I first met Bill in 1964, by accident. Bob and I had cruised into this club
somewhere in Boscombe, met a bunch of musicians and (to cut it short) picked up
Bill and formed the group that we named the Trackmarks. Me, Bob and Bill were the core of that group.
When we decided to split out, we gradually formed the core of
Dave Anthony’s Moods, recruiting others as we went along.
Bill was a great bass player. All the way through our musical relationship,
he was there behind everyone else’s madcap flights, holding down the
foundation. We probably didn’t
appreciate that enough. Andy once told
me that he’d gone on to make great keyboard music of his own; I’m sorry that I
never heard that.
He was very funny, and loved a Spoonerism. (Or Snooperism, as he called them.) I can’t remember any of his jokes, which is
probably just as well, because the best jokes vanish from their moment.
Some years ago my phone rang, and it was Bill. We chatted a bit. He said “your voice sounds different.” I’m sure he was right. So did his.
