William Bruce "Bill" Connell

William "Bill" Bruce Connell, born on Sept. 18, 1948, passed away on March 31 of this year. He was predeceased by his parents, Albert B. Connell and Jeanne M. Connell and is survived by his two sons, Braxton Finlay Connell and Nathan William Connell, and by his brother, Terry D. Connell. Bill was an avid musician throughout his life, beginning to learn the drums at the age of 12. During high school, he was the drummer in a number of local bands and, at age 17 after graduation from high school, traveled to New York City to join Duane and Gregg Allman in their band called The Allman Joys, the precursor to the Allman Brother's Band. Unfortunately, his tenure with the Allman Joys was interrupted by the Vietnam War. To serve his country, Bill joined the Navy and served as a yeoman and flight deck armorer on the aircraft carrier USS Kennedy.
After an honorable discharge from the Navy, Bill played with several local bands and subsequently drummed for Sailcat, which had a hit single titled "Motorcycle Mama". As a result of this hit song, Sailcat appeared at Carnegie Hall and American Bandstand and played in concerts with David Bowie, The Guess Who, Foghat, Deep Purple, Bad Company, and other top artists.
Not satisfied solely with performing, Bill also started two successful music publishing companies, which later published songs that were recorded by Roy Orbison, Glen Campbell, Wet Willie, Eddie Hinton and other artists in the United States, Canada, and abroad.
In 1979, Bill graduated from The University of Alabama majoring in Broadcasting and Film, which was funded by the GI Bill. Subsequently, he was hired by The Center for Public Television where he was ultimately promoted to Producer/Director. In that position, Bill produced a number of highly regarded television shows.
Over the past 10 years, Bill worked diligently to write a book to detail his life as a musician. A number of his friends, including Chuck Leavell and Fred Styles, helped Bill recreated on paper the trials and tribulations of a musician's life 'on the road' and described his musical interactions with a number of outstanding musicians and singers. This book, tentatively titled "Inside the Southern Music Mecca", will be published in the fall of 2023 by Mercer University Press.
Bill will be deeply missed by all of those individuals who had the opportunity to know him and to call him a friend. May he rest in peace and with the satisfaction of a creative life that was well lived. Services will be held at 2:00pm on Wed, April 12, at Tuscaloosa Memorial Chapel with military honors to follow at Tuscaloosa Memorial Park.