Shadow -

Shadow was an American soul-funk trio from Ohio that made the 1979–81 Elektra albums Love Lite, Shadow, and Shadows in the Streets. The members hailed from the Mercury-era lineup of the Ohio Players.

Members: Billy Beck (grand piano, fender rhodes), James Williams (drums), Clarence Willis (lead guitar, bass)

Background

Shadow formed in Ohio in 1979 as an Ohio Players side project with drummer–singer James “Diamond” Williams, keyboardist–singer Billy Beck, and guitarist–singer Clarence “Chet” Willis.

Williams grew up in Dayton with a reed-playing mother and a drummer–singer father. He took twelve years of private drum lessons and played in all-city ensembles and his high-school marching band, then studied music at Kentucky State and Miami University. The Ohio Players recruited Williams after a weekend substitution for drummer Greg Webster. He debuted on their 1973 Westbound release Ecstasy.

Beck grew up in Youngstown and began piano at age four in church. George Bretz of the Dana School of Music gave Beck classical piano lessons. Beck won an Ohio Players place through a weekend audition after Junie Morrison left for a solo career. He first appeared on their 1974 release Skin Tight, the Players’ fifth proper album and first on Mercury.

Willis was born June 7, 1950, in Shreveport and graduated from the University of Dayton in 1972 with a B.S. in art education. He played guitar with the Gospelteers and the Majestics, which became Overnite Low. His Ohio Players stint commenced with their 1977 ninth album, Angel.

The three musicians co-wrote songs and recorded together across the late-Seventies Ohio Players albums. Shadow concealed the lineup through a deliberately obscure public identity under Elektra. Williams, Beck, and Willis shared production credit with Don Mizell on the six-song Love Lite sessions for Elektra.

Discography: