stage act."Goldman, Lawrence et al. (editors) (2009) "Fury, Billy" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford University Press, Oxford, England, http://www.oxforddnb.com/public/index.html electronic resource requires subscription, http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/56707601 OCLC 56707601
Early years
Wycherley was born at Smithdown Hospital (later Sefton General Hospital, now demolished), Smithdown Road, Liverpool|Smithdown Road , Liverpool . He commenced music lessons on the piano before he was a teenager, and was bought his first guitar by the age of 14. Wycherley fronted his own group in 1955, but simultaneously worked full-time on a tugboat and later as a stevedore . He entered and won a talent competition, and by 1958 had started composing his own songs. Wycherley first attended a concert in Birkenhead , http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/articles/2005/12/12/billyfury_book_feature.shtml BBC.co.uk biography of Fury run by impresario Larry Parnes , in the hope of interesting famous singer Marty Wilde in some of the songs he had written. Instead, in an episode that has become pop music legend, Parnes pushed young Wycherley up on stage right away. He was such an immediate success that Parnes signed him, added him to the concert tour|tour , and renamed him 'Billy Fury'.cite book | first= David | last= Roberts | year= 1998 | title= Guinness Rockopedia | edition= 1st | publisher= Guinness Publishing Ltd. | location= London | page= 124 | isbn= 0-85112-072-5 However, his early sexual and provocative stage performances received censure, and he was forced to tone them down. In October 1959, the UK music magazine, NME , commented that Fury's stage antics had been drawing much press criticism.cite book | first= John | last= Tobler | year= 1992 | title= NME Rock 'N' Roll Years | edition= 1st | publisher= Reed International Books Ltd | location= London | page= 73 | id= CN 5585
He released his first hit single for Decca Records|Decca , "Maybe Tomorrow", in 1959. He also appeared in a televised play Strictly For Sparrows , and subsequently on Oh Boy& #33; (TV series)|Oh Boy! By March 1960, he reached #9 in the UK Singles Chart with his own composition "Colette", followed by "That's Love" and his first album The Sound of Fury (album)|The Sound of Fury (1960), which featured a young Joe Brown (singer)|Joe Brown on lead guitar , with backing vocalist|backup vocals by The Four Jays.
After securing more hits and jettisoning his musical ensemble|band Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames|The Blue Flames , Parnes held auditions in Liverpool for a new group. Among those who failed were The Beatles, who for the first time called themselves The Silver Beetles. They were offered the job for £20 a week on condition that they sacked their bassist Stuart Sutcliffe . John Lennon refused and the band left after Lennon had secured Fury's autograph .Citation needed|date= October 2011 The Tornados were recruited as his backing band and toured and recorded with Fury from January 1962 to August 1963.
UK chart and film success
Fury concentrated less on rock and roll and more on mainstream ballad s, such as " Halfway to Paradise " and "Jealousy" (which reached #3 and #2 respectively in the UK Singles Chart in 1961). Fury confessed to the NME that "I wanted people to think of me simply as a singer - and not, more specifically, as a rock singer. I'm growing up, and I want to broaden my scope. I shall continue to sing rock songs, but at the same time my stage act is not going to be as wild in the future".cite book | first= John | last= Tobler | year= 1992 | title= NME Rock 'N' Roll Years | edition= 1st | publisher= Reed International Books Ltd | location= London | page= 95 | id= CN 5585 It was Decca's decision to mould Fury into a teen idol after his last self-penned song, "My Christmas Prayer", had failed to chart. 1962 and 1963 were Fury's best years chartwise. In 1962 Fury appeared in his first film, Play It Cool (film)|Play It Cool , modelled on the Elvis Presley|Elvis movies. It featured Helen Shapiro , Danny Williams, Alvin Stardust|Shane Fenton and Bobby Vee , who appeared with The Vernons Girls . The hit single from the film was "Once Upon a Dream". There were other notable performances by several British actor s and performers such as Richard Wattis , Lionel Blair and Dennis Price .
Fury's We Want Billy! (1963) was one of the first live album s in UK rock history and featured renditions of his hits and cover version s of several Rhythm and blues|R& B songs such as " Unchain My Heart (song)|Unchain My Heart ".
In 1965 he appeared in the film '' I've Gotta Horse , which also featured The Bachelors , Michael Medwin and Jon Pertwee . The album from the film was made available in stereophonic sound|stereo . Fury left Decca Records in 1966, after signing to a five year recording contract with Parlophone .
Having had more UK hits, such as " It's Only Make Believe " and " I Will (Dick Glasser song)|I Will " (written by Dick Glasser , not to be confused with the Paul McCartney song), both in 1964, and "In Thoughts of You" (1965), Fury began a lengthy absence from the charts in 1967, and underwent surgery for heart problems in 1972 and 1976 which led to his abandoning touring. Despite spending many weeks on the charts, Fury never achieved a number one single, but he remained popular even after his hits stopped. "I Will" became a United States|U.S. hit for Dean Martin (1965) and for Ruby Winters (1977).
Later years
In 1973, Fury emerged from a period of semi-retirement to star as 'Stormy Tempest' in the film '' That'll Be the Day (film)|That'll Be the Day . Also starring David Essex and Ringo Starr , it was roughly based on the early days of The Beatles . Starr was from the same Dingle, Liverpool|Dingle area of Liverpool as Fury, and had originally played drums for Rory Storm|Rory Storm & The Hurricanes , whom the Stormy Tempest group were said to be modelled upon.
In the mid 1970s Fury went out on the road with Marty Wilde, Away from the spotlight, he focussed on wildlife preservation. Fury's health deteriorated and he underwent heart surgery notably in 1976. In 1978 he was declared bankruptcy|bankrupt . A new release, "Be Mine Tonight" (1981), failed to make an appearance in the UK Singles Chart. Worse was to follow in March 1981 when Fury, working on his own farm, collapsed and almost perished. He returned to touring later that year and his next two singles, "Love or Money" and "Devil or Angel", just dented the UK chart. In 1981 and 1982, Fury was signed to Polydor Records by A& R man Frank Neilson and recorded a comeback album, The One And Only (released posthumously) with Shakin' Stevens ' producer Stuart Colman . Due to his health, Fury did little touring to promote the new album. His last public appearance was at the Sunnyside, Northampton , in December 1982, where the website, billyfury.com, now sponsors a charity show every March. Fury recorded a live performance for the television program|television show , Unforgettable , featuring six of his old hits although, at the request of his mother, only four of these were broadcast.
Personal life
Fury lived with Lee Middleton from 1959 to 1967, married Judith Hall in May 1969 and then he met Beneficiary|heiress Lisa Voice (née Rosen), they both lived in London and sometimes on Fury's farm in Wales , from 1971 until his death. http://www.billyfury.com/ Billyfury.com - accessed July 2009 Fury was a keen birdwatching|birdwatcher .
Death
After returning from a recording session in London in the early hours of 28 January 1983, Fury collapsed in his home in London during the night. His manager Tony Read found him unconscious the next morning. He was rushed to a hospital, but died later in the afternoon at 2.10pm. He was 42 years old. A week later his funeral was held at the St. John´s Wood Church in London. Among the mourners were Larry Parnes, Marty Wilde, Hal Carter and ex-Pirate Mick Green in addition to family members, friends and fans. After the service, Fury was buried at Mill Hill|Mill Hill cemetery . A track issued posthumously, "Forget Him", became his final single chart hit.
Legacy
In 2003 a bronze statue of Fury was unveiled at the National Museums Liverpool|National Museum of Liverpool Life . The sculpture, by Tom Murphy, a Liverpool Sculpture|sculptor , was donated by 'The Sound of Fury' fan club after the money was raised by fans.
In 1999 and 2000 the song " Wondrous Place ", a favourite of Fury's (he re-recorded it at least three times during his career) later received wide airplay on UK television when it was used as the theme for a Toyota Yaris car advertisement.
In 2007 a biographical documentary film Billy Fury His Wondrous Story was released on DVD.
Eight of his EMI recordings remained unreleased on mainstream CD until June 2010, when they appeared on a 29-track issue, The Complete Parlophone Singles , released by Peaksoft (PEA009). The singer's estate licensed the tracks to benefit his memorial fund, which finances equipment purchases for hospital heart units.
In November 2011, further co-operation between the estate and Peaksoft resulted in the issuing of a second CD, The Lost Album (PEA014), which attempted to construct the format of an album recorded by Fury in 1967-71, but which was never released.
His life was dramatised for BBC Radio in 1994, in a play called The Sound of Fury , with Anton Lesser playing the singer.
Rock band Devilish Presley recorded a song "Billy Fury is Dead", for their 2008 Flesh Ride album. They were interviewed about it in the "Tributes" section of the "Official" Billy Fury website.cite web|url= http://www.billyfury.com/ |title=The story. Your 60s site since 1998 |publisher=Billy Fury |date= |accessdate=2011-12-31
Bernie Taupin included the song, "Billy Fury", on his album, Tribe (Bernie Taupin album)|Tribe , released in 1986. Sound effects at the beginning of the song gave the impression that it is being played on a jukebox , and the "imaginary" vocalist sang about his desire to "be like Billy Fury" and have the trappings of a rock singer. Elton John appeared towards the end of the song contributing some backing vocals.
In 1987 Fury was featured as the cover star of The Smiths' last single 'Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me'.
In the 2009 film Telstar (film)|Telstar , directed by Nick Moran , Fury is played by Jon Lee (entertainer)|Jon Lee .
Quotation
cquote|I have often been called the last of the rock and rollers - and quite frankly I take this as a compliment - but I don't agree with this tag line: there are a lot of great rock singers in this country. NME - May 1963cite book | first= John | last= Tobler | year= 1992 | title= NME Rock 'N' Roll Years | edition= 1st | publisher= Reed International Books Ltd | location= London | page= 120 | id= CN 5585
See also
British rock and roll
List of people from Merseyside
List of Decca Records artists
List of rockabilly musicians
List of performers on Top of the Pops
Bibliography
Halfway to Paradise (1996) - Spencer Lee
References
Reflist
External links
IMDb name|id=0299233|name=Billy Fury
Allmusic|class=artist|id=p4324
http://www.billyfury.com/furyman.htm Billy Fury biography
http://www.billyfury.com/ Official website
http://www.thesoundoffury.org/ 'Sound of Fury' fan club
http://www.thebillyfuryfanclub.com/ Billy Fury In Thoughts Of You fan club
http://www.billyfurystory.co.uk/ The Billy Fury Story , a show featuring Fury's Tornados, former backing band founded in the 1970s
http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/mersey/5200.shtml? all=1& id=5200 BBC Archive - Mersey - BBC Interview with Fury
Persondata | NAME = Fury, Billy | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = England|English singer from the late-1950s to the mid-1960s, and remained an active songwriter until the 1980s | DATE OF BIRTH = 17 April 1940 | PLACE OF BIRTH = Liverpool , England | DATE OF DEATH = 28 January 1983 | PLACE OF DEATH = London , England DEFAULTSORT:Fury, Billy Category:1940 births Category:1983 deaths Category:English male singers Category:English rock singers Category:English pop singers Category:English songwriters Category:Cardiovascular disease deaths in England Category:Musicians from Liverpool
