Billy Talbot

{{short description|American singer-songwriter and musician (born 1943)}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Billy Talbot

| image = Neil Young & Crazy Horse - O2 Arena 17th June 2013 (cropped).jpg

| landscape =

| caption = Talbot performing with Neil Young and Crazy Horse in 2012

| birth_name = William Hammond Talbot

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1943|10|23}}

| birth_place = New York City, U.S.

| occupation = {{hlist|Singer-songwriter|musician}}

| instrument = {{hlist|Bass|vocals}}

| current_member_of = Crazy Horse

| website = {{URL|http://www.billytalbotband.com}}

}}

William Hammond Talbot (born October 23, 1943{{cite web|url=http://www.memorabletv.com/musicworld/halloffame/neilyoung.htm |title=Memorable Music Hall of Fame |publisher=Memorabletv.com |accessdate=2011-08-18 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016031437/http://www.memorabletv.com/musicworld/halloffame/neilyoung.htm |archivedate=October 16, 2011 |df=mdy }}) is an American singer-songwriter and musician, best known as the bassist of Crazy Horse.

Music career

Born in New York City, Talbot started his musical career singing on street corners at the age of 14. He moved to New Jersey with his family the next year, and by 17 he had moved to Los Angeles. There, he befriended fellow expatriate New Yorkers Ralph Molina, Danny Whitten and Benjamin Rocco. Together they formed a doo-wop group called Danny and the Memories.{{cite news|title=Young's Bassist Has Crazy Idea: Go Solo|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/01/23/PK104814.DTL|date=January 23, 2000|publisher=San Francisco Chronicle|accessdate=September 1, 2009 | first1=Joel | last1=Selvin}} After moving the group to San Francisco, they morphed into The Psyrcle, which eventually grew to encompass Leon and George Whitsell along with Bobby Notkoff. At this point, Talbot and his bandmates renamed the group The Rockets.

File:Neil Young & Crazy Horse.jpg in 2012]]

In 1967, the group met Neil Young, who at the time was a member of Buffalo Springfield. This meeting saw Molina, Whitten, and Talbot join forces with Young to create Crazy Horse.

Talbot began performing solo in 1999 at small venues. In October 2004, Talbot struck out on his own with The Billy Talbot Band, releasing the album Alive in the Spirit World on Sanctuary Records.{{cite web|title=CD Review: The Billy Talbot Band|url=http://www.glidemagazine.com/articles/46653/the-billy-talbot-band.html|date=September 24, 2004|publisher=Glide Magazine|accessdate=September 1, 2009}} In 2013, the band released their second album On the Road to Spearfish on Vapor Records.{{cite web|title=On The Road To Spearfish with Crazy Horse's Billy Talbot|url=http://www.jambands.com/features/2013/08/08/on-the-road-to-spearfish-with-crazy-horse-s-billy-talbot|date=August 8, 2013|publisher=jambands.com|accessdate=April 14, 2015}}

In 2013 Talbot joined forces with Ralph Molina, George Whitsell and Ryan James Holzer to form the band Wolves. They released their first album Wolves EP on February 16, 2014.{{cite web|url=http://billytalbot.com/wolves-band/|title=Wolves|publisher=billytalbot.com|accessdate=April 14, 2015}} In June 2014, Talbot suffered a minor stroke and was forced to sit out Crazy Horse's imminent European tour.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/neil-young-crazy-horse-bassist-billy-talbot-suffers-mild-stroke-20140630|title=Neil Young, Crazy Horse Bassist Billy Talbot Suffers Mild Stroke|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=June 30, 2014 |access-date=2016-04-20}} He has since recovered and rejoined the band.