After suffering several years from alzheimers, Billy
Todd passed away on November 30, 2008, at the age of 79. Gospel music fans
know him as Billy Todd, but his real name is Carl Milton Todd. I still haven't
figured out how he got the nickname "Billy".
Billy Todd was born on September 26, 1929. His parents
are the late Cecil and Bessie Todd. He has one brother, Edward, and one sister,
Gladys. On June 1, 1957, Billy married Jane McWaters. They have two kids,
David and Robin. Their son David and his wife Sandy live in Phoenix, Arizona.
David and Sandy have three kids: Ben, Brandon, and Savannah. Billy is originally
from Sylacauga, Alabama.
Billy was saved in 1946 at the First Freewill Baptist
Church in Sylacauga, Alabama. Then in Pensacola, he became a member of Lawton
Street Baptist Church, where Jane is the church pianist.
Billy started singing with his family at the age of eight.
In 1942, he sang with a group from his church called the Freewill Four. He
remembers that they opened a concert for the John Daniel Quartet and he made
five dollars! In 1946, he started singing with a group in his hometown called
the Sylacauga Melody Boys. Then he sang in a barbershop quartet along with
Jim Nabors, who we all know as Gomer Pyle from the Andy Griffith Show. The
Florida Boys hired Billy in January of 1958. Billy then left the Florida
Boys in 1972 to become the principal at Berean Christian School in Pensacola
(a school started by Billy's father in law Rev. B.H. McWaters).
When the Dixie Echoes were looking for a bass singer in
1996, Randy Shelnut called Billy to see if he would fill in. Billy Todd joined
the Dixie Echoes on May 11, 1996.
For many years, he was honored with a Billy Todd Day concert
in his hometown of Sylacauga, Alabama. Billy won the first two Singing
News Fan Awards for Favorite Bass Singer. In 1994, at the Grand Ole Gospel
Reunion, Billy received the Living Legend Award. In 1999, he was inducted
along with the Florida Boys Quartet into the Gospel Music Hall Of Fame.
Billy Todd was a Gospel Music legend and I considered
it an honor to step on stage with him every week and to call him a close
friend of mine. If there is one word that I can use to describe Billy,
it is "Genuine". Just ask anyone who knows anything about Gospel Music, and
they will agree. Billy Todd has always been a fan favorite because he could
always be found at the table mingling with the fans or going to someone's
home and having lunch. His humble spirit and desire to befriend everyone
is a quality that I really admired. I could go on and on about how I respect
him, but I'll just sum up in saying that Billy Todd was a dear friend and
a role model, and I will miss him very much, but I know that he is now singing
in that Heavenly Choir. Can you imagine the bass section? George Younce,
J.D. Sumner, Rex Nelon, Brock Speer, London Parris, Big Jim Waits, Arnold
Hyles, Big Chief Wetherington, Herman Harper, and now Billy Todd. As J.D.
used to say, "I Can't Wait". We'll see you soon Billy!
Stewart Varnado
A young Billy Todd
The Florida Boys doing a commercial on the Gospel Song
Shop
The Florida Boys singing on the Gospel Song Shop television
show
Taken at the 2007 J.G. Whitfield Memorial Sing - The Classic
Florida Boys Quartet
Glen Payne, Stewart Varnado, Billy Todd
Billy Todd & Jake Hess
Billy & Jane Todd
Jane, Robin, & Billy Todd
Dixie Echoes with Kevin Ivey & Billy Todd
Roger Bennett, Bill Gaither, Stewart Varnado, & Billy
Todd
Stewart Varnado, Louise Mandrell, & Billy
Todd
Group pose at the J.G. Whitfield Memorial Sing
There's Billy to the side of Alabama Governor George
Wallace.
Billy Todd = Devoted husband, Father, Gospel singer, and
Alabama Football Fan.
He would have been tickled with the outcome of the game the day before he
passed away. He could often be found sporting his Alabama shoes or cap. And
as Billy would say.... "Roll Tide!"
