American musician
William "Bill" Robert Beach
(aka Bill "Peg Pants" Beach, "Frog" Beach) is an American musician.
Early years
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Bill "Peg Pants" Beach in 1956
Beach was born on August 8, 1932, in
Glencoe, Kentucky
. He began his musical career as a teenager after borrowing a
guitar
from his cousin to learn a few chords. In 1948, he appeared several times as a guest on the
country music
radio show "Shorty and Sally Fincher Jamboree Show" out of
Wheeling, West Virginia
, and traveled the region (including
York, PA
) with the
WWVA Jamboree
during the summer of 1948 with country music stars like
Hank Williams
Sr.,
Hank Snow
and
Little Jimmy Dickens
. Later in 1948, he was finally able to buy his own Martin D-28 guitar.
Touring with this regional country music
radio station
heightened his interest in
music
and after graduating from
high school
in 1951, Beach moved to
Cincinnati
, OH to live with his mother in hopes of pursuing a musical career. He began recording at the old Wurlitzer Music Studios in Cincinnati where he met and recorded with
Skeeter Davis
. His recordings during this time were unreleased.
King Record days
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In November 1952, during the
Korean War
, Beach enlisted into the
United States Marine Corps
. His musical career was placed on hold until he was
honorably discharged
in November, 1955 and returned to Cincinnati, Ohio where he began a recording career with
King Records
. In June 1956, he wrote and recorded the
rockabilly
hit "Peg Pants" at King. The B-side of the record, "You're Gonna Like Me Baby" also had some radio success.
Beach continued writing songs and performing until 1962 when his wife at the time was diagnosed with
Multiple Sclerosis
. After leaving the
music business
to focus on his family and the care of his wife, he became a successful business owner in Cincinnati and the surrounding areas. He had several retail
sewing
centers where he sold and repaired
sewing machines
and
vacuum cleaners
. The first store, located in
Newport, KY
, is still operating under the name "Beach's Sewing Centers".
[1]
Recent musical accomplishments
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Bill "Peg Pants" Beach in 2009
In the late 1980s, during the resurgence of rockabilly in the
United Kingdom
and
Western Europe
, "Peg Pants" once again enjoyed radio success in
England
,
France
and
Germany
. The song has been re-released on several
compilation
CDs, including "King Rockabilly", a CD released in 2004 featuring successful songs from King Records and "Classic Rockabilly", a four CD box set released in 2007 highlighting
Elvis Presley
,
Roy Orbison
and other rockabilly greats from the 1950s and 1960s. Additionally, many
rockabilly
blogs on the internet mention his music and his music continues to be played on rockabilly-themed radio shows.
For his contribution to the American musical genre of "Rockabilly", Bill "Peg Pants" Beach was inducted into the
Rockabilly Hall of Fame
, headquartered in
Jackson, Tennessee
, US. He still writes and performs songs and has received national notoriety for some of his more recent endeavors. In 1998, he submitted his song "Viagra and the Beeper" to
The Nashville Network
's (TNN) International Amateur Songwriting Contest. Beach and his song placed sixth in a field of over 13,000 entrants for this upbeat,
parody
song.
[2]
While living in the Naples, FL area, Bill "Peg Pants" Beach was a regular performer at Stan's Idle Hour, an internationally known tourist destination in
Goodland, FL
.
In February 1999, another song he wrote, "I Believed You Mr. President" was featured during the Cable News Network's (
CNN
) coverage of President
Bill Clinton
's
impeachment trial
.
[3]
Also a parody and humorous song, the words of "I Believed You Mr. President" told the story of how one voter's innocence was rocked during the
Monica Lewinsky
scandal that ultimately led to the impeachment trial of the 42nd President of the United States of America.
[4]
In 2010, Beach was commissioned by the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve to write a song commemorating the discovery of new aquatic wildlife in Naples, FL.
[5]
He and his wife Joan split their time between
Naples, Florida
, and
Crossville, Tennessee
. They enjoy a full retirement life. Bill "Peg Pants" Beach continues to write and record music and he remains a guest performer at Stan's Idle Hour.
Discography
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Year
|
Image
|
Title
|
Label
|
1956
|
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/01/Bill_Beach_-_Peg_Pants.jpg/60px-Bill_Beach_-_Peg_Pants.jpg) |
Peg Pants / You're Gonna Like Me Baby
|
King Records
|
Various artists compilations
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- Rockabilly From Memphis
(Burning Fire) released 28 October 2008 (Format: iTunes mp3)
- Classic Rockabilly
(Proper UK/B000NA1TIY) released 12 Mar 2007 (Format: CD Box Set)
- Red Hot Love
(Pan American Records) released 2008 (Format: CD)
- King Rockabilly
(Ace/B00004WGEE) released 12 Feb 2001 (Format: CD)
- King/Federal Rockabillys
(King/Gusto/K5016X) released 1978 (Format: LP)
Recent radio playlists
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- Shakin' Katz Radio
. CHRW 94.9 FM. London, ON. 15 May 2010. "Peg Pants" and "You're Gonna Like Me Baby".
- Around Cincinnati
. WVXU 91.7 FM . Cincinnati, OH 28 March 2010. "Peg Pants".
- Kim Clark's Record Shack
. WTZQ 1600 AM. Hendersonville, NC. 13 March 2010. "Peg Pants".
- Trevor Hyland and the Rock and Roll Dance Party". Rock-It Radio. Show No. 3284. Rock-It Radio.net/Palmsradio.com. 23 January 2010. "Peg Pants".
- Kim Clark's Record Shack
. WTZQ 1600 AM. Hendersonville, NC. 28 November 2009. "Peg Pants".
- Shakin' Katz Radio
. CHRW 94.9 FM. London, ON. 27 December 2008. "Peg Pants".
- Howdylicious
. KUCI 88.9 FM. Irvine, CA. 4 February 2007. "Peg Pants".
- Rock and Roll Dance Party
. WUSB 90.1 FM. Stony Brook, NY. 13 July 2004. "Peg Pants".
References
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- ^
MS and US, Barbara Beach, Exposition-Phoenix Press, 1976.
- ^
Loomis, Mike (1999-01-22). "Local Songwriter Wins in National Contest". Naples Daily News. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
- ^
CNN. Story aired (1999-02-12, 1999-02-13, 1999-02-14).
- ^
US News and World Report, "The Monica Lewinsky Tapes", Feb 2, 1998 v124 n4 p4-8.
- ^
Dorr, Suzy (2010-04-03). Inaugural Bash "Bats" 1,000. Marco Island Eagle. Retrieved 2010-05-16.
External links
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