Remembering Bill Pfordresher
• We were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of a friend to many in our industry — longtime promotion pro and producer Bill Pfordresher died Tuesday, Jan. 6 after a long illness.
Over the course of his multifaceted music career, Pfordresher held senior level promotion positions, most notably at Elektra Records, Curb Records and Zoo Entertainment, to name a few.
Veteran promo executive Bob Catania said of his longtime friend, “Bill was a triple threat — a great promotion executive; a producer; and musician/songwriter. He was also known in the industry as a great golfer. Bill had an incredible music collection and loved all things Beatles, especially George Harrison. Bill had an autographed picture of he and George Martin that he loved.”
One major highlight of Pfordresher’s career was his extensive work with the band Ambrosia in the late ’70s-early ’80s. The band paid tribute to him in a Facebook post that reads, in part, “Bill was the radio promoter that was the energy behind the breaking of our first hit record, ‘Holdin’ On To Yesterday.’ He continued to work with us in management and became the associate producer on the One Eighty album. Bill helped ‘You’re the Only Woman,’ and ‘Biggest Part of Me’ become hits as well. Rest in Peace, Brother Bill…”
Ken Shepard, the father of recording artist Kenny Wayne Shepard, credits Pfordresher with helping his son land his first record deal. “[Bill] was the first person in the business to recognize Kenny’s talent,” Shepard noted in a Facebook post. “He stepped up, convinced me that we should take it seriously. He offered to, and did produce his first demos, and once the record deal was done, and the first album blew up, Bill was a constant cheerleader right up to the end.”
We are told that Bill passed away peacefully at home, surrounded with love and the music of The Beatles. He is survived by his loving wife Rita Kanell… they had just celebrated their 10th anniversary in December.
To gain some insight into how loved Bill Pfordresher was to so many, please take the time to read the amazing tributes filling his Facebook page.
