Bill Wallace

Who is Bill Wallace?

William R. "Bill" Wallace is a bassist from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He started his musical career in the 1960s, with a Winnipeg band called The Gettysburg Address. He later performed in bands such as, Logan Avenue Comfort Station, and Dianne Heatherington and the Merry-Go-Round. He eventually joined his friends Kurt Winter and Vance Masters in Brother. Wallace was the lead singer and bassist. Brother was on its way to becoming the most popular rock band in Winnipeg, when Randy Bachman left The Guess Who at the height of that band's popularity. The Guess Who scrambled to replace Bachman, and did so with two of the most talented guitarists in Winnipeg: Winter, and Greg Leskiw. This meant the immediate demise of Brother. In time, Masters and Wallace would both find themselves joining The Guess Who.

Wallace replaced Jim Kale in mid-1972, not long after the release of "Live at the Paramount", which was the first album on which guitarist Donnie McDougall appeared, after replacing Leskiw. While still in Brother, Wallace co-wrote the eventual Guess Who hits "Bus Rider" and "Hand Me Down World" with Masters and Winter, but has never received writing credit. Wallace wrote and co-wrote many Guess Who hits including "Clap for the Wolfman", "Road Food", "Follow Your Daughter Home", and sang lead on "Bye Bye Babe".