{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2022}} {{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians --> | name = Billy Bizor | image = | caption = | image_size = | background = solo_singer | birth_name = | alias = Billy Bizer, Billy Biser<ref name="AMG"/> | birth_date = {{birth date|1913|09|03}} | birth_place = Near Middleton, Leon County, Texas, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1969|04|05|1917|01|01}} | death_place = Houston, Texas, U.S. | instrument = Harmonica, vocals | genre = Texas blues<ref name="AMG"/> | occupation = Harmonicist, singer and songwriter | years_active = 1930s–1969 | label = Collectables Records; various with Lightnin' Hopkins | website = }}

'''Billy Bizor''' (September 3, 1913 – April 5, 1969)<ref name="Wirz">{{Cite web|url=https://www.wirz.de/music/bizor.htm|title=Illustrated Billy Bizor discography|website=Wirz.de|access-date=August 18, 2022}}</ref> was an American Texas blues harmonicist, singer and songwriter. He was musically associated with his cousin Lightnin' Hopkins, on some of whose 1960s albums Bizor played harmonica and sang backing vocals.<ref name="AMG"/> Bizor's only solo recordings took place in 1968 and 1969, but these were not released until 1989.

==Life and career== Bizor was born near Middleton, Leon County, Texas, United States, ten months before the outbreak of World War I.<ref name="Wirz"/> Details of his early life are scant, but he performed locally from the 1930s in a semi-professional manner without any tangible success. He languished in total obscurity, and barely changed his playing methodology over the years.<ref name="AMG"/> His fortunes changed somewhat courtesy of the blues revival in the 1960s, along with starting recording as a backing musician to his cousin, Lightnin' Hopkins.<ref>{{cite book|author=Alan Govenar|title=Lightnin' Hopkins: His Life and Blues|publisher=Chicago Review Press|date=2010|isbn=978-1-55652-962-7|page=27}}</ref> Bizor played harmonica, and sometimes sang backing vocals, on several of Hopkins' albums including; ''Walkin' This Road by Myself'' (1962), ''Lightnin' and Co.'' (1962), ''Smokes Like Lightning'' (1963), ''Talkin' Some Sense'' (1968), and ''Free Form Patterns'' (1968).<ref name="Wirz"/> While his contributions there went largely unheralded, the work did lead to Bizor, between 1968 and 1969, recording his only solo sessions.<ref name="AMG"/> These took place in Houston under the guidance of record producer Roy C. Ames.<ref name="AMG"/> In those sessions Bizor was accompanied by Lightnin' Hopkins (guitar, vocals), Donald "Duck" Dunn (rhythm guitar), Clarence Holliman (guitar), Elmore Nixon (piano), plus Linda Waring and Ben Turner (drums).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/blowing-my-blues-away-mw0000618933/credits|title=Blowing My Blues Away - Billy Bizor &#124; Credits |website=AllMusic|access-date=August 19, 2022}}</ref><ref name="Blowing"/> His work went unreleased at the time.<ref name="AMG"/>

Eventually issued as ''Blowing My Blues Away'', the end result went unreleased for 20 years, but the recordings also revealed Bizor, according to AllMusic, "to be an intense, emotionally charged singer". He never saw the recordings come to light.<ref name="AMG">{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/billy-bizor-mn0000085250/biography|title=Billy Bizor Biography, Songs, & Albums|website=AllMusic|access-date=August 18, 2022}}</ref> Bizor died on April 5, 1969, of the effects of edema at the Ben Taub Hospital in Houston, Texas. He was buried at Gosto Prairie Cemetery in Centerville, Leon County, Texas.<ref name="Wirz"/>

He appeared posthumously together with Hopkins in the documentary by filmmaker Les Blank, ''The Blues According To Lightnin' Hopkins'' (1970).<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins (1970) |url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064099/characters/nm11598396 |access-date=August 18, 2022 |website=IMDb.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://westminster.kanopy.com/node/11278686|title=The blues accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins|first1=Les|last1=Blank|first2=Skip|last2=Gerson|first3=Billy|last3=Bizor|first4=Lightnin'|last4=Hopkins|first5=Mance|last5=Lipscomb|first6=Ruth, Kanopy (Firm), Flower Films (Firm)|last6=Ames|date=August 18, 2021|access-date=August 18, 2022|via=Open WorldCat}}</ref>

Bizor's track "Screwdriver" was covered by South Filthy on their album, ''Crackin' Up'' (2005).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/crackin-up/137316804|title=Crackin' Up by South Filthy|date=February 1, 2006|access-date=August 18, 2022|via=Apple Music}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=South Filthy - Crackin' Up |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/3075945-South-Filthy-Crackin-Up |access-date=August 18, 2022 |website=Discogs.com}}</ref>

In 2015, Cicadelic Records released the collection, ''Wake Up The Dead'', a double CD including all of Bizor and Hopkins joint recordings made during 1968 and 1969.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://staging.midheaven.com/item/hopkins-lightninampapos-ampamp-billy-bizor/wake-up-the-dead-by-hopkins-lightninapos-billy-bizor|title=Hopkins, Lightnin' & Billy Bizor: Wake Up The Dead|website=Staging.midheaven.com|access-date=August 18, 2022}}{{Dead link|date=February 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref>

==Albums== ===Solo=== *''Blowing My Blues Away'' (Collectables Records, 1989)<ref name="Wirz"/><ref name="Blowing">{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/blowing-my-blues-away-mw0000618933|title=Billy Bizor - Blowing My Blues Away Album Reviews, Songs & More |website=AllMusic|access-date=August 18, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.45worlds.com/vinyl/artist/billy-bizor|title=Billy Bizor Discography - Vinyl Albums - USA - Vinyl Albums|website=45worlds.com|access-date=August 18, 2022}}</ref>

===With Lightnin' Hopkins=== *''Cousins'' (Blues Factory Records, 2000) *''Wake Up The Dead'' (Cicadelic Records, 2015)<ref name="Wirz"/>

===Compilation=== *''Screwdriver'' (Carinco Neue Medien AG, 2012)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/gb/album/screwdriver/505048535|title=Screwdriver by Billy Bizor|date=February 21, 2012|access-date=August 18, 2022|via=Apple Music}}</ref>

==See also== *List of harmonicists

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[https://keepingthebluesalive.org/billy-bizor-video-of-the-week/ Lightnin' Hopkins and Billy Bizor; "Where She Used To Lay" (1967) - video]{{Dead link|date=February 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }} *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dswZuFcY85k Billy Bizor, "Screwdriver" (1969) @ YouTube]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bizor, Billy}} Category:1913 births Category:1969 deaths Category:American blues harmonica players Category:Harmonica blues musicians Category:Texas blues musicians Category:American blues singers Category:Singers from Texas Category:20th-century American singers Category:Songwriters from Texas Category:20th-century American male singers Category:American male songwriters Category:People from Leon County, Texas Category:20th-century American songwriters