William C. Barber, Sr.

William C. Barber was a journeyman pianist, saxophonist, and songwriter whose son, Billy Barber, is better-known, or at least developed a much larger audience, for composing the theme to the popular soap opera All My Children. As for father Barber, he was married to a pianist and singer and seems to have had a wide range of interests as a musician. In the late '50s and early '60s, he hung out some on the popular folk coffeehouse circuit, frequenting Los Angeles dives such as the self-explanatory Rinky Dink. He made contacts there such as guitarist and bandleader Dick Dale, who would later be associated with the surf music scene. Barber went on to become an original member of Dick Dale & the Deltones, along with drummer Jack Lake. Barber also had an interest in jazz and had some connections with the genre, despite being listed as pianist on only one recording session in the Tom Lord Jazz Discography; his son, on the other hand, has dozens of listings. The father was a member of Percy Hughes' Echoes of Ellington band and was a co-founder of the Twin Cities Jazz Society. Billy Barber and bandmates in the Grammy-nominated band Flim & the BB's created a delightful track entitled "Fathers and Sons." Two generations of Barber keyboardists hold forth in this band, along with fathers and sons Cliff and Flim Johnson and Jack and Dick Oatts. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide