Billy Swan

Singer/songwriter/musician Billy Swan was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. He learned to play several instruments as a child. As a teenager he wrote a song for a band he was in and the song, called "Lover, Please", was eventually recorded by Bill Black. It was later recorded by Clyde McPhatter and became a top-10 national hit. Swan late relocated to Memphis and resumed working with Bill Black, but Black became ill and died in 1965. Swan then moved to Nashville, and became a successful songwriter, penning songs for such major stars as Conway Twitty, Waylon Jennings and Mel Tillis. He also tried his hand at producing, and produced Tony Joe White's hit song "Polk Salad Annie". Swan signed a recording contract with Monument Records, and his first album for that label in 1974 featured the song "I Can Help", which shot to #1 on both the Billboard Top 100 and country charts. His later albums for Monument didn't live up to the success of his first one, and after leaving Monument he recorded albums for Epic and A&M, also without much success. In 1979 he took part in the "Havana Jam" festival in Havana, Cuba, along with such icons as Kris Kristofferson. Rita Coolidge, Billy Joel and Stephen Stills. After the festival he toured with Kristofferson's band and recorded solo albums for several independent labels. He has also recorded two albums with Randy Meisner, formerly of Eagles.