Billy Bang (b. William Vincent Walker, Mobile, Alabama, September 20, 1947 … Read Full Bio ↴Billy Bang (b. William Vincent Walker, Mobile, Alabama, September 20, 1947 & died on Apr 11th 2011) was an American free jazz violinist and composer.

Bang's family moved to New York City's Bronx neighborhood while he was still an infant, and as a child he attended a special school for musicians in nearby Harlem. At that school, students were assigned instruments based on their physical size. Bang was fairly small, so he received a violin instead of either of his first choices, the saxophone or the drums. It was around this time that he acquired the nickname of "Billy Bang", derived from a popular cartoon character.

Bang studied the violin until he earned a hardship scholarship to a prep school in Massachusetts, at which point he abandoned it because the school did not have a music program. He had difficulty adjusting to life at the school, where he encountered racism and developed confusion about his identity, which he later blamed for his onset of schizophrenia. Bang felt that he had little in common with the largely privileged children at the school, who included Jackie Robinson, Jr. (son of baseball star Jackie Robinson) and Arlo Guthrie, and he struggled to reconcile the disparity between the wealth of the school and the poverty of his home in New York. He left the school after two years and attended a school in the Bronx. He did not graduate, decided not to return to school after receiving his draft papers, and at the age of 18, he was drafted into the United States Army.

Bang spent six months in basic training and another two weeks learning jungle warfare, arriving in Vietnam just in time for the Tet Offensive. Starting out as an infantryrman, he did one tour of combat duty, rising to the rank of sergeant before he mustered out.

After Bang returned from the war, his life lacked direction. The job he had held before being drafted had been filled in his absence. He pursued and then abandoned a law degree, before becoming politically active and falling in with an underground group of revolutionaries. The group recognized Bang's knowledge of weapons from his time in the Army, and they used him to procure firearms for the group during trips to Maryland and Virginia, buying from pawnshops and other small operators who did not conduct extensive background checks. During one of these trips, Bang spotted three violins hanging at the back of a pawnshop, and he impulsively purchased one.

After serving in Vietnam during the Vietnam War, he returned to New York and joined the Sun Ra Arkestra.

In 1977, Bang co-founded the String Trio of New York (with guitarist James Emery and double bassist John Lindberg).

Billy Bang has most recently explored his experience in Vietnam in two albums: Vietnam: The Aftermath (2001) and Vietnam: Reflections (2005), recorded with a band which included several other veterans of that conflict. The latter album also features two Vietnamese musicians based in the United States (voice and đàn tranh zither).

Selected discography

Solo:

* Distinction without a Difference (hat Hut, 1979)
* Commandment (No More, 1997)

As leader:

* Sweet Space (Anima, 1979)
* Rainbow Gladiator (Soul Note, 1981)
* Invitation (Soul Note, 1982)
* Bangception, Willisau 1982 (hatOLOGY, 1982)
* Outline No. 12 (Celluloid, 1983)
* The Fire from Within (Soul Note, 1984)
* Live at Carlos 1 (Soul Note, 1986)
* Valve No. 10 (Soul Note, 1991)
* A Tribute to Stuff Smith (Soul Note, 1992)
* Spirits Gathering (CIMP, 1996)
* Bang On! (Justin Time, 1997)
* Big Bang Theory (Justin Time, 1999)
* Vietnam: The Aftermath (Justin Time, 2001)
* Vietnam: Reflections (Justin Time, 2004)

Collaborations:

* Billy Bang & Charles Tyler: Live at Green Space (Anima, 1982)
* String Trio of New York: First String (Black Saint, 1979)
* String Trio of New York: Area Code 212 (Black Saint, 1980)
* String Trio of New York: Common Goal (Black Saint, 1981)
* String Trio of New York: Rebirth of a Feeling (Black Saint, 1983)
* String Trio of New York: Natural Balance (Black Saint, 1986)
* William Hooker/Billy Bang Duo: Joy (Within)! (1994-95)
* Sirone Bang Ensemble: Configuration (Silkheart, 2004)
* Billy Bang, Wayne Providence and Michael Maloy: Hip Hop Bebop (ITM, 2003)

(dates are recording, not release)

From NPR:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/ablogsupreme/2011/04/12/135351553/billy-bang-jazz-violinist-and-vietnam-veteran-dies-at-63

Foggy Day
Billy Bang Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I was a stranger in the city
Out of town were the people I knew
I had that feeling of self-pity
What to do, what to do, what to do
The outlook was decidedly blue

But as I walked through the foggy streets alone
It turned out to be the luckiest day I've known

A foggy day, in London town
Had me low, had me down
I viewed the morning, with much alarm
British Museum, had lost its charm

How long I wondered,
Could this thing last
But the age of miracles, hadn't past
For suddenly, I saw you there
And through foggy London town,
The sun was shining everywhere

For suddenly, I saw you there
And through foggy London town,
The sun was shining everywhere

Everywhere

Everywhere
Everywhere

Overall Meaning

The song "Foggy Day in London Town" by Billy Bang tells a story of a person who is feeling out of place and alone in the city. Despite feeling sorry for themselves, the day turns out to be a lucky one when they unexpectedly see someone they know. The song is about the power of chance encounters and how they can completely transform a person's day or even their life.

The lyrics use the foggy weather as a metaphor for the person's emotional state. Just like how fog can obscure vision and make it hard to see what lies ahead, the person's negative feelings make it hard for them to see a way out of their situation. However, when they see someone they know, the fog lifts and the sun shines through. This is a powerful moment of realization for the person, who suddenly sees that their situation isn't as dire as they thought.

Overall, "Foggy Day in London Town" is a hopeful song about how chance encounters and moments of connection can change our perspective on life. It highlights the way that we can feel lost and alone in the world, but that there is always the possibility of something good happening if we keep our eyes open.

Line by Line Meaning

I was a stranger in the city
I didn't know anyone in the city.

Out of town were the people I knew
The people I knew were not nearby.

I had that feeling of self-pity
I was sad for myself.

What to do, what to do, what to do
I didn't know what to do.

The outlook was decidedly blue
I was feeling very sad and hopeless.

But as I walked through the foggy streets alone
As I walked through the streets covered in fog without anyone with me,

It turned out to be the luckiest day I've known
It became the luckiest day I have ever experienced.

A foggy day, in London town
It was a day with fog covering London.

Had me low, had me down
It made me feel sad and dejected.

I viewed the morning, with much alarm
I looked at the morning with great concern.

British Museum, had lost its charm
The British Museum was no longer interesting to me.

How long I wondered,
I started to wonder for how long

Could this thing last
this situation could persist.

But the age of miracles, hadn't past
However, the age of miracles had not yet gone.

For suddenly, I saw you there
Suddenly, I saw you standing there.

And through foggy London town,
Despite the foggy streets of London,

The sun was shining everywhere
The sun seemed to have been shining everywhere all of a sudden.

Everywhere
All over the place

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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