William Thomas “Bill” Berry ( born July 31, 1958 , Duluth , Minnesota , USA ) is an American musician and multi-instrumentalist , best known as the drummer of the alternative rock band REM . In addition to his main role as a percussionist , Berry played many other instruments, including guitar , bass and piano , both for composing songs and recordings of the group. After 17 years spent in the group, Berry left the music industry to become a farmer . Since then, he leads a secluded lifestyle, periodically performing with REM and participating in the recordings of other musicians.
| Bill berry Bill berry | |
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 Berry at a concert in 2008 | |
| basic information | |
| Full name | William Thomas Berry |
| Date of Birth | July 31, 1958 (61 years old) |
| Place of Birth | Duluth , Minnesota , USA |
| A country |  USA |
| Professions | Musician , performing artist , farmer |
| Years of activity | 1980 - 1997 |
| Instruments | and |
| Genres | Alternative Rock , College Rock , Jangle Pop |
| Collectives | REM , Hindu Love Gods |
Content
- 1 Biography
- 2 Discography
- 2.1 With the REM group
- 2.2 Without REM musicians
- 2.3 With Peter Buck and Mike Mills
- 2.4 With Peter Buck
- 3 References
Biography
Born in Duluth, Minnesota, Berry was the fifth child in the family of Don and Anna. At the age of three, Berry and his family moved to a suburb of Milwaukee , Wisconsin , where they lived for the next seven years. In 1968, Bill's family moved again, this time to Sandusky , Ohio , on the shores of Lake Erie .
In 1972, the Berry family finally relocated, settling in Macon , Georgia , just at that time, Bill had reached the age to enter Mount de Sales Academy High School. It was there that he met bassist Mike Mills , and together they played in several bands. Their first attempt at a musical career was unsuccessful. In the end, Berry and Mills decided to get a day job to make money. They rented an apartment at Arlington Place in Macon, and Bill got a job at the Paragon ticketing agency in the neighborhood.
Berry and Mills moved to Athens in 1978, where they met Michael Stipe and Peter Buck . There, Berry studied preliminary law at the University of Georgia , but eventually dropped out of school.
Discography
With REM Group
Without REM musicians
| Executor | Title | Year | Amplois | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13111 | My Bible Is the Latest TV Guide / Things I'd Like to Say | 1989 | Solo project | Solo single released by Jefferson Holt 's Dog Gone Records in 1989. The a-side is a Berry original credited to “Stashus Mute”; the b-side is a cover of the New Colony Six song from the 1968 album Revelations . "13111" is a translation of "Bill" into numerals. |
| Bill berry | n / a | December 17, 1997 | Drums | Berry drums with friends at a charity event for Tourette's Syndrome at the Morton Theater. After the show, he auctions off his drum set. |
| Bill berry | Riviera nap | 2000 | Collaboration, drums | Berry and fellow Athenian Davis Causey contributed this song to the Tourette's Syndrome benefit compilation Welcome Companions in the summer of 2000. He also drummed on three tracks by Sherry Joyce . |
| Rick fowler | Back on my good foot | 2008 | Drums | The two previously collaborated on the Tourette Syndrome Charity album. |
| Love tractor | n / a | 1980 | Drums | Bill joined the Tractor for five months and played with them at the same time as REM He ultimately chose the latter because they were willing to quit school to play music. |
| Love tractor | Love tractor | 1982 | Composer | When the Tractor's self-titled debut album was released, it included the Berry composition Motorcade. The album was re-released two years later as' Til the Cows Come Home. |
| Love tractor | The sky at night | 2001 | Percussion | Bill rejoined the line-up as a percussionist during their 2001 reunion album, playing on Bright. |
| Michelle malone | New experience | 1988 | Drums | Plays on Into the Night. |
| Rana | n / a | July 2001 | Producing | Berry produced demos of this New Jersey band, including the songs Day She Went Away, [Love It] Automatic, Not So Mopso, Ring in the Sand, and So Long Edgewood. |
| Widespread panic | n / a | March 1, 2000 - Athens, USA | Drums | Bill sat in with this band for a benefit playing Ride Me High, Drums, Time Is Free, and Climb to Safety. Mike Mills joined the band the following night. |
| Wuogerz | n / a | 1979 | Drums | A band made up of fellow University of Georgia students who were mainly from the campus radio station WUOG. |
With Peter Buck and Mike Mills
| Executor | Title | Year | Amplois | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Frat party band] | n / a | ? | Drums , guitar , bass | Backing up a stripper for an hour at a frat party when the tape deck broke. |
| Hindu love gods | n / a | February 14, 1984 - Athens, USA | Drums , guitar , bass | This ad hoc band formed with local pianist and singer Bryan Cook of Time Toy on a break from REM Their first gig was at the 40 Watt Club. Set: Bangkok; With a Girl Like You; I'm Through with You; Walk, Don't Run; Personality Crisis; Narrator Pipeline; Needles and Pins; California Sun; Government Center; Hippy Hippy Shake ; (I'm Not Your) Steppin 'Stone ; Permanent Vacation Jump Color me impressed |
| Hindu love gods | n / a | February 29, 1984 - Athens, USA | Drums , guitar , bass | Another performance at the 40 Watt, with opening act Wheel O'Cheese (a pseudonym for Love Tractor.) This time the line-up was augmented by Michael Stipe and singer Warren Zevon. Michael played drums on Rebel Rebel and sang from Little America on. Bryan Cook only sang on Gonna Have a Good Time Tonight. Set: Up on the Cross; Boom Boom Mancini; Trouble Waiting to Happen; Werewolves of London ; Gonna Have a Good Time Tonight; Little America; Second Guessing; Gloria Rebel Rebel Wild thing |
