Will Oldham


 * (This page covers the career of Will Oldham, including work as Bonnie 'Prince' Billy and variations of the Palace name such as Palace Brothers and Palace Music.)



Will Oldham (born January 15, 1970), better known by the stage name Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded under variations of the Palace name, including the Palace Brothers, Palace Songs, and Palace Music. After releasing material under his own name, he adopted the "Bonnie 'Prince' Billy" moniker for the majority of his output since 1998.

Oldham is known for his "do-it-yourself punk aesthetic and blunt honesty," and his music has been likened to Americana, folk, roots, country, punk, and indie rock. He has been called an "Appalachian post-punk solipsist", with a voice that has been described as "a fragile sort-of warble frittering around haunted melodies in the American folk or country tradition." (Read more at Wikipedia.)

Links to Peel
Peel was a keen follower of Will Oldham’s work for over a decade across a wide array of performing names, after quickly picking up on the debut Palace Brothers single, ‘Ohio River Boat Song’, which reached #9 in the 1993 Festive Fifty. In The Festive Fifty (first edition, Nevin Publishing, 2005, pg 39) Dandelion Radio DJ Mark Whitby writes of the track:



"“The first experience for many of us of the stunning talent that is Will Oldham came through this gorgeous country ballad that takes a classic formula but deals with it in such sensitivity and pathos that it transcends any easy categories. The voice of Oldham would appear in the Festive Fifty again, though shamefully infrequently, as he constructed a fascinating existence in music treading a path between the traditional and the idiosyncratic.”"

There were seven Peel sessions between 1993 and 2002, including a live set recorded at the DJ’s 60th birthday party in 1999. In 2016, the Pond Scum collection featured material from three of them, spanning a period of eight years. In an interview, Oldham recalled the process of recording the sessions for Peel:

"“It’s affirming to have that experience. It’s like how I approach recording sessions in general. You put the work in before the studio because you want the record to sound kind of magical. The only way you can stand behind that magic is that if you did something magical instead of meticulously trying to recreate magic.”"

For casual listeners, Oldham's best-known song probably remains 'I See A Darkness', which reached #23 in the 1999 Festive Fifty and was also notably covered by Johnny Cash (with Oldham on backing vocals ). While there is no evidence that Peel played the reworking by Cash on his show, the DJ did give airtime to Oldham's own cover versions of old favourites by PJ Harvey, Kevin Coyne and Prince, among others. The Bonnie 'Blue' Billy version of 'Little Boy Blue' (originally by Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland) was voted #46 in the 2000 Festive Fifty.

In 2012, four Oldham LPs were found, under the Palace Brothers and Palace Music monikers, when details of Peel's record collection were first released by TheSpace and John Peel Archive websites (see Record Collection: P).

Festive Fifty Entries

 * Palace Brothers
 * 1993 Festive Fifty: Ohio River Boat Song #9
 * Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
 * 1999 Festive Fifty: I See A Darkness #23
 * 2000 Festive Fifty: Little Boy Blue #46

Sessions
Seven sessions in total under various names, listed below in chronological order. In The Peel Sessions, Ken Garner lists #1, #2, #3, #7 under Palace Brothers and #4, #5, #6 under Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, while noting name variations for #3 and #7. #4 was selected for inclusion in the Peel Sessions: The Best 125. Official releases:

- From #1, ‘Blue Eyes’ released (as ‘Little Blue Eyes’) on the Drag City / Domino compilation 2xLP / CD Lost Blues And Other Songs.

- From #3, “Call Me A Liar” is available on the Domino / Drag City release – Guarapero (Lost Blues 2).

- Sessions #2, #6, #7 on Pond Scum. LP, CD, cassette, digital: 2016 (Drag City CD646).

1. Recorded 1993-11-04. Broadcast 27 November 1993 (JP: “A session I’ve been looking forward to for several months.) (JP: ‘Will Oldham writes the songs. He has this gift of making them all sound as though they were all set to Southern Baptist hymn tunes.’) 2. Recorded 1994-06-05. Broadcast 29 July 1994.
 * Palace Brothers
 * Blue Eyes / Paula / Goodnight Moon / Water
 * The Houseboat / Trudy Dies / The Cross / The Idol On The Bar / Stable Will

3. Recorded 1995-06-11. Broadcast 07 July 1995.
 * Palace Music
 * I Am A Cinematographer / West Palm Beach / O How I Enjoy The Light / O Lord Are You In Need

