Famed musician Bill Kelly dies at age 74 in Nashville

WILKES-BARRE — Famed Wyoming Valley rock musician Bill Kelly died Friday, at his home in Nashville, Tenn., surrounded by his family, after a prolonged illness.

A celebration of life will be scheduled after the holidays.

Kelly will forever be remembered as the singer of the 1971 hit “Timothy” recorded on Scepter Records with his group The Buoys, charting at #17 in the Billboard Hot 100 Chart.

He would later record for Epic Records, MCA Records and Columbia Records with his partner, Jerry Hludzik, as the Jerry Kelly Band and Dakota.

“Bill was an anomaly in the music business,” stated his manager, Jim Della Croce. “He was equally at home opening for Queen at Madison Square Garden as he was leading Charlie Louvin’s band at the Grand Ole Opry. When he moved to Nashville, he worked with me at Pathfinder Management, then served as a booking agent and first-call band leader. He penned, produced and recorded Christian music hit songs and never stopped honing his skills. Through it all, Bill’s credibility and faith remained rock-solid. He made an indelible mark in all aspects of the business and our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”

Kelly, 74, was a graduate of Wyoming Area and he had been a successful musician for most of his life as part of The Buoys, the Jerry-Kelly Band and Dakota.

“We lost a beautiful voice whose music will live on forever,” said Joe Nardone Sr., owner of Gallery of Sound and a concert promoter. “A long-time friend. True talent gone too soon. He will be missed.”

“This is a great loss,” said Alan K. Stout, a former longtime music columnist with the Times Leader, current radio host on 105 The River, and executive director of Visit Luzerne County. “Few local bands were able to accomplish what The Buoys, as well as Dakota, were able to accomplish. National record deals, national tours, a Top-20 hit — they did all of that, and it was all anchored by the perfect harmonies of Bill Kelly and Jerry Hludzik.

“I am grateful to have gotten to know Bill over the years and to have interviewed him several times. His stories were amazing. It was a life well lived, full of music and creativity. And beyond all of that, he was simply a very, very nice man.

“Ironically, I just played ‘Timothy’ on my radio show this past Sunday night. And the last time I saw him was just over a year ago, when he was being inducted into the Luzerne County Arts & Entertainment Hall of Fame. Though his health was in decline, he performed absolutely beautifully that night. And I will cherish that memory always. When it comes to arts and entertainment in NEPA, Bill and The Buoys are on our Mount Rushmore.”

In 1971, while with the band The Buoys, Kelly and Jerry Hludzik notched a Top-20 hit with the song “Timothy” and were major label contenders throughout the decade. By 1980, they’d moved on to a new musical project, Dakota.

Thom Greco, local music promoter and manager, said he was proud to have been able to call Kelly his friend.

“We were close to Bill and kept in touch with him,” Greco said. “It was very tough toward the end. I’m proud to have been associated with him and The Buoys — we did a tribute to The Buoys at Genetti’s. Bill also was a big help with the songs and production of the album with Jimmy Harnen and Synch.”

2023 Hall of Fame bio

Compiled by Sam Zavada of the Times Leader

Inductee: The Buoys

Inducted Members: Fran Brozena, Steve Furmanski, Bob Gryziec, Jerry Hludzik, Bill Kelly, Carl Siracuse

Through infectious harmonies and a timely partnership with an up-and-coming songwriter, the Buoys broke from the local music scene to become national pop artists, one of the first of their kind from the Wyoming Valley. The core of the band included Fran Brozena, Steve Furmanski, Bob Gryziec, Jerry Hludzik, Bill Kelly and Carl Siracuse, and together they crafted one of the most unique and controversial careers in rock music.

Rising in the mid-to-late 1960s, the Buoys were signed to Scepter Records in New York after they were discovered by Rupert Holmes. Holmes was a young songwriter who would go on to have quite a successful career of his own, but he was unable to secure a sweet deal for the Buoys at Scepter. The band was signed to a one-single contract, and the story of the Buoys is very much tied to the single that would come.

The Buoys agreed to a plan hatched by Holmes, in which they would record a song so offensive that morbid curiosity from the public would make up for the lack of corporate backing from Scepter. The resulting song, “Timothy,” tells the story of a mine disaster with three survivors. The titular character becomes the victim of the other two survivors’ hunger, quite possibly making “Timothy” the most famous song about cannibalism ever recorded.

Naturally, the intended controversy surrounding “Timothy” and its subject matter launched the Buoys into notoriety near and far. The song reached number 17 on the US Billboard charts in 1971, despite largely being banned by the powerful radio industry. In Luzerne County, some drew comparisons between “Timothy” and the close-to-home Sheppton mining disaster, though Holmes was unaware of the connection until after the song had already become a success.

With a hit on their hands, Scepter suddenly began paying attention to the Buoys and attempted to play damage control by saying that Timothy was, in fact, a mule. This soft interpretation has since been widely dismissed as a poorly manufactured urban legend. The Buoys were given an expanded deal with Scepter, allowing them to record a debut album that could support the growing popularity of “Timothy.”

Underneath the massive shroud of their hit single, the Buoys were a highly-skilled band that were more than worthy of the attention they received. Look to their self-titled album, where songs like “Give Up Your Guns” and “Sunny Days” reflect a very specific moment in the history of rock. The Buoys were emblematic of the early-70s music scene, which took the jangly sounds of the 1960s and fused them with the progressive rock boom that was about to emerge.

In the years that followed their initial success, The Buoys’ recording career fizzled, but their live act reached new heights. The Buoys toured throughout the first half of the 1970s, playing legendary rock venues like Whiskey a Go Go in Hollywood and Delaware’s Stone Balloon.

Eventually, after the dissolution of the Buoys, a new band fronted by Hludzik and Kelly was established. Dakota, as they were known, secured a coveted spot opening for Queen in the early 1980s and went on to have a successful recording career. Still, fans of the Buoys clamored for a reunion of the original group. The individual band members either moved on from the Wyoming Valley or into other industries, rendering such a reunion unlikely.

The fans were given their desired reunion in 2022 when Brozena, Gryziec and Kelly played together again for the first time in decades. This reunion show, held in the ballroom at Genetti’s, was attended by hundreds of fans, affirming the Buoys’ continued cultural footprint in Luzerne County. Decades after the release of “Timothy,” the Buoys’ meteoric rise to rock and roll stardom remains a turning point in the Luzerne County music scene.