Billy Lee Riley, Sun Records and Rockabilly Musician, Dies at 75

AUGUST 4, 2009 TAGS: MUSIC, 1950S, ROCKABILLY ADD A COMMENT

Billy Lee Riley was a studio musician at the legendary Sun Records in Memphis in the 1950s, backing such greats as Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins. He went on to score some hits of his own and earning the adoration and respect of musicians for generations to come.

Riley died on Sunday, August 2nd. He was 75.

Billy Lee Riley

From the Washington Post’s obituary:

Mr. Riley recorded for the Memphis-based record label Sun Records, which discovered and nurtured such talents as Lewis, Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley. The Sun label originated a style known as rockabilly, a hybrid of country music and jump rhythm-and-blues. While not as well-known as others on the label, Mr. Riley was cited by Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen as among their favorite performers from that era.

He was best known for the 1957 regional hits "Flying Saucers Rock'n'Roll" -- which inspired the name for his backup band, the Little Green Men -- and "Red Hot," both with Lewis on piano. The songs were later recorded by rockabilly revivalist Robert Gordon, who closely copied Mr. Riley's arrangements and got the song "Red Hot" onto the national charts in 1978.

The Memphis Commercial Appeal calls Riley, the "Lost Giant" of the Sun Records roster, an artist whose versatility and promising start was, unfortunately, eclipsed by Jerry Lee Lewis and his hit "Great Balls of Fire." Riley played on the recording of that track and executives at Sun decided to invest the company's promotional energies towards Lewis rather than Riley:

One of Memphis' truly unique rock and roll characters, Riley is considered by many to be Sun Records' lost giant. A true multi-threat, he possessed the myriad musical gifts of Carl Perkins, the unhinged spirit of Jerry Lee Lewis, and the punkish insouciance of Elvis Presley -- yet fate never rewarded Riley beyond cult acclaim...

Despite this promising start, Riley's commercial fate was sealed after Sun put its promotional efforts behind Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire" -- a song Riley played on -- which zoomed up the charts and past his own follow-up single "Red Hot."

Riley’s growling voice and somewhat menacing demeanor helped define the gruff edges of early rockabilly, a genre that served as a steppingstone for the emergence of Rock ‘n’ Roll as a national music.

From the 1990s and early 2000s, rockabilly took hold a niche genre that boasted millions of devoted fans spanning the globe. With greaser pompadours and crisp, cuffed blue jeans, rockabilly revivalists saw Riley’s proficiency across instruments and genre defining voice as two factors that helped Sun Records expand.

Here’s Riley performing in 2003 at the Old Style Weekend in Uddevalla, Sweden, a yearly festival.