William Whitney Pursell, born on 9 June 1926 in Oakland, California, was an American composer and session pianist. Raised in Tulare, California, he earned a master's degree in composition from the Eastman School of Music under Howard Hanson in the mid-1950s. His symphonic poem "Christ Looking Over Jerusalem" won the Edward B. Benjamin Prize in 1953. In 1962, he signed with Columbia Records and released his hit single "Our Winter Love", which secured the number nine spot on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as reaching number four on the Easy Listening chart, and number 20 on the R&B Singles chart. The accompanying album Our Winter Love reached number 15 on the Billboard 200. He also released the follow-up single "Loved". He played piano on numerous Johnny Cash albums throughout the 1960s and worked as a session musician for artists such as Patsy Cline, Joan Baez, Willie Nelson, and Dan Fogelberg. In 1985, he was named Composer of the Year by the Tennessee Music Teachers Association. He joined the faculty of Belmont University's School of Music in Nashville in 1980 and completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Eastman School of Music in 1996. He died on 3 September 2020 at Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville after contracting COVID-19.
