Whatever became of Bill Steele

Subject: RE: Whatever became of Bill Steele
From: open mike
Date: 06 Jun 18 - 09:26 PM

never hear this before!! http://billsteelesongs.com/songpages/Jekyll.html
only for special audiences
D. Jekyll's Cola

Subject: RE: Whatever became of Bill Steele
From: GUEST,Ron Small
Date: 05 Jun 18 - 12:26 PM

I found the Billsteelesongs website. Total nostalgia to here Dr. Jekyll's Cola again.
Now finding the website blocked. I hope it's temporary. I can only find snippets, and partial lyrics anywhere else.

Subject: RE: Whatever became of Bill Steele
From: Felipa
Date: 23 Mar 18 - 09:30 AM

I remember Bill (and most of the other people mentioned in this discussion) from Ithaca, but I didn't know he had some fame beyond the Finger Lakes.

Subject: RE: Whatever became of Bill Steele
From: Brian Peters
Date: 23 Mar 18 - 09:09 AM

Oops, above Guest was me. Didn't realise I wasn't logged in.

Subject: RE: Whatever became of Bill Steele
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Mar 18 - 06:57 PM

Bill's a good guy. I've had several good evenings at Cornell FSS while he's been in charge.

Subject: RE: Whatever became of Bill Steele
From: GUEST,David Usher
Date: 20 Mar 18 - 05:12 PM

He is not traveling any more. He put his albums up for free on a website. You can enjoy them and contact him at http://billsteelesongs.com/

I will never forget him doing Dr. Jeckyll's Cola and Henry Smith's Memorial Granite Block at Fox Hollow. I occasionally do the Dr. Jeckyll tune for appropriate audiences mostly late night campfire jams.

Subject: RE: Whatever became of Bill Steele
From: GUEST,David Usher
Date: 29 Aug 17 - 11:28 PM

Nice to hear he is probably doing OK. He was a favorite at Fox Hollow. Dr. Jekyll's Cola got a lot of nervous titters from the audience. I do it occasionally at private parties -- it is hilariously true commentary on the loaded generation that was the hippie movement.

Subject: RE: BS: Whatever became of Bill Steele
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 09 Jan 02 - 01:28 AM

We saw Bill the last time we played on "Bound for Glory," the long-running coffee-house radio show that Phil Shapiro hosts at Cornell. Bill's very active locally, as kytrad has told you.

Some of you may remember when Howie Mitchell and Peter Yarrow were at Cornell. Peter even sang some demonstration songs for Thompson's folklore class. As for Howie Bursen, he got his PhD in Philosophy, then found he didn't care for teaching, but loved to make wine. He's now married to Sally Rogers, runs a winery in Connecticut and makes lots of music. That's true upward mobility!

Sandy

Subject: RE: BS: Whatever became of Bill Steele
From: kytrad (Jean Ritchie)
Date: 08 Jan 02 - 05:52 PM

Joe O: Sorry- the old "Website not responding" fooled me again. Delete one, please?

Subject: RE: BS: Whatever became of Bill Steele
From: kytrad (Jean Ritchie)
Date: 08 Jan 02 - 05:51 PM

Bill was certainly going strong in 1999 (or was it 2000?), one snowy, blowy winter night when last I was invited by the Folklore group there at Cornell. We had SRO- lively and friendly folks. Just a lovely place to play and sing. Bill was in charge and in top form. Maybe too busy now to travel about the country much... Jean

Subject: RE: BS: Whatever became of Bill Steele
From: Anglo
Date: 07 Jan 02 - 10:49 PM

I believe Bill is still president, or something like that, of the Cornell folksong society.

I don't remember Bottle Hill living anywhere near Ithaca, Don, they were Jersey boys. Highwoods certainly did though, also Country Cooking with Peter Wernick. Howie Bursen was at Cornell for 6 years as a student in the 6-yr Ph.D. program. And for yet more banjo there was Ken Perlman.

Subject: RE: BS: Whatever became of Bill Steele
From: DonMeixner
Date: 07 Jan 02 - 10:02 PM

Bill had an album out on Bay Records back in the early, early 70's. Garbage and Other garbage. My favorite cut was "Charlie Chan" a song lamenting the fact that every actor to play Charlie up till that time was of European decent. "Tho he's yellow on the outside, He's always white within, He's the movies top banana, Charlie Chan." I have the album some place in the attic of no return.

Ithaca in the 70's was the home base to many great musicians. Besides Steele, John Roberts and Tony Barrand, Bill Destler, John Miller, Bottle Hill lived near by, Russ Barenberg, Howie Bursen was there often as well. And there were others I have forgotten.

Don

Subject: RE: BS: Whatever became of Bill Steele
From: Jerry Dingleman: The Boy Wonder(inactve)
Date: 07 Jan 02 - 09:30 PM

Bill lives in Ithaca, NY and is still active there locally.

Subject: RE: BS: Whatever became of Bill Steele
From: Jeri
Date: 07 Jan 02 - 09:14 PM

Glen, I remember him too, and have a couple of songs by him in a songbook someplace. (Didn't he write 'Garbage'?) I haven't heard anything of him recently, though.

Subject: RE: BS: Whatever became of Bill Steele
From: 53
Date: 07 Jan 02 - 09:05 PM

you might want to ask banjo bonnie if we ever find her. BOB

Subject: Whatever became of Bill Steele
From: GUEST,glen
Date: 07 Jan 02 - 08:58 PM

I heard Bill often in the 70's but he seems to have left the folk scene...is he still performing and is there any way to reach him?

Glen