Bill Pursell

Bill Pursell, a pianist native to California, briefly flourished as a pop composer in the 1960s after landing a Top Ten hit with the 1963 release "Our Winter Love." He began formal training in music composition in Baltimore, then served in the U.S. Air Force through World War II, where he created arrangements for the military band. After the conflict he resumed his studies, and in 1953 the symphonic poem "Christ Looking Over Jerusalem" earned him the first Edward B. Benjamin Prize ever awarded. Toward the end of the 1950s he moved to Nashville, taking teaching posts at Tennessee State and Vanderbilt Universities while performing with the Nashville Symphony. Beyond classical settings, he worked extensively as a session pianist for pop and country acts and secured his own recording contract with Columbia in 1962. His debut album, Our Winter Love, proved an unexpected commercial hit when the title track climbed to number nine on Billboard's Hot 100 and the LP itself reached number 15. Written in an instrumental adult contemporary pop style, the record carried arrangements by Bill Justis and was conducted by Grady Martin. Although comparable solo success never returned, Pursell remained active through much of the 1960s, playing and arranging behind Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins, Willie Nelson, Joan Baez, and numerous others. Once his pop period ended he composed for television and maintained his commitment to education by joining the faculty at Belmont University. In 1985 the Tennessee Music Teachers Association named him Composer of the Year, and a decade later he completed his D.M.A. at the Eastman School of Music. Bill Pursell died in Nashville, Tennessee, on September 5, 2020, at age 94, from pneumonia and complications related to the COVID-19 virus.