Eddie Wilbur "Billy" Rich (born April 7, 1949) is an American electric bassist and blues musician.
Billy's brother, Herbie Rich, was one of the original members of Electric Flag and also worked with Jimi Hendrix.
Billy said that his father was influenced by Sonny Boy Williamson I and Lightnin’ Hopkins, and loved the song "Stone Fox Chase".
His brother Herbie, Buddy Miles and Stemsey Hunter (all from Omaha) were playing in Electric Flag in San Francisco at that time.
[1] Rich wrote the song "69 Freedom Special" for The Buddy Miles Express (on the album Electric Church), and Hendrix produced it.
[1] With Taj Mahal, Rich has toured Europe, South America, Africa, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the Fiji Islands.
As a session musician, Rich has had the opportunity to play different styles of music, including reggae, blues, country, R&B, jazz, rock, samba, pop and bluegrass.
In 1993, Rich played violin for Christian Contemporary Music artist, Daniel W Merrick, on his album, Aliyah, which helped inspire the singer-songwriter to release country songs in 2021 produced by Randy Green of AudioTraxWest Recording Studios in Portville, New York.