Billy "The Kid" Emerson
R&B singer, songwriter, and preacher.
Billy "The Kid" Emerson, born William Robert Emerson, was an R&B and rock and roll singer and songwriter who later became a preacher. He is most famous for his 1955 track "Red Hot." After starting his recording career with Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm, he cut records for Sun, Chess, and Vee-Jay. He founded Tarpon Records, which released work by Denise LaSalle and Matt "Guitar" Murphy, and he collaborated with bluesmen like Earl Hooker, Lonnie Brooks, Sonny Boy Williamson II, and Robert Knighthawk.
Quick Facts
- Birth name
- William Robert Emerson
- Born
- 21 December 1925
- Birthplace
- Tarpon Springs, Florida, U.S.
- Died
- 25 April 2023
- Genre
- Rock and roll, R&B
- Occupation
- Singer
- songwriter
- preacher
- Instrument
- Vocals, piano
- Years active
- 1945–2000s
Facts from the source article.
Life and career
Billy "The Kid" Emerson came into the world on December 21, 1925, in Tarpon Springs, Florida. He picked up piano playing at church and later performed with local bands. In 1943, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. After World War II ended, he got back to music around Tampa, working with groups led by Ivory Mitchell, the Billy Battle Band, and the Alfonso Brown Band.
His outlaw nickname came from a band where everyone dressed like criminals. Emerson earned an athletic scholarship to Florida A&M University but left in 1952 to join the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. While stationed in Greenville, Mississippi, he crossed paths with bandleader Ike Turner, who brought him into the Kings of Rhythm. Turner, also a talent scout for Sun Records, set up a recording session for Emerson.
His first single, "No Teasing Around" backed with "If Lovin' Is Believing," came out in February 1954. He cut another single with Turner on guitar before leaving the band to join Phineas Newborn's group. Emerson stayed at Sun as a songwriter, penning and recording "When It Rains, It Really Pours" (later covered by Elvis Presley) and "Red Hot," which became hits for Billy Lee Riley, Bob Luman, Robert Gordon, and Link Wray, though it never clicked for Emerson himself.
In late 1955, he moved to Chicago's Vee-Jay Records, releasing songs like "Every Woman I Know (Crazy 'Bout Automobiles)" in 1956, but it flopped commercially. That track later got covered by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs on their 1965 album Wooly Bully and by Ry Cooder on his 1980 record Borderline. Soon after, Emerson became recording manager at Chess Records, where he cut "Holy Mackerel Baby," a remake of his earlier Sun single "Woodchuck," and a single with Willie Dixon's band.
As a songwriter, he wrote dozens of tunes for Junior Wells, Willie Mabon, Wynonie Harris ("Buzzard Luck"), and Buddy Guy. After stints with smaller labels, Emerson started his own Tarpon Records in 1966, putting out Denise LaSalle's first single and his own work. He kept playing clubs and touring Europe for blues shows. In the late 1970s, he turned to religion and began composing gospel music. By 2005, he was reported to be leading a church in Oak Park, Illinois, as Reverend William R. Emerson.
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