Biography
Billy Vera, born William McCord on 28 May 1944 in Riverside, California, assembled Billy And The Beaters in 1979 as a ten-piece ensemble of Los Angeles session players. Songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Vera anchored the lineup, whose most prominent sideman apart from himself was Steely Dan/Doobie Brothers guitarist Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter; the roster also featured, at different points, keyboardist Barry Beckett, drummers Gene Chrisman and Beau Segal, bass player Tommy Cogbill, guitarists Pete Carr and Jimmy Johnson, pianists Jim Ehinger, plus saxophonists Ron Viola, Lon Price and Jerry Peterson. The musicians first convened for a single engagement at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, then formalized the band afterward and honed their set across a six-week residency at the same venue, where the dramatic showpiece “Here Comes The Dawn Again” highlighted an incisive saxophone break. Alfa Records, an independent label, signed the group in 1981, capturing their stage performance on a live album taped at the Roxy in Los Angeles. The resulting singles “I Can Take Care Of Myself” and “At This Moment” each achieved modest chart placement, yet the latter track resurfaced in 1986 through its prominent placement in the television series Family Ties, ultimately selling a million copies and topping the U.S. charts. Since that period Vera has earned recognition as a skilled songwriter and producer while also curating reissues of vintage soul and R&B recordings.