Photo by Bob Minkin (c)2007
Press Release - January 1, 2008
The eBay auction to help raise funds for Bill Laymon’s medical expenses is over. He has been struggling with Typhus, Bladder Cancer, and other complications for several years.
I would like to say thank you to everyone who helped with the recent eBay auction. I would especially like to thank Anderson Page and all the folks at Modulus Guitar Company for donating the brand new Vintage J bass guitar for the auction. I would, of course, like to thank all the wonderful bass players who went out of their way to sign the instrument and help Billy.
Players who signed the bass were:
Stanley Clark, Phil Lesh, Jack Casady, Carol Kaye, Charlie Haden, Bill Laymon, Kathy Peck, Alphonso Johnson, Pete Sears, Bobby Vega, David Hayes, Larry Graham, Victor Wooten, Robin Sylvester, and Peter Albin.
And a very special thanks to Kathy Peck, and Dave Denny, from the amazing H.E.A.R. Foundation, for overseeing the eBay auction process through their 501 C3 non-profit umbrella. www.hearnet.com
Bill and the rest of us give special thanks to James Taylor Jones, and Fran Harris for putting in the winning bid.
As James and Fran came by my house in San Rafael to pick-up the bass guitar, they were also able to donate the $150 shipping fee to Billy.
Anyone wishing to donate money to help with Bill’s considerable medical expenses please go to:
www.hearnet.com/auction
When Billy became sick, he didn’t have any form of medical insurance, so his friends in the musical community came to his aid by holding benefits at the Firefighters Postal Club, in Springfield, IL, and Don Quixote’s near Santa Cruz California. Many musicians turned out to help, including Lacy J. Dalton, Tyran Porter, Jim Lewin, Jimmy Jackson, Jim Norris, Tom Irwin, the Groove Daddy’s, and the Helton Brothers. At Don Quixote’s, Billy felt strong enough to sit in and perform with several of the acts, and even closed the evening by leading a set with his old band mates, the “Gypsy Cowboy Band” joined by Lacy J. Dalton, Mary McCaslin, Ginny Mitchell, Larry Hosford, and me and Barry Sless. David Nelson and band mates, Barry Sless, Mookie Segal, John Molo and me, with production help from Mark Keys, later held a benefit for Billy on November 18th. The show was held at the Throckmorton Theatre in Mill Valley, California, and came at the end of our Northern California tour. Bill was able to play a fine set of songs that he used to sing with the original David Nelson Band.