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Bill Cantrell

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A.k.a. William E. Cantrell

Mar. 19, 1921 - Mar. 7, 2000. Sun musician, songwriter and co-founder, producer and Chief Engineer of Hi Recording Corporation. Mr. Cantrell had a long, largely behind-the-scenes role in Memphis music. He played fiddle in the mid-'40s for the Blue Seal Pals, inductees in the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, playing broadcasts on WSM Radio and live shows with Cowboy Copas and Opry comedians Minnie Pearl and Rod Brasfield. Later, Cantrell moved to Memphis , where he teamed with his Blue Seal Pals partner, guitarist Quinton Claunch to write "Daydreamin'", a regional 1954 hit on Meteor for Bud Deckelman that was also covered by Cajun country artist Jimmy C. Newman and Wanda Jackson. Based on the song's success, Mr. Cantrell and Claunch were hired by Sun Records owner Sam Phillips. Perhaps the team's greatest moment at Sun was writing and playing on "I've Been Deceived", Charlie Feathers's 1955 debut for Sun subsidiary Flip Records. Another Sun side that Cantrell and Claunch co-wrote was Sure to Fall, a Carl Perkins number later covered by the Beatles and, in 1981, Ringo Starr. In 1957, Mr. Cantrell co-founded Hi Records - future home of soul legend Al Green - with Claunch and Sun singer Ray Harris. For his musical accomplishments, Cantrell earned a Memphis Music Pioneer Award.

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