WESTERN PHOTOGRAPHY GUILD
Box 2801
Denver 1, Colorado

SERIES 49: BILLY JOE CARR

"This boy is dynamite!" exclaimed a wide-eyed studio visitor looking at a spread of newly developed photos recently.

Billy Joe Carr by Don Whitman / Western Photography Guild

The poses were those of Billy Joe Carr, and even though dynamite may be too strong a term, there's little doubt that he's one of the most dynamic models we've ever photographed. Billy Joe's photos seem to breathe a vital, surging quality in physique, facial expression and posing that is universally attractive.

Although he had never posed before and had actually done little bodybuilding, it was apparent as soon as he stepped before the camera that Billy Joe is an extraordinary model. How did he get that way? With characteristic modesty, Billy Joe credits his physical achievements to having the right parents, and in particular a muscular father.

Born William Joseph Carr 20 years ago on August 3rd in Iowa City, Iowa, he was his parent's first child and weighed only five pounds. Of English and German heritage, his folks were average in stature, but his father, who worked as an automobile mechanic, was exceptionally strong. "Billy" at first, he soon came to be called "Billy Joe," a mellifluous appellation that has stuck with him ever since. Billy Joe's early years were normal and happy. He became an average-sized child, and the birth of a beautiful baby sister made a closely knit family of four. While there was seldom a lot of money, there was enough, and there was always more than enough love.

When Billy Joe was eight, the family moved to Denver, and he began to flourish in the mile-high atmosphere. He was extremely active in his northeast Denver neighborhood, digging caves, building tree houses and swimming in the park pool. Billy Joe's muscles became noticeably more mature than those of his playmates. By the time he was 12 he was given the ultimate accolade of being called "Tarzan," and because of his all-round athletic ability was always the first to be chosen on a team.

Billy Joe knew a few boys who worked out with weights, but it seemed to him an unexciting way to acquire muscles, and the fact was that none of them were as muscular as he. So even through high school his use of weights was limited to occasional hoisting with ease of some poundage a friend had been struggling with, and then dashing off to shoot baskets or kick a football.

Not that all his spare time was play. As soon as he could, Billy Joe got spare-time jobs to help out with family expenses, delivering papers, working at the supermarket, parking cars, cleaning bricks and others. His work gave him little time for varsity sports, but he participated in just about every intramural activity.

Perhaps the "secret" of his muscularity today is a horizontal high bar his father helped him erect in the backyard. A six-foot pipe supported by two 4x4's, it was close at hand when Billy Joe got the urge, and he kept it shiny with all sorts of chins, levers, giant swings and other routines.

He also made good use of the equipment in a nearby park, rings, parallel bars and occasionally a trampoline. Billy Joe's reflexes were lightning-fast and his coordination just about perfect in everything he tried. On several occasions he gave high bar and ring demonstrations at a "Showagon" performance before several hundred neighbors in the park on a balmy summer evening.

Although the family always had a car, it was usually far from new, and Billy Joe's muscles got a frequent tuneup helping his father keep it in running condition.

Scholastically, Billy Joe was not an egghead, but he has a quick, responsive mind, and his grades were always above average. Being athletic, he was popular with the boys, and being good-looking, he got lots of attention from the girls. His teachers liked him too because he was interested, unfailingly polite, and had a ready smile.

Two days after his graduation from high school Billy Joe joined the Coast Guard. Following boot camp and two electronics schools, he was stationed at a base in Seattle for nearly a year, and then transferred to a large cutter as a technician. He served aboard the cutter for almost two years, until the end of his enlistment, and since its home port was Seattle, came to regard that city, which he likes very much, as his second home.

We first heard of Billy Joe a month after his return to Denver. In a period of a week no less than three of our models reported seeing "a terrific build" in the suburb of Derby. We asked one of them to give him our card and suggest he call us. He soon did, and we asked him to stop by the studio. Billy Joe was genuinely surprised and flattered to learn of our interest in photographing him. His first posing session, in the studio, went swimmingly, and Billy Joe was delighted with the results. Despite his inexperience, he showed the aptitude of a veteran at posing, and proved an eager and responsive model in the sessions that followed.

Up to this point Billy Joe's organized workouts with weights had consisted of thrice-weekly sessions over a two-month period with a Filipino cook at the Coast Guard base, but he now enrolled in a Denver gym, and found he could hold his own in strength and stamina with the best. Now that his efforts are channeled in the right direction, he could go far in the physique world.

At 5' 7 ½" and 165 pounds, Billy Joe is the epitome of gracefully Herculean development. He is an amazing combination of advanced muscularity, separation, definition and withal flowing lines. He has a thick head of chestnut hair inclined to bleach in the summer and hazel eyes. His smile is frequent, infectious and guileless. For one of his physical attributes, he is surprisingly modest and still amazed at the attention his physique has received since his return from the service.

His measurements are: chest normal 44", chest expanded 47", neck 16", biceps 17", forearm 13 ½", wrist 6 ½" waist 28", thigh 23", calf 15 ½" and ankle 11",

Finding the right job has proved something of a problem since his return, but Billy Joe hopes to put his electronics training to good use as time goes by. While in the Coast Guard Billy Joe became interested in sketching and painting, and now he spends as much time at them as he can. He shows considerable talent, and it is possible this hobby could become a vocation.

Billy likes movies, dancing, water skiing, pinochle, picnics in the mountains, detective mysteries, boxing and wrestling, chocolate malts and cheeseburgers, seafood, spaghetti and walking in the rain.

Although unmarried and living at home, Billy Joe suffers no lack of girl friends, and says he would like someday to have as happy a marriage as that of his folks. First, though, he'd like to win the Mr. Colorado contest and get the right job. With abundant energy, physical equipment and personality, how can he miss?

Model Profile: Billy Joe Carr

SERIES 49: BILLY JOE CARR