| Hindu love gods | n / a | June 1, 1984 - Athens, USA | Drums , guitar , bass | Performance at the Bourbon Street Club. Set: Color Me Impressed; White Light, White Heat; There She Goes Again ; Government Center; Broken Whiskey Glass Little Willie; Authority Song; Personality Crisis; Hang on Sloopy; Gonna have a good time tonight |
| Hindu love gods | Gonna Have a Good Time Tonight / Narrator | 1986 | Drums , guitar , bass | The Hindus went to John Keane Studio in 1984 to record this single. The a-side is an Easybeats cover, the b-side is a Bill Berry original that pre-dates REM IRS released the material two years later with a cover painted by Bill. |
| Hindu love gods | n / a | January 20, 1986 - Athens, USA | Drums , guitar , bass | The band reformed for a benefit concert at the 40 Watt for recently-deceased Minutemen guitarist D. Boon . REM performed a set and were joined in their first encore by Cook; Stipe sat out Gonna Have a Good Time Tonight. Set: Strange; Gonna Have a Good Time Tonight; Pills |
| Hindu love gods | Hindu love gods | 1990 | Drums , guitar , bass | While recording the sessions for Warren Zevon's Sentimental Hygiene album, the guys also cut several blues covers and a Prince cover. The material was released as an album by Warren's label, Giant, in 1990. Tracks: Walking Blues; Traveling Riverside Blues ; Raspberry Beret ; Crosscut Saw ; Junko Partner; Mannish Boy ; Wang Dang Doodle; Battleship chains; I'm a One Woman Man; Vigilante Man. |
| Hindu love gods | Raspberry Beret / Wang Dang Doodle / Mannish Boy | 1990 | Drums , guitar , bass | Single from the self-titled album. Some versions do not have the last track. |
| Indigo girls | Indigo girls | 1990 | Drums , guitar , bass | On the track Tried to Be True. Michael sings on Kid Fears. |
| Southern gentlemen | n / a | May 11, 1988 - Athens, USA | Drums , guitar , bass | The instrumentalists from REM joined Roger McGuinn of The Byrds in the middle of his set at the Uptown Lounge. Set: " You Ain't Goin 'Nowhere "; " Mr. Spaceman "; " The Bells of Rhymney "; " Mr. Tambourine Man "; “ Turn! Turn! Turn! "; " Eight Miles High "; “ Knockin 'on Heaven's Door ”; “ I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better .” McGuinn has guested at several REM shows as well. |
| The spongetones | Torn apart | 1984 | Clapping hands | On the track "Shock Therapy", with Don Dixon and Mitch Easter . |
| Nikki Sudden | The jewel thief | 1991 | Drums , guitar , bass | On the tracks " I Belong to You ", Alley of the Street, and Jigsaw Blues. |
| Nikki Sudden | I Belong to You / Alley of the Street / Jigsaw Blues | 1991 | Drums , guitar , bass | Single from the album. |
| The troggs | Don't You Know / Nowhere Road | February 2, 1992 | Drums , guitar , bass , co-author | Single from Athens, Andover . |
| The troggs | Athens andover | March 23, 1992 | Drums , guitar , bass , co-author | The guys, along with Peter Holsapple , act as a backing band to Reg Presley on this album and co-wrote the track Nowhere Road. Recorded at John Keane Studio in August and September 1991. Tracks: Crazy Annie; Together; Tuned into Love; Déjà Vu; Nowhere Road; Dust Bowl; I'm in Control; Don't You Know; What's Your Game; Suspicious Hot stuff REM briefly considered recording an EP named "The Godlike Genius of the Troggs as Presented by REM ". |
| The troggs | Together / Crazy Annie / Turned into Love | 1992 | Drums , guitar , bass | Single from the album. |
| The troggs | Athens and beyon | 1999 | Drums , guitar , bass | Re-release of Athens, Andover with bonus tracks. |
| Warren Zivon | Sentimental hygiene | 1987 | Drums , guitar , bass , co-author | The was touted as a comeback album for Zevon and featured several guest stars in addition to REM, such as fellow Duluth native Bob Dylan , Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers , and Neil Young . The entire band performs on the song Bad Karma, with Michael singing backup and playing shears as a musical instrument. All three members perform on Boom Boom Mancini ; Detox mansion; Bad Karma; and Even a Dog Can Shake Hands; the latter of which they co-wrote. Peter and Bill play on Sentimental Hygiene and The Heartache. |
| Warren Zivon | Sentimental Hygiene / The Factory / Leave My Monkey Alone | August 1987 | Drums , guitar , bass | Single from the album. Some versions do not have the last track. |
| Warren Zivon | Bad Karma / Boom Boom Mancini / Leave My Monkey Alone | November 1987 | Drums , guitar , bass | Single from the album. Some versions do not have the last track. |
| Warren Zivon | Reconsider Me / The Factory / Bad Karma | February 1988 | Drums , guitar , bass | Single from the album. Some versions do not have the last track. |
| Warren Zivon | Splendid Isolation / Even a Dog Can Shake Hands / Bad Karma / Gridlock | 1989 | Drums , guitar , bass , co-author | Single from the album. Some versions do not have the last two tracks. |
| Warren Zivon | Even a Dog Can Shake Hands | 1999 | Drums , guitar , bass , co-author | Used as the theme song to the television series Action . |
With Peter Buck
| Executor | Title | Year | Amplois | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doubting thomas | Blue angel | 1993 | Drums , guitar | On one track. |
| Tony trischka | World turning | 1993 | Bouzouki , percussion | On Alfa Ya Ya and If Animals Could Talk. |