From 1944 to the mid 1960s, Pine Bluff native and jazz trumpeter Bitsy performed with numerous orchestras across the country, even spending 20 years performing in Las Vegas hotels alongside jazz greats Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Dick Haymes, Kim Novak, and Mel Torme.
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William Albert Mullins was born March 13, 1926, in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, to Joseph Franklin and Alice Barry Mullins. Mullins developed an early love for music. In 1932, at the age of 6, he started playing. According to Mullins, "That is at least where I learned the rudiments of music, the keys, and the time and all that." In 1936, 10-year-old Mullins began playing the cornet.
In 1942, Mullins graduated from Pine Bluff High School. In 1944, he joined the Ray Herbeck Orchestra. Mullins said, “Herbeck called me and offered me the job in 1944, but I was due to go up for an army physical. And I was turned down. So, I called him that night, and the next day, I was on my way, on a train to Kansas City, Missouri, to join his band." He stayed with Herbeck’s orchestra from September 6, 1944, to January 1945. From January 8, 1945, to late May 1945, he was a member of Randy Brooks’ Orchestra.
During the last half of 1945, Mullins was a member of two orchestras. From June 1945 to December 11, 1945, Mullins worked with the Charlie Spivak Orchestra. During this time, his cornet was stolen, and he moved on to the trumpet. In November 1945, he also joined Buddy Rich's new orchestra. He played with Spivak during the night at the Commodore Hotel while rehearsing with Rich at Haven Studios, New York during the day. His first official gig with Rich’s orchestra was on New Year’s Eve. He remained with Rich’s orchestra until June 1946.
In 1946, Mullins went back to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and Mathematics in the Spring of 1948. In the summer of 1947, Mullins played with the University of Texas band and Buddy Morrow’s Orchestra. In the autumn of 1948, he played with Ray McKinley’s Orchestra.
From 1948 to 1950, Mullins ran his 10-piece band in Little Rock, Arkansas. He then ran his own 4 piece band in Freeport, Los Angeles. From 1950 to 1953, Mullins worked with a variety of orchestras, including the Blue Steele Orchestra, the Joe Reichman Orchestra, the Milt Chapman Orchestra, the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, the Bob Brookmeyer Orchestra, and the Tex Beneke Orchestra. He also worked with Ray McKinkley’s Orchestra on two separate occasions.
From March 13, 1954, to November 10, 1955, he played with Tommy Dorsey’s orchestra featuring Jimmy Dorsey, moving from jazz trumpet to lead trumpet. He performed on a television series for Jackie Gleason alongside the Dorseys, playing with Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Dick Haymes, Kim Novak, and Mel Torme. In 1955, he played with a young Elvis Presley, a year before Presley’s performance on the Ed Sullivan Show. Mullins was also featured on American Big Bands.
From 1955 to 1975, Mullins performed in Las Vegas. He served as the house band’s first trumpet player in the main showroom of major hotels, including the Frontier Hotel, the Tropicana, the Stardust, the Riviera Hotel, and the Fremont Hotel. He also played at The Dunes Hotel for ten years. While playing in Las Vegas, he performed with Tony Bennett, Frankie Laine, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin, Lena Horne, Peggy Lee, Patti Page, Paul Whiteman, Ted Lewis, Ernie Kovacs, Tony Martin, Patrice Munsel, Judy Garland, Jayne Mansfield, Tiny Tim, Walter Winchell, Frankie Avalon, Mickey Rooney, Carol Channing, the Mills Brothers, Pinky Lee, Polly Bergen, Jane Powell, Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson, Kay Starr, Sid Caesar, George Burns, Jimmy Durante, the McGuire Sisters, George Gobel, Henny Youngman, Peter Marshall, and Zsa Zsa Gabor. During this time, he even toured South Africa with Patti Page.
Mullins also performed with lesser-known artists like Louis Bellson, Charlie Shavers, Jo Jones, Mel Lewis, Charlie Teagarden, Sy Oliver, Neal Hefti, and Gordon Jenkins. Additionally, most of his recordings are with the Dorsey brothers and Buddy Rich. A few of his recordings were with Charlie Spivak and Tex Beneke.
In the mid-1960s, Mullins retired to Pine Bluff. In 1995, he was inducted into the Arkansas Jazz Hall of Fame.
On Saturday, July 5, 2003, Mullins died at Jefferson Regional Medical Center. He was 77 years old. Instead of flowers, because of Mullin's great love for music, his family asked that memorials take the form of contributions to The Band Museum, in Pine Bluff. Mullins was preceded in death by one of his daughters, Joanne Ban. His surviving children included two sons, Joseph F. Mullins of Sunnyvale, California, Marty Mullins of Bozeman, Montana, Patty Jenab of Danville, California, and Sue Mullins of Santa Monica, California.
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