The True Story of Billy Blue
The Blues had a baby and they named it Rock and Roll
and that's the short answer to the question 'Who is Billy Blue'. The long answer is the reason you're here, and what I'm here to tell you. My name is Billy Blue, and I'm the living spirit of rock and roll. I've lived in Bop City since before it had that name and I'll outlive the place if it ever goes away. I've been the spirit of American music for a long time, since the first poor guy who considered himself an American drew a bow across a fiddle or whistled to himself in the fields. My family came here from all over--some from western Europe bringing reels and shanties and polkas, some from farther east with chants and mazurkas, some from Africa carrying drums and banjos, some from the north and west, across land bridges and oceans. Some were even here already, celebrating the Great Spirit, and some came before you might think, my grey-eyed family from Wales who settled in with the natives in the midwest. All together, we became Americans and we created a distinct music that has included jazz, bop, doo-wop, boogie, swing, bluegrass, rockabilly, American folk, nortena, and the music people think of as America's music, rock and roll. There's been more, and I have a new nephew, MC2H, who is hot on my heels to take my title, but I'm not ready to go quite yet.
That's me on the right with my good friend Rocko a few years ago.
I don't always take the best picture for some reason.
copyright © 2008 Rodger Miller