Bill Yates

Bill Yates belonged to the final wave of Sun recording artists, the acts that comprised the very last singles released by Sam Phillips' legendary label in the early '60s. Memphis-based Yates was a piano player and a soulful singer, so it's not surprising that his closest antecedent was Charlie Rich, who left Sun not long before Yates signed. None of Yates' singles were hits but he did wind up with some of the better singles Sun released during this closing act. He finally received a long-overdue retrospective in 2013, when Bear Family Records released Blues Like Midnight: The Sun Years, Plus. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine