Billy Edd Wheeler

Billy Edward "Edd" Wheeler (born December 9, 1932, Boone County, West Virginia) is an American songwriter, performer, writer and visual artist. He has written songs performed by over 90 different artists including Judy Collins, Jefferson Airplane, Bobby Darin, The Kingston Trio, Johnny Cash, Neil Young, Kenny Rogers, Hazel Dickens, and Elvis Presley. One of his co-writers, on the song "Hadn't Been For Baby" recorded by Soul group The Relatives, was noted singer-songwriter Jimmy Radcliffe. Wheeler is also author of sixteen plays. These include several long-running outdoor dramas such as Hatfields & McCoys at Beckley, West Virginia and Young Abe Lincoln in Lincoln City, Indiana. Wheeler is a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. He has received 13 awards from ASCAP, won distinguished Alumnus awards from Warren Wilson College and Berea College, the "Best Appalachian Poetry" award from Morris Harvey College and a "Pacesetter Award for Music and Drama" from Billboard Magazine.