4. Recorded 1999-02-02. Broadcast 16 March 1999. Repeated 08 July 1999.
 * Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
 * I Send My Love To You / Another Day Full Of Dread / Stablemate / O Let It Be / What’s Wrong With A Zoo

5. Recorded live at Peel’s 60th birthday party, 1999-08-31. Broadcast 01 September 1999.
 * Dream Of The Sea / Sweeter Than Anything / One With The Birds / Arise, Therefore

6. Recorded 2001-01-28. First broadcast 15 February 2001. Repeated 05 April 2001.
 * When Die Song / Jolly One / Rich Wife Full Of Happiness / Beezle

7. Recorded 2002-04-24. Broadcast 08 August 2002.
 * Will Oldham
 * Jolly Five / Arise Therefore / Death To Everyone / (I Was Drunk At The) Pulpit

Other Shows Played
(Listing below is chronological, by first play under artist name, and compiled only from the database of this site and Lorcan's Tracklistings Archive. Please add more information if known.)

- King Me (CD-There Is No-One What Will Take Care Of You) Big Cat UK
 * Palace Brothers
 * 26 March 1993: The Ohio Boat Song (Ohio River Boat Song / Drinking Woman) Drag City
 * 10 April 1993 (BFBS): Ohio River Boat Song (7") Drag City
 * 18 June 1993: I Tried To Stay Healthy For You (LP – There Is No-One What Will Take Care Of You) Big Cat
 * 19 June 1993: The Cellar Song (CD – There Is No-One That Will Take Care Of You) Big Cat
 * 19 June 1993 (BFBS): O Lord Are You In Need? (album - There Is No-One What Will Take Care Of You) Big Cat
 * 25 June 1993: There Is No-One What Will Take Care Of You (CD – There Is No-One What Will Take Care Of You) Big Cat
 * 26 June 1993 (BFBS): (JP: “The tradition is that you always start a radio programme with something jolly, we're going to go in the other direction, this week at least. These are the Palace Brothers:”)
 * 03 July 1993 (BFBS): I Had A Good Mother And Father (album - There Is No-One What Will Take Care Of You) Big Cat
 * 16 July 1993: Idle Hands Are The Devil's Playthings (LP - There Is No One What Will Take Care Of You) Big Cat
 * 17 July 1993: I Try To Stay Healthy For You (CD - There Is No-One What Will Take Care Of You) Big Cat
 * 29 October 1993: I Tried To Stay Healthy For You (CD - There Is No-One What Will Take Care Of You) Big Cat
 * 06 November 1993 (BFBS): I Tried To Stay Healthy For You (album - There Is No-One What Will Take Care Of You) Big Cat
 * 25 December 1993: Ohio River Boat Song (7 inch) Drag City FF#9 (JP: 'Still livid about the fact that I never got to see them when they were over here.')
 * 18 February 1994: Come In (7 inch) Drag City
 * 26 February 1994 (BFBS): Come In (7") Drag City
 * 12 March 1994: Come In (7-inch single) Drag City
 * 27 May 1994: Come In (12 inch – An Arrow Through The Bitch) Domino
 * 04 June 1994 (BBC World Service): Come In (12" - An Arrow Through The Bitch) Domino
 * 18 June 1994 (BFBS): Come In (12" - An Arrow Through The Bitch) Domino
 * 12 August 1994: Come A Little Dog (LP – Palace Brothers) Domino
 * 20 August 1994: Pushkin (CD-Palace Brothers) Domino
 * 20 August 1994 (BFBS): You Will Miss Me When I Burn (album - Palace Brothers) Domino
 * 27 August 1994 (BFBS): Come A Little Dog (album - Palace Brothers) Domino
 * 03 September 1994: You Will Miss Me When I Burn (LP: Palace Brothers) Domino (JP: "Did you notice the line in there, "there are wolves here"? I hadn't spotted that before. That's spooky." Peel had just been talking about former Wolves captain Billy Wright, who died the day before.)
 * 03 September 1994 (BFBS): Pushkin (album - Palace Brothers) Domino WIGLP 14
 * 09 September 1994: I Send My Love To You (album - Palace Brothers) Domino
 * 10 September 1994: Meaulnes (LP - Palace Brothers) Domino
 * 16 September 1994: All Is Grace (CD - Palace Brothers) Domino
 * 23 September 1994: Wither Thou Goest (CD: Palace Brothers) Domino
 * 24 September 1994: I Am A Cinematographer (LP-Palace Brothers) Domino
 * 24 September 1994 (BFBS): All Is Grace (album - Palace Brothers) Domino
 * 30 September 1994 (BFBS): Whither Thou Goest (LP-Palace Brothers) Domino
 * 12 November 1994: For The Mekons Et Al (Various Artists CD - Hey Drag City ) Domino
 * 19 November 1994 (BFBS): For The Mekons Et Al (Compilation CD-Hey Drag City) Domino
 * 05 May 1995: More Brother Rides (12": More Brother Rides) white label
 * 11 March 2004: You Will Miss Me When I Burn (LP - Palace Brothers) Domino (Broken Family Band are in session on the next programme (16 March 2004). For it they have recorded a cover of the Palace Brothers "I Send My Love To You". Attempting to play the original, Peel plays the wrong track ("You Will Miss Me When I Burn") by mistake.)


