Bill Lindsay, A Tenor On The Corner of Doo Wop Heaven Passes (video)

Bill Lindsay’s (that’s him, third from the left) musical roots began as a little boy in Birmingham, Alabama where he won a radio talent show at the age of 6 where he sang. When he moved to the Bronx, NY at the age of 16, he became a music star at Morris High School, a school that turned out singing talent after talent with the likes of Dean Barlow and the Crickets, Lillian Leach and the Mellows, The Limelighters, The Wrens, The Chords and so many other. Bill was trained in classical music while at Morris H.S.

Bill Lindsay sang with a myriad of doowop groups whose footprints are deep in
the rich history of doowop music. The groups he lent his voice to include Dean
Barlow and the Crickets (2nd generation) (“Your Mine”), The Cadillacs (2nd
generation) (“My Girlfriend”), The Twilighters (“Half Angel” and Little Did I
Dream”) and the Bachelors/Monterays. Not only did he sing, he wrote songs as
well. He was known as one of the best tenors that came out of the South Bronx.
One of his favorite lines is “I sang with any group who wanted me”…and they
all wanted him.

He left the music business in the early 1960s. He was honored by UGHA with Dean Barlow as they represented Dean Barlow & The Crickets. He returned at my request in 1999 when he was included in the historic portrait “The Pioneers of Rhythm & Blues, Rock & Roll and DooWop” and continued to perform only when I asked. His last public performance was at the Knights of Columbus in Forestville, MD in 2010. But he loved it. He loved the music he was a part of. He was alway humbled that people in the doowop family knew who he was and respected his talent after all these years. He always said….”how do they know me”?

Plans on his homegoing service will be forthcoming. Services, however, will be
in Charlotte, NC where he lived for the past year.

Update: The Roots,  Bebel Gilberto, G. Love, Soulive, Keller Williams, Amel Larrieux, John Scofield, Karl Densen, and Living Colour.

From Beverly Lindsay-Johnson (daughter)

The Cadillacs, My Girlfriend video: