The Ginny Becton Story
By T. Roy Taylor www.myspace.com/audiogate
By T. Roy Taylor www.myspace.com/audiogate
One of the first songs Ginny Becton sang was “The Ballad of Davy Crockett”. She grew up in a
town called Beebe, Arkansas named after the present governor’s family. At age six, Ginny was
taking piano lessons. Ginny was getting very good on the piano and by the time she was sixteen
circumstances provided her with an opportunity to become a piano teacher. Her piano teacher
decided to leave town and twenty-two students were left without a piano teacher. So Ginny told
them she would give them lessons. Besides being a piano teacher, this young woman was
doing musicals in school. To say she was busy was an understatement. But Ginny liked being
kept busy. She had to always be doing something, always on the go.
She then went to Russellville, AR to start college and became a voice major. While there she
had to have her tonsils out and hemorrhaged after surgery, which change her voice register,
dropping her from a dramatic soprano to a mezzo. She went to Wisconsin for the summer
thinking she would have to stay out of college for a semester. There she worked at the
Northernaire Resort in Three Lakes, WI and had her first gig as “Virginia at the piano”. After the
summer, she packed her bags and headed back to Arkansas and ended up in Little Rock. She
found a job at an employment agency and landed a gig with a jazz band called Caravan. Most of
the band members were in the Air Force so they played at officers club on the Air Force base.
They did medleys of Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McCray, and Sergio Mendez. She worked steady
with them for four years. Being a musician in a band we tend to be talented in the day job arena
so Ginny also worked for a printer and at various other office manager jobs during the day. After
being with Caravan she hooked up with some musicians from Thailand. They were called “The
One Two Three”. She worked with them for six months.
She met a young man from Orlando, FL who ended up producing his own shows and one of the
shows was “Hello Dolly”. They divorced a year later but he came back to her and begged her to
do “Funny Girl”. In 1975 she was doing a gig at the State Room in Little Rock, Arkansas across
from “Cajun’s Wharf”. That gig dried up and so she went to Memphis, TN and went to work for
the William Tanner Recording Studio. She went to work for them as a as a staff singer and
second
Soprano. She stayed there all day long reading books and when the studio needed her to sing,
she would sing her part and go back and read some more books or go home. She has worked
with some of the best musicians in Arkansas.
In October of 2007 she met Mike Dollins, the editor of BLUES GUITAR NEWS. A
guy, whose daughter had taken piano lessons from Ginny, had showed up at her door one day
and wanted her to play in his tribute band honoring Stax Records. Mike was playing in this band
of fifteen musicians. After a few gigs, Mike asked Ginny to be in a smaller group and play some
of the blues gigs that he had been missing out on due to lack of a local band. Around Christmas
of 2007, Mike told her that he wanted to record a CD with her and his present day band. Steve
Giles – a corporate lawyer on keys and vocals; John Thaden, Ph.D. on harp and vocals; Greg
Jones, a trial lawyer – drummer, vocals, and guitar; David Wollard, a UAMS nurse – rhythm
guitar and vocals; Bill McCumber, computer analyst for Baptist Hospital—bass guitar; and Mike
Dollins - guitar and vocals. They finished the CD and you can hear the smooth, silky, bluesy jazz
songs that grab your listening ears and won’t let go. You have heard it before, the rest is history.
Ginny and Mike are still performing live on stage together every chance they get. What are
Ginny’s plans? “I’m gonna' keep singin’ the blues!”
T. Roy Taylor
August 2008
Editor Note: Ginny's son Duncan, is also an up and coming drummer, works at an off
Broadway theatrical group and is a college art major. She is a proud mom, of such a
talented nice young man.
town called Beebe, Arkansas named after the present governor’s family. At age six, Ginny was
taking piano lessons. Ginny was getting very good on the piano and by the time she was sixteen
circumstances provided her with an opportunity to become a piano teacher. Her piano teacher
decided to leave town and twenty-two students were left without a piano teacher. So Ginny told
them she would give them lessons. Besides being a piano teacher, this young woman was
doing musicals in school. To say she was busy was an understatement. But Ginny liked being
kept busy. She had to always be doing something, always on the go.
She then went to Russellville, AR to start college and became a voice major. While there she
had to have her tonsils out and hemorrhaged after surgery, which change her voice register,
dropping her from a dramatic soprano to a mezzo. She went to Wisconsin for the summer
thinking she would have to stay out of college for a semester. There she worked at the
Northernaire Resort in Three Lakes, WI and had her first gig as “Virginia at the piano”. After the
summer, she packed her bags and headed back to Arkansas and ended up in Little Rock. She
found a job at an employment agency and landed a gig with a jazz band called Caravan. Most of
the band members were in the Air Force so they played at officers club on the Air Force base.
They did medleys of Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McCray, and Sergio Mendez. She worked steady
with them for four years. Being a musician in a band we tend to be talented in the day job arena
so Ginny also worked for a printer and at various other office manager jobs during the day. After
being with Caravan she hooked up with some musicians from Thailand. They were called “The
One Two Three”. She worked with them for six months.
She met a young man from Orlando, FL who ended up producing his own shows and one of the
shows was “Hello Dolly”. They divorced a year later but he came back to her and begged her to
do “Funny Girl”. In 1975 she was doing a gig at the State Room in Little Rock, Arkansas across
from “Cajun’s Wharf”. That gig dried up and so she went to Memphis, TN and went to work for
the William Tanner Recording Studio. She went to work for them as a as a staff singer and
second
Soprano. She stayed there all day long reading books and when the studio needed her to sing,
she would sing her part and go back and read some more books or go home. She has worked
with some of the best musicians in Arkansas.
In October of 2007 she met Mike Dollins, the editor of BLUES GUITAR NEWS. A
guy, whose daughter had taken piano lessons from Ginny, had showed up at her door one day
and wanted her to play in his tribute band honoring Stax Records. Mike was playing in this band
of fifteen musicians. After a few gigs, Mike asked Ginny to be in a smaller group and play some
of the blues gigs that he had been missing out on due to lack of a local band. Around Christmas
of 2007, Mike told her that he wanted to record a CD with her and his present day band. Steve
Giles – a corporate lawyer on keys and vocals; John Thaden, Ph.D. on harp and vocals; Greg
Jones, a trial lawyer – drummer, vocals, and guitar; David Wollard, a UAMS nurse – rhythm
guitar and vocals; Bill McCumber, computer analyst for Baptist Hospital—bass guitar; and Mike
Dollins - guitar and vocals. They finished the CD and you can hear the smooth, silky, bluesy jazz
songs that grab your listening ears and won’t let go. You have heard it before, the rest is history.
Ginny and Mike are still performing live on stage together every chance they get. What are
Ginny’s plans? “I’m gonna' keep singin’ the blues!”
T. Roy Taylor
August 2008
Editor Note: Ginny's son Duncan, is also an up and coming drummer, works at an off
Broadway theatrical group and is a college art major. She is a proud mom, of such a
talented nice young man.
To hear all of Ginny's songs, click
her photos below to find her
MySpace site. Join her as a
MySpace friend.
her photos below to find her
MySpace site. Join her as a
MySpace friend.