Billy Blanco on My Mind
Brazilian singer-musician Billy Blanco’s name kept coming up last week. First it was with musician- engineer Joe Knowlton, then with friends Donna Murphy and Shawn Elliott. Shawn had worked with Billy and me on many jingles.
Billy came to this country thirty some years ago to learn ‘60’s “rocknroll,” as he put it, with emphasis on the first syllable. He made his bones here playing piano and guitar for Yoko Ono on several music projects, performing with rock bands and on his own in clubs, and writing and producing with me on joint record projects.
Billy was gaining on the kind of career he wanted, i.e., one like John Lennon’s, Jimi Hendrix’s or his idol, “eltonjohn’s,” when he was forced to return to Brazil because of our immigration policies. We still keep in close touch by phone and email.
