08/11/2026
We are saddened to hear the news that Willis David Hoover has passed away. He was inducted into the Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Music Association Hall of Fame in 2019, receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award. Below is the tribute given by his friend, Bill Hillman:
Remembering Willis David Hoover, influential musician and songwriter by Bill Hillman:
Such a sad day in my household. Our friend Willis David Hoover passed away after a long battle with cancer at his home in Hawaii accompanied by his long-time love, Cari. Hoover was such an influence on me starting at an early age. I got my first autograph (and he gave his first autograph) to me when I was 8 or 9 years old, he was a teen and a friend of my older sister Suzy, Shenandoah class of 1964. I cherish the autograph; the cartoons he drew me and the first record album in my record collection “Hoover”. He told me to keep practicing and I could do what he does, I didn’t, I can’t.
Bill was a significant component in the development of the kind of music that so many of us enjoy. After making his mark in Shenandoah he was called to Nashville by the Glazer Studios (Outlaw Headquarters) in the 1960’s as Folk, Rock and Roll, Country Western and Pop music had thus far not merged into Country Rock or Americana. Country had yet to appeal to the younger generation. Hoover would help to change that along with Tompall Glazer, Waylon Jennings, John Hartford, Kinky Friedman, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash and a handful of others who worked and played (sometimes slept) at Glazer Studios in the late 1960’s. Today we can draw a straight line between Glazer Studios and the kind of Country Music that many of us are familiar with today. His ability to tell a story in a song should cement his legacy in music.
I begged Hoover to write a book; I would love to reread it today. He told me countless stories, each as unique as the last one. He lived such a fascinating life as a songwriter, journalist, author and spectator of the world around him. He had the ability to make interviewees let their guard down and tell him anything. His book could have told of his unscheduled and improvised interviews with James Earl Ray. After seeing him in a Tennessee prison while there to interview someone else he asked the guard who was sitting by himself in the corner. The guard told him it was Martin Luther Kings killer, “he won’t talk to you or anyone else, others have tried”. I guess the guard underestimated Hoovers charm, he interviewed him often in person and by mail becoming Ray’s only longtime confidant. He even became “friends” with Ray’s brother who happened to live in Iowa, unleashing otherwise unknown information about the murder. His work as a columnist could cement his legacy in journalism.
Hoover went on an American tour to collect and write about guitar picks, collecting over 8,000 in his quest. Eccentric enough for sure but then he wrote the only book about guitar picks. It is now out of print and a sought-after collector’s item in music circles; I bought a dozen or so to give to some friends who were being inducted into the Iowa Rock N Roll Hall of fame. If you read Kinky Friedman’s novels (Bill Clinton’s favorite author) you will see Hoover appear as the newspaper man, songwriter or just one of the characters who could have been the murderer. His second book “North Shore” was written in early 2000’s, His third book should have been “Hoover, Yes I Did That”. His ability to make guitar picks fascinating could cement his legacy as an author.
I know this is getting long, it’s hard not to when talking about Hoover, my nomination to the Hall of Fame was three pages long, two more than required, I couldn’t get it all in a book, but I wish I had the ability. Hoover’s ability to be a profound companion DID cement his legacy as a friend.
Rip Hoover.
