Bill Harris (guitarist)


Bill Harris was an American acoustic guitarist who played in R&B and jazz idioms.
Harris studied guitar in Washington, D.C. at the Columbia School of Music and in 1950 began playing with the R&B vocal group The Clovers. He remained with the group through 1958, playing on many of their most successful hit records. During this time he also recorded on his own as a jazz musician, including two LPs for EmArcy Records in 1956-1957. He played in the DC area through the 1960s and 70s and also taught music, publishing several books on guitar technique. He was awarded a compositional fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1972; for much of 1972-1973 Harris played in France. After returning to the US, Harris began managing his own jazz club, Pigfoot, in DC, but the club was repossessed by the Internal Revenue Service in 1981 due to back taxes. Harris worked as an impresario late in life, organizing and presenting concerts in a variety of genres.

Discography