CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Founder of the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame, Michael Lipton is remembering one West Virginia native Appalachian folk singer-songwriter who helped contribute to the success of dozens of other musical artists through his plain-spoken and relatable songwriting abilities.
Billy Edd Wheeler died at the age of 91 last week in his home in Swannanoa, North Carolina.
Lipton, who came on MetroNews ‘Talkline’ Tuesday said Wheeler’s songs had been recorded by some 200 artists such as Elvis Presley, Kenny Rogers, Neil Young, Johnny Cash and June Carter, of which the latter two made Wheeler’s song “Jackson” a huge country hit in 1967.
A Boone County native, Lipton said Wheeler had lifted himself up from nothing.
“Considering that he had just a remarkable life and a remarkable career, at one point he ended up in Yale Drama School, and he always said he was the token Hillbilly, he got songwriting assistance and co-writes with Leiber and Stoller who wrote all of the Coaster’s songs and many, many others,” Lipton said.
A year after Wheeler enrolled in the Yale School of Drama, he moved to New York City to pursue a full-time music career.
Lipton said despite his fame, he never forgot his roots.
“He also stayed involved with West Virginia very, very closely, he came to do all kinds of things, before I knew him he worked with the Appalachian Children’s Choir,” he said.
Along with Bill Withers, Hazel Dickens, and George Crumb, Lipton said Wheeler was one of the first artists on his list when he started the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame in 2005.
He said they gave a tribute to Wheeler in 2019.
Lipton said Wheeler’s music was very versatile and resonated with artists across a multitude of genres.
“A good song you can do as Bluegrass or Reggae and they’ll still work, but you can do all kinds of interpretations of his songs that were all really wonderful, so I think that’s one of the marks of a great songwriter is when people of all different stripes can kind of latch on to your music,” he said.
Some other notable songs Wheeler had written besides “Jackson” are “The Coming of the Roads”, “Ode to the Little Brown Shack Out Back” and “High Flying Bird”.
Wheeler released about two dozen albums in his career that spanned over five decades.
Lipton said the plain-talking, colloquial manner in which Wheeler wrote his poems and songs were almost like novels, capturing snippets of life many can relate to.
“He would place his characters in all of these different situations that you could relate to, and I think that’s what communicated his music,” said Lipton.
Billy Edd Wheeler was born in Whitesville, WV on December 9, 1932. He died September 16, 2024.