 * Palace Songs
 * 10 December 1994: Winter Lady (12 inch – Hope ) Domino
 * 30 December 1994: Untitled (12 inch – Hope) Domino
 * 26 May 1995: Marriage (7 inch - O How I Enjoy The Light) Palace
 * 03 June 1995 (BFBS): Marriage (7"-O How I Enjoy The Light) Drag City/Palace


 * Palace Music
 * 03 June 1995: More Brother Rides (LP-Viva Last Blues)' (Domino Recording Company) (JP: 'I think they should have stuck with Palace Brothers, I have to say, because Palace Brothers sounds kind of interesting, and also sounds like them. Palace does sound like some Eastern European metal band of very little interest, but it's up to them, if that's what they want to call themselves.')
 * 12 August 1995: New Partner (LP - Viva Last Blues) Domino
 * 18 August 1995: Viva Ultra (LP-Viva Last Blues) Domino
 * 26 August 1995 (BFBS): The Brute Choir (CD-Viva Last Blues) Domino
 * 01 September 1995: Work Hard/Play Hard (LP-Viva Last Blues) Domino
 * 30 September 1995: Old Jerusalem (LP-Viva Last Blues) Domino
 * 05 May 1996: No Gold Digger (LP - Arise Therefore) Domino
 * 26 May 1996: A Group Of Women (LP – Arise Therefore) Domino
 * 01 June 1996 (BFBS): A Group Of Women (CD-Arise Therefore) Domino
 * 18 February 1997: The Spider’s Dude Is Often There (7 inch – Little Blue Eyes)’ Drag City
 * 27 March 1997: Little Blue Eyes (7 inch) Drag City


 * Palace
 * 01 June 1996: Black / Rich Tune (v/a album - Succour (The Terrascope Benefit Album)) Ptolemaic
 * 31 August 1996 (vs Ice): More Brother Dub (v/a album - Organised Sound) Jazz Fudge


 * Will Oldham
 * 17 April 1997: Patience (7")' Drag City
 * 24 April 1997 (BFBS): Patience (7") Palace
 * 21 October 1997: Jump In Jump In, Come In Come In (CD: Western Music) Acuarela
 * 23 October 1997 (BFBS): Jump In Jump In, Come In Come In (CDS-Western Music) Acuarela Discos
 * 04 November 1997: Always Bathing In The Evening (CD EP - Western Music) Acuarela Discos / Ovni Records
 * 04 December 1997 (BFBS): Jump In Jump In, Come In Come In (CDS) Acuarela Discos / Ovni
 * 11 December 1997 (BFBS): Jump In Jump In, Come In Come In (CDS) Acuarela Discos / Ovni (repeated show from previous week)
 * 18 August 1998: Apocalypse, No! (Compilation LP - Sounds Of The New West) Uncut
 * 30 November 1999: Jump In, Jump In, Come In, Come In (EP: Western Music) Acuarela Discos
 * 03 January 2000 (BFBS): O Lord Are You In Need? (CD-Guarapero (Lost Blues 2) Domino
 * 04 January 2000: Boy, Have You Cum (CD-Guarapero (Lost Blues 2)) Domino
 * 09 January 2000 (BFBS): Patience (CD-Guarapero (Lost Blues 2)) Domino (JP: 'All I can do is apologise for the use of the eight-letter word "coupling" in the course of that song.')
 * 13 January 2000 (Radio Eins): Take However Long You Want
 * 27 January 2000: Patience (CD-Guarapero (Lost Blues 2)) Domino
 * 02 February 2000: Patience (CD-Guarapero (Lost Blues 2)) Domino
 * 10 December 2002: Barcelona (b/w We All, Us Three, Will Ride 7") Isota
 * 12 December 2002: We All, Us Three, Will Ride (7") Isota
 * 19 December 2002: Lessons From What's Poor (LP - Master And Everyone) Domino


 * Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
 * 22 October 1998: No Such As What I Want (7”) All City
 * 19 November 1998: One With The Birds (EP: Blue Lotus Feet) Domino
 * 29 December 1998: One With The Birds (EP-Blue Lotus Feet) Domino (JP: 'Let's have that LP, Domino! Get your act together!')
 * 13 January 1999: A Minor Place (CD - I See A Darkness) Domino
 * 21 January 1999: Another Day Full Of Dread (LP: I See A Darkness) Domino
 * 27 January 1999: Death To Everyone (LP: I See A Darkness) Domino
 * 02 February 1999: Madeleine Mary (LP: I See A Darkness) Domino
 * 10 February 1999: A Minor Place (LP-I See A Darkness) Domino
 * 24 February 1999: I Confess (7": Performs Songs Of Kevin Loyne) LowFly
 * 04 March 1999: Raining In Darling (LP: I See Darkness) Domino
 * 23 September 1999: Crying In The Chapel (CD - John Peel’s Birthday CD) white label
 * 28 December 1999: I See A Darkness (CD-I See A Darkness) Domino FF#23
 * 23 May 2000: Little Boy Blue (7 inch) Western Vinyl (as Bonnie 'Blue' Billy)
 * 30 May 2000: Little Boy Blue (7 inch) Western Vinyl (as Bonnie 'Blue' Billy)
 * 20 June 2000: Little Boy Blue (7 inch) Western Vinyl (as Bonnie 'Blue' Billy)
 * 06 July 2000: Little Boy Blue (7 inch) Western Vinyl (as Bonnie 'Blue' Billy)
 * 26 December 2000: Little Boy Blue (7 inch) Western Vinyl FF#46 (JP: 'On this seven inch, of course, there are two different songs called "Little Boy Blue", and I wasn't quite sure which one you meant, so I chose the Bobby Blue Bland one, 'cos it's my favourite of the two.') (as Bonnie 'Blue' Billy)
 * 06 February 2001: Ease Down the Road (LP: Ease Down the Road) Domino
 * 07 February 2001: Mrs William (LP – Ease Down the Road) Domino
 * 08 February 2001: Just to See My Holly Home (CD: Ease Down The Wind) Domino
 * 14 February 2001: Ease Down The Road (LP: Ease Down The Road) Domino
 * 15 February 2001: Grand Feeling of Emptiness (CD: Ease Down the Road) Domino
 * 21 February 2001: May it Always Be (CD: Ease Down the Road) Domino
 * 25 February 2001 (BBC World Service): Ease Down The Road (album - Ease Down The Road) Palace
 * 01 March 2001: Rich Wife Full Of Happiness (CD-Ease Down The Road) Domino
 * 08 March 2001: Sheep (LP: Ease Down The Road) Domino
 * 20 March 2001: Rich Wife Full Of Happiness (LP: Ease Down The Road) Domino
 * 04 April 2001: Mrs William (Domino)
 * 10 April 2001: Sheep (CD – Ease Down the Road) Domino
 * 11 April 2001: Careless Love (CD – Ease Down the Road) Domino (after initially playing the wrong Bonnie Prince Billy track by mistake)
 * 29 April 2001 (BBC World Service): Sheep (album - Ease Down The Road) Palace
 * 01 May 2001: Mrs William (LP - Ease Down The Road) Domino
 * 05 June 2001: Sweeter Than Anything (LP: More Reverie) Temporary Resident (as Bonnie Billy)
 * 10 December 2002: Wolf Among Wolves (LP - Master And Everyone) Domino
 * 12 December 2002: The Way (LP - Master And Everyone) Domino
 * 26 December 2002: Ain't You Wealthy Ain't You Wise (LP-Master And Everyone) Domino
 * 01 January 2003: Hard Life (LP - Master & Everyone) Domino
 * 03 January 2003 (BBC World Service): Wolf Among Wolves
 * 15 January 2003: Wolf Among Wolves (LP - Master And Everyone) Domino
 * 21 January 2003: Maundering (LP - Master And Everyone) Domino
 * 22 January 2003 (Radio Mafia): Wolf Among Wolves (album - Master And Everyone) Domino
 * 23 January 2003: Lessons From What's Poor (LP-Master And Everyone) Domino (played for reviewer Sharon O' Connell)
 * 24 January 2003 (BBC World Service): Wolf Among Wolves
 * 31 January 2003 (BBC World Service): Maundering
 * 09 December 2004 (Rob Da Bank) (& Matt Sweeney): Lift Us Up' (LP - Superwolf) Domino