WILD BILL
A Walking Legend
In Southern Illinois, if you see a man walking around dressed as Elvis yelling “hunka hunka burnin’ love” at cars driving by, it’s a type of rooster’s crow to signal that it’s May, and that you are somewhere in Franklin County. Most likely, West Frankfort.
The man dressed like Elvis is headed to the Old King Coal festival. It’s one of the highlights of West Frankfort. The pageantry consists of ceremoniously crowning a retired coal miner as, Old King Coal, and a teen beauty contest to decide who Princess Flame will be. It’s perhaps our oldest tradition.
The festival includes an annual parade, and also a 3-day carnival (like the one Noah and Ally go to on their first date in The Notebook).
Elvis’ real name is William Reinschmidt, but he’s known around here as “Wild Bill,” and he is the most famous person for 10 miles any direction the crow flies.
Every year, since anyone can remember, Wild Bill has showed up dressed as Elvis to entertain the OKC crowds. It’s one of the few things in town you can really count on.
But Wild Bill’s Elvis impersonation is only a part of his lore…
He’s far from the man who had no story.
He’s a man made of stories.
And no one gets the barbershop buzzin’ better than Bill. So much so that he’s able to rock multiple shops in multiple towns 5 days a week. That doesn’t include all the other stops along the way.
The question, that no one has any good answer for, is how a guy— who only travels on foot— is able to walk to multiple shops, in multiple towns, all in one day?
It’s a riddle yet to be solved to this day.
Wild Bill is a walking legend of West Frankfort who became a legend… by walking.
He is our Man In Black. The spirit of our town embodied. West Frankfort (the person) living inside of West Frankfort (the town).
It’s like when two mirrors reflect each other. You can’t quite comprehend how something so simple is able to reveal a glimpse of eternity, but it’s happening nonetheless; regardless of whether or not you understand how.
In November of 2016, filmmaker, Ethan Talley, followed Bill as he made his usual rounds throughout Franklin County. Talley’s 15-minute documentary tells the story of Wild Bill and the town of West Frankfort. Because it’s impossible to tell part of his story without telling part our story too.
I Walk (The Wild Bill Song) | by Jon Raby
[ start the song at the 1:00 mark ]
Lion’s Honey recommendation:
Reed was a friend and inspiration to Wild Bill. He was an 80’s outlaw-country singer from West Frankfort who recorded 2 albums in Nashville with his band, The Outlaws. You can’t find a bad word said about Billy Cole Reed anywhere in West Frankfort.
A voice that gave Waylon a run for his money, and a lifestyle that gave his songs an authentic texture. His face is immortalized next to Elvis on the back of Wild Bill’s personal guitar.
Small-town eccentrics make small towns worthwhile. Very nice tribute.
My wife is from a tiny, very tiny, small town in central Illinois. As far as I can tell West Frankfort has waaaay more characters than that place 😀