Lives in Music: Roy Williams - from an extraordinary 70s club to making extraordinary things happen

Photo credit: Suzy Gallier

Another great audio trip down the memory lane of West Midlands music heritage with Robin Valk. In this edition of Lives in Music Robin chats to Roy Williams, an understated music icon from Sedgley in the Black Country. A co-founder of the legendary JBs live music venue in Dudley, the associations are fascinating. Little Acre, Chicken Shack, UB40, Dexys, Weapon of Peace, teenage mates with Robert Plant, getting close with Van the Man, The Cure, Seasick Steve, Roland Gift, The Alternative Dubstep Orchestra, poet Liz Berry ....the list of associations is pretty damned comprehensive. Mixing, managing, networking... 

Robin introduces the podcast:   

In this edition I'm talking with an extraordinary, super-capable, veteran music pro from the Black Country of the UK, who has, quietly, had a massive influence on music making in this neck of the woods and far, far beyond. Roy was one of the team that launched the legendary JBs in Dudley, where anybody who was anybody simply had to play. Then he went on to managing, sound mixing, often for a lifetime friend, Robert Plant. and just doing an awful lot for an awful lot of people, simply because it was the right thing to do. But it's the sidelines that make this conversation so interesting - the by ways, the diversions, and the way he frequently drops hints and prompts about interesting music areas. And, of course, the stories.

To learn more about the music, or the musicians mentioned in this podcast, head to the companion blog post. 'A Life in Music: Roy Williams', which you can find at www.radiotogo.com. Everything that Roy touches on is linked there so you can explore to your hearts content.

The Lives in Music series celebrates people who have spent a lifetime in music. They may be famous; they may be people who have spent their lives working in the background for the love of it. They all have stories. Lives in Music is a Radio To Go production.

The intro and outro music in this series comes from the great bass player Mike Hatton, who you can hear interviewed in series 1, here. 'Everything Changes' is included in his excellent 2019 album 'Bassic Salvation'. 

Listen to the podcast here