Billy Lee Riley (born October 5, 1933 - August 2, 2009) was
a Rockabilly musician, singer, record producer and songwriter .
Born in Pocahontas, Arkansas, the son of a sharecropper,
Riley learned to play guitar from black farm workers. In March 1949 Billy Lee
joined the Army. (He was only 15 and didn't have a birth certificate, so he
conned his sister into signing papers stating that he was 17.) During his four
years of active duty Riley won three first place talent show awards from the
Army service club. After his honourable discharge from service, he went back
home to live with his family in Jonesboro, Arkansas where he immediately put
together a hillbilly band, and began playing local high school dances, radio
broadcasts and night clubs.
Riley first recorded in Memphis, Tennessee in 1955 before
being lured to Sun Studios by Sam Phillips. He recorded "Trouble
Bound" for Jack Clement and Slim Wallace. Sam Phillips obtained the rights
and he released "Trouble Bound" b/w "Rock With Me Baby" on
September 1, 1956 (Sun 245). His first hit was "Flyin' Saucers Rock and
Roll" b/w "I Want You Baby" released February 23, 1957 (Sun 260)
with backing piano by Jerry Lee Lewis, after which he recorded "Red
Hot" b/w "Pearly Lee" released September 30, 1957 (Sun 277).
Like other artists such as Sonny Burgess, Hayden Thompson, Ray Harris and
Warren Smith, chart success largely eluded him.
"Red Hot" was showing a lot of promise as a big
hit record, but Sam Phillips pulled the promotion and switched it to
"Great Balls Of Fire" by Jerry Lee Lewis. The record was pulled
without a lot of sales. He had other Sun recordings and they, likewise, did not
have a lot of sales as his promotion had stopped.
Considered good looking and with wild stage moves, Riley had
a brief solo career with his backing band "The Little Green Men".
Riley and his Little Green Men were the main Sun studio band. They were Riley,
Roland Janes, J.M. Van Eaton, Marvin Pepper, and Jimmy Wilson, later joined by
Martin Willis.
In 1960, he left Sun, and started Rita Record label with
Roland
Janes. They produced the national hit record "Mountain Of
Love" by Harold Dorman. He later started two other labels Nita and Mojo.
In 1962, he moved to Los Angeles and worked as a session musician with Dean
Martin, the Beach Boys, Herb Alpert, Sammy Davis Jr. and others, as well as
recording under various aliases.
In the early seventies, Riley quit music to return to
Arkansas to begin his own construction business. In 1978 "Red Hot"
and "Flyin' Saucers Rock 'n' Roll" were covered by Robert Gordon and
Link Wray respectively, which led to a one-off performance in Memphis in 1979,
the success of which led to further recording at Sun Studio and a full-time
return to performing.
He was injured falling on a slippery department store floor
in 2005 and that has required two operations, then only just a few months later
Billy had a hip replacement followed by multiple bypass surgery. In 2006, he released a country CD, Hillbilly
Rockin' Man.
The Rockabilly Hall of Fame reported in summer 2009 that Riley
was in poor health, battling stage four colon cancer. His last public
performance came in June 2009 at the New Daisy Theatre on Beale Street in
Memphis, when he took part in "Petefest 2009," honouring historian
Pete Daniel, who had befriended Riley while helping launch the Memphis Rock N'
Soul Museum. Supported by a walker, Billy Lee rocked out on "My Gal"
and other of his old hits. He succumbed to colon cancer on August 2, 2009, in
Jonesboro, Arkansas. (Info mainly from Wikipedia)
The late, great Billy Lee Riley, Lincoln Center, New York
City backed by Lee Rocker on bass, Jim Weider and Billy Burnette on guitars,
and Randy Ciarlante on drums.
3 comments:
For Rock With Me Baby – Billy Lee Riley go here:
http://www53.zippyshare.com/v/20730458/file.html
01 Rock With Me Baby
02 Trouble Bound
03 Flyin' Saucer Rock 'n' Roll
04 I Want You Baby
05 Red Hot
06 Pearly Lee
07 Wouldn't You Know
08 Baby Please Don't Go
09 Dance With Me Honey (Rock With Me Baby No 2)
10 Open The Door Richard
11 That's Right
12 Searchin'
13 College Man
14 Down By The Riverside
15 No Name Girl
16 Swannee River Rock
17 Saturday Night Fish Fry (They Was Rockin')
18 Dark Muddy Bottom
19 When A Man Gets The Blues
20 Betty And Dupree
21 (Come Back Baby) One More Time
22 Got The Water Boiling
(A big thank you to original poster by Jukebox City)
Hi Bob. Great site. I was just thumbing thru the back pages and noticed under BILLY LEE RILEY that - at the top - you're using a photo of the great CHARLIE GRACIE. Surprised no one said anything in the last eight years. LOL Thank you. -- SteveR, Philadelphia
Thanks Steve. That Google image serach for you. I note that the link expired 8 years ago too.
can re-up if required.
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