Born on 29 April 1929 in Kansas City, Kansas, Billy Mize spent his formative years in California’s San Joaquin Valley. He began on ordinary guitar during childhood yet switched to steel guitar after receiving one on his eighteenth birthday. Early admiration for Bob Wills shaped his approach; once settled in Bakersfield he assembled his own band for regular engagements at local nightspots and simultaneously served as a disc jockey at KPMC. A 1953 appearance on The Cousin Herb Trading Post Show over KERO-TV Bakersfield earned him the enduring nickname Billy The Kid, after which he remained a fixture on the program for thirteen years and eventually took on hosting duties. While maintaining those commitments he also joined the Hank Penny Show on Los Angeles television beginning in 1955. His growing popularity allowed him, for several years starting in 1957, to appear weekly on seven different Los Angeles stations, among them Town Hall Party, without neglecting his Bakersfield obligations.
A natural television presence, Mize hosted and sang on Gene Autry’s Melody Ranch network program on KTLA during 1966 and 1967, while simultaneously launching his own syndicated series, The Billy Mize Show, from Bakersfield. His recording career began with Decca in the 1950s, continued on Challenge and Liberty, and reached the U.S. country charts in 1966 via Columbia’s “You Can’t Stop Me.” Between 1966 and 1977 he placed eleven singles on those charts, among them his own “Make It Rain.” Other artists scored successes with his material, notably Charlie Walker with “Who Will Buy The Wine,” Johnny Sea with “My Baby Walks All Over Me,” and Dean Martin with “Don’t Let The Blues Make You Bad.” Throughout the 1960s and 1970s he sustained a demanding itinerary that included appearances in the series RFD Hollywood; later he established his own production company and worked as a session musician, contributing steel and rhythm guitar to numerous Merle Haggard recordings.
Billy’s younger brother Buddy, born 5 August 1936 in Wichita, Kansas, became a respected country songwriter, producer, and radio personality after also moving to Bakersfield; his compositions found their way to Buck Owens, Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins, Hank Snow, and many others. In the early 1980s the brothers collaborated on several television ventures. Billy continues to operate Billy Mize Productions, creating television specials with Haggard. A stroke in the mid-1990s left him temporarily sidelined, yet he recovered; in 2001 he received induction into the Pioneers of Western Swing.
