Billie Pierce
Through the '60s and '70s, this pianist and vocalist's far-flung touring activities in the Preservation Hall Jazz Band alongside her husband, trumpeter De De Pierce, made her one of the most widely heard performers in the history of New Orleans jazz. An examination of her family background also indicates that perhaps she was one of the most stubborn: despite the fact that both her parents as well as a total of seven sisters also played piano, the performer who came to be known as Billie Pierce insisted on teaching the keyboard to herself. She was born Wilhelmina Goodson, the surname something of a rallying cry for classic blues piano in the heyday of the Gulf Coast's Roaring Twenties music scene.
As Billie Goodson, this performer tickled the piano keys for classic blues empress Bessie Smith at a theater in Pensacola in the early part of that decade, and also worked in the bands of Alphonse Picou, Emile Barnes, and George Lewis. There was also Ida Goodson, who spent most of her life playing piano in the Pensacola area, and Sadie Goodson, who like her sister Billie moved on to the livelier action of New Orleans. The sisters often played in so-called honky tonks, of which Preservation Hall became most famous, inspiring a combo that has remained a supreme ambassador of the historic New Orleans small combo sound. It was a venue called the Blue Jay Club that was of most importance to Goodson and Pierce alike, however. This was where trumpeter and vocalist De De Pierce met Billie Goodson in the mid '30s -- they fell in love and started a group together, which became the house band at Luthjen's Dance Hall, the site of some excellent live recording activity in the '50s. This artist should not be confused with the reed player Billy Pierce, who began recording in the '70s.
© Eugene Chadbourne /TiVo
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Discography
10 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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De De Pierce with Billie Pierce in Binghamton, NY Vol. Two
Jazz - Released by American Music on 9 dec. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Billie & Dede Pierce and Paul Barbarin with Chris Barber's Jazz Band 1960
Billie Pierce, DeDe Pierce, Paul Barbarin
Jazz - Released by GHB on 16 feb. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tin Roof Blues
Billie Pierce, Dee Dee Pierce, Kid Thomas Valentine
Blues - Released by MVE on 30 okt. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
De De Pierce and His New Orleans Band 1963 / Billie & De De Pierce 1960
De De Pierce and His New Orleans Band
Jazz - Released by American Music on 25 nov. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Billie & Dede Pierce 'Live' at Luthjen's 1953 (Live)
Jazz - Released by 504 on 1 jan. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Billie & Dee Dee Pierce with Kid Thomas Valentine - 1960
Jazz - Released by 504 on 1 jan. 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
De De Pierce with Billie Pierce
Jazz - Released by American Music on 9 dec. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dance Hall Days, Vol. 2
Israel Gorman, Billie Pierce, De De Pierce
Jazz - Released by American Music on 24 jan. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Billie & Dee Dee Pierce with Kid Thomas Valentine - 1960 (Live)
Jazz - Released by 504 on 1 jan. 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo