Ricky Wilson (guitarist)

Wilson was born on March 19, 1953, to Bobby Jack Wilson, a firefighter and a veteran of the United States Army, and Linda J. Wilson (née Mairholtz), in Athens, Georgia. He was the elder brother of Cindy Wilson. At an early age, Wilson developed an interest in music and learned how to play folk guitar from the PBS series Learning Folk Guitar. Upon entering Clarke Central High School, Wilson had upgraded to a Silvertone guitar and, to tape his music, purchased a two-track tape recorder with money earned from a summer job at the local landfill. In mid-1969, Wilson met former Comer resident Keith Strickland at the local head shop The Looking Glass. The two shared common interests in music and Eastern mysticist culture and quickly became friends. ==Career==

1970–1976: Black Narcissus During mid-1969, both Wilson and Strickland collaborated in writing and performing music, loosely calling themselves Loon, and aspired to perform live. From 1969 to 1971, Wilson and Strickland collaborated with high school friends Pete Love of Louisville and Athens native Owen Scott III in performing together as the four-member band Black Narcissus. Upon graduation from the University of Georgia in 1976, Wilson kept in touch with Strickland and they toured Europe, eventually returning and taking jobs at the Southeastern Stages bus station in Athens, Georgia where Strickland's father was the manager. They played their first concert in 1977 at a Valentine's Day party for friends. Wilson also played the guitar on the song "Breakin' In My Heart" on Tom Verlaine's self-titled debut album. ==Illness and death==

In 1982, during recording sessions for the band's third studio album Whammy!, In 1985, during recording for their album Bouncing Off the Satellites, Wilson's illness became more severe; both Strickland and Pierson have stated that despite this, he kept his illness secret from the other members of the band. On October 12, 1985, Devastated, the band did little promotional work and did not tour to promote the album. Upon reforming in 1988, the band continued as a four-piece, with Strickland replicating Wilson's riffs from their earlier material in live performances. ==References==