Will Glover

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Will Glover, also known as Willie or Willy Glover, is a musician and songwriter from Southern California. He was a member of the hit surf group The Pyramids and is often noted as one of the few African-American musicians in surf music. He is also a rare left-handed guitarist.

Early life
Glover was born in North Carolina. His father was in the Navy, and the family moved around before settling in Long Beach, California, in 1961. He began singing at Boy Scout events and playing guitar by age nine, long before he envisioned a military career like his father’s.

The Pyramids
In Long Beach in 1962, Glover and Alfred “Skip” Mercier, fellow Long Beach Polytechnic High students, formed what would become The Pyramids. The band’s lineup included Will on rhythm guitar, Skip on lead guitar, Steve Leonard on bass, Ken McMullen on drums, and Tom Pitman on sax. They stood out with stunts like wearing trench coats on stage and even arriving at shows by helicopter to outdo the headliners.

As a songwriter, Glover wrote and sang "Here Comes Marsha," which appeared in 1963 as the A-side of Best 102. Once it gained wider distribution, disc jockeys increasingly played the B-side, Steve Leonard’s instrumental "Penetration." The single spent ten weeks on the charts, peaking at #18 on the Billboard Hot 100 on March 14, 1964. Glover also wrote "I Don’t Wanna Cry" for the group.

After The Pyramids
The Pyramids eventually dissolved in the 1960s. Glover continued performing in the 1970s with The Family Cat, a Long Beach club group that included Mike Marchman, Jim Foelber, Chris Myers, Skip Mercier, and Steve Leonard, playing in nightclubs around Orange County. The Family Cat lasted until 1973. After marrying and moving to a ranch in Riverside, Glover left the music business for a time and worked various jobs, including at a gas station. He later started his own construction company.

Return to music
In the late 1980s, a friend reignited his love of singing, and he began performing again after meeting Jann Browne. He started performing in country music and, by the mid-1990s, was still running his construction business.

Involvement in later years
In 2019, Glover joined other surf musicians—including Bob Berryhill of The Surfaris and Bob Spickard of The Chantays—for a benefit at The Coach House in San Juan Capistrano to honor Dick Dale.

Solo career
Glover’s solo debut, Standing in the Line of Fire, was released in 1997. It blended folk with blues and included songs such as "In Times Like These" and "Cold Hearted Lover." His second album, The Will Glover Experience, was released in 2014.

Live performances and appearances
In March 1997, he performed at The Coach House in San Juan Capistrano with the Kari Gaffney Band and the Anthony Rivera Band. He also headlined at the Crazy Horse Steak House in the mid-1990s alongside James Intveld and Chris Gaffney, with another Crazy Horse appearance on October 19, 1999. On December 10, 2013, he was set to perform a Chuck Berry tribute at Clubhouse 3.