Milan Williams
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Milan B. Williams(March 28, 1948 – July 9, 2006)[1]was an Americankeyboardistand a founding member ofThe Commodores.[2]
He was born inOkolona, Mississippi,[1]and began playing the piano after being inspired by his older brother Earl, who was a multi-instrumentalist. Williams's first band was called The Jays. After they disbanded, he met the other founding members of the Commodores in 1967. They werefreshmenatTuskegee Institute,Alabamaand Williams was recruited into the newly formed band. In 1969 he traveled with the band toNew York City,where they recorded a single called "Keep on Dancing" onAtlantic Records.
Williams also wrote the Commodores' firsthitrecord,theinstrumentaltrack "Machine Gun".Other Commodores songs penned by him are:" The Bump "," Rapid Fire "," I'm Ready "," Better Never Than Forever "," Mary Mary "," Quick Draw "," Patch It Up "," X-Rated Movie "," Wonderland "," Old-Fashion Love "," Only You "(a track Williams also produced, taken from the Commodores firstLPwithoutLionel Richie,Commodores 13), "You Don't Know That I Know","Let's Get Started "and"Brick House".
While on his way to a concert in 1980 Williams crash-landed his single-engine plane on a freeway inPhoenix, Arizonaafter it developed engine troubles. He and The Commodores' press agent, Lester Mornay, escaped injury, jumping from the plane before it burst into flames.[3]He left the Commodores in 1989, allegedly after refusing to perform with them inSouth Africa.[citation needed]
Williams died of cancer at MD Anderson Hospital,Houston, Texas,on July 9, 2006, aged 58.[4]His interment was at Zion Spring Cemetery in his hometown of Okolona.
His nephew Kebbi Williams is an experimental/free jazzsaxophonistin Atlanta.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ab"Milan B. Williams Obituary".Los Angeles Times.August 3, 2006.RetrievedAugust 23,2022.
- ^Ken Kelley (February 20, 1978)."The Commodores of Tuskegee Sail on a Golden Sea of Hits".People.RetrievedFebruary 11,2016.
Drummer Walter "Clyde" Orange and lead guitarist Tommy McClary come from Florida, while keyboard player Milan Williams is a Mississippian.
- ^"CRASH LANDING".Upi.com.RetrievedDecember 3,2017.
- ^"Commodores Member Milan Williams Dies".Billboard.July 10, 2006.RetrievedFebruary 11,2016.
- ^"Kebbi Williams and The Wolfpack – Atlanta Jazz Festival".atljazzfest.com.Archivedfrom the original on March 24, 2023.RetrievedSeptember 27,2023.
External links
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- 1948 births
- 2006 deaths
- People from Okolona, Mississippi
- Musicians from Texas
- Deaths from cancer in Texas
- Commodores members
- American funk keyboardists
- American soul keyboardists
- American rhythm and blues keyboardists
- 20th-century American musicians
- Songwriters from Mississippi
- African-American songwriters
- American keyboardist stubs