From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Tue Sep 17, 2002  1:17 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Bill Black
 
BILL BLACK (By Tony Wilkinson)

Born William Patton Black, Jr., 17 September 1926, Memphis, Tennessee

Died 21 October 1965, Memphis, Tennessee.

Bill is course justifiably famed the world over as being one of the sidemen to
accompany Elvis Presley when the latter set out to conquer the music world back
in 1954. But that is far from all there is to this accomplished musician as he
was the backbone of the fledgling Hi Records label and indeed he is credited
with saving that company from going belly up as a result of the commercial
success with his Bill Black Combo recordings

The story has often been told of how Bill, Scotty Moore and Elvis were
attempting to find a sound in the Sun studio when suddenly Elvis launched into
what subsequently became the recordings of 'That's All Right Mama' and 'Blue
Moon Of Kentucky' and Sam Phillips jumped for joy. However Elaine Dundy in her
excellent book 'Elvis and Gladys' suggests that this spontaneous eruption
actually came about from long periods of rehearsals between the boys outside the
studio. Whatever, Bill's contribution to the eruption of rock 'n' roll that
swept all before is of paramount importance. In the television appearances by
Elvis in 1956, it is Bill who is seen acting the showman behind Presley whilst
Scotty is picking the rockin' strings.

Born William Patton Black Jnr. near Memphis, he was blessed with a dad who was a
locally renowned fiddle player and when Bill was given a guitar by a neighbour,
he was off and rolling. He left school at the age of sixteen and found
employment in the local freight yards. He lived with his parents on Alabama
Street, Memphis, and a short distance away from the Presley family. After
completing a stint in the US armed forces, Bill returned to Memphis where, as a
double bass player, he linked up with guitarist Scotty Moore and the pair became
part of the Starlite Wranglers band.

When Sam Phillips set about launching the career of Elvis, he enlisted the aid
of Scotty and Bill. Eventually the sound and style gelled and magical music
began to be recorded in the studio at 706 Union Street, Memphis. Bill played on
nearly all of the Sun recordings and was out on the road with Presley
barnstorming across the southern states. It has been written by others that
Scotty and Bill were partners with Elvis in the early days but be that as it
may, they eventually became session players and sidemen, especially after
Presley signed with Col. Tom Parker and RCA Victor Records. Eventually Black and
Moore left Presley after a dispute over money. Whilst Scotty was to find his way
back to Elvis eventually, Bill never played with Presley again during his
lifetime.

After the aforementioned severance, Scotty Moore linked up with Slim Wallace at
Fernwood Records and Bill was found playing on quite a few of the early sides
cut for the label. Hi Records was founded in 1957 by Joe Cuoghi, in partnership
with the likes of Ray Harris and Bill Cantrell as a subsidiary company to his
Popular Tunes chain of record shops. The early records issued by the label were
generally commercially unsuccessful but that was all to change in 1959 when the
Bill Black Combo was formed from local session musicians. Conjecture has it that
initially it may have been intended to call the outfit the Reggie Young Combo
but as Bill's was the far better known name, it was he who fronted the band. The
initial line-up included the aforementioned guitarist Reggie Young, Martin
Willis on sax, piano player Joe Louis Hall and Jerry Arnold on drums. They were
signed to Hi Records and the instrumental 'Smokie Parts 1 and 2' was issued. The
rift came from Reggie's guitar but all the players joined in. In 1961, Bill
Black was quoted as saying that the tune was 'not so much a composition as just
a blues idea or a way of playing'. Nevertheless the medium paced, bass heavy
shuffle sides, which are listed as being solely composed by Black, took off and
reached position #17 on the national pop charts and topped the R&B chart for
four weeks in 1960.

After the session, Martin Willis opted for a session fee rather than a
percentage take of the sales whilst Joe Louis Hall wanted money to pay his
electricity bill. They were replaced by Ace Cannon on sax and Carl McVoy on
Piano/Hammond organ. This is the classic line-up that can be seen in the movie
'Teenage Millionaire' (incidentally, the two Bill Black Combo recordings on the
soundtrack album issued by (US) Ace Records are not by Bill but by a soundalike
band lead by Bill Robbin, who also had releases on Pink and MGM Records). The
follow up to 'Smokie' was 'White Silver Sands, ' which peaked at #9 on the
national charts - the Combo's biggest hit.

From here on, it was hit after hit and album release after album release. All
had that indefinable unique chugging beat and were often led by Ace Cannon's sax
playing and a piping organ. The line-up of the Combo was never that stable and
other musicians involved included bassist Tommy McClure, drummer Sammy Creason
and trumpet player Willie Mitchell. For the touring versions of the Bill Black
Combo, different sets of musicians were used. It is said that at one time, there
were five versions of the Combo on the road. One of these came to the UK as
support on the first Tom Jones national tour.

However Bill was not recording exclusively for Hi as he founded his own Louis
label. It was here that the first issued version of 'Tuff' by Ace Cannon was to
appear, although he and Johnny Berneo had attempted the tune at Sun previously.
Another release on Louis was 'Lover Please' by Dennis Turner, which also came
out on the London label in the UK. The arrangement was very very similar to that
subsequently used on the hit version by Clyde McPhatter.

Come 1962, Bill went into semi-retirement due to failing health and by 1964 had
ceased all recording activities. He was diagnosed as suffering from a brain
tumor and went through two operations but a third was called for which had
possibilities of turning him into a vegetable. Bill Black declined and died in
1965 aged 39 after turning over the reins of the Bill Black Combo to Bob Tucker.
Now known as Bill Black's Combo, the outfit continued for many years. After Hi,
the band recorded for Mega and Columbia and made some recordings as road albums.
A title of one of Bill's album's sums it all up neatly, 'The Untouchable Sound
Of The Bill Black Combo' - indeed a sound that went around the world.

Suggested Listening:

There have been numerous Bill Black Combo compilations over the years but
recently (UK) Hi Records have packaged up all his Hi label albums, complete with
some singles only tracks, in a series of mid-priced releases.

Hi Records HILO 171 - 'Saxy Jazz + Solid And Raunchy'

Hi Records HILO 172 - 'That Wonderful Feeling + Movin'

Hi Records HILO 173 - 'Bill Black's Record Hop (Let's Twist Her) + The
Untouchable Sound Of The Bill Black Combo'

Hi Records HILO 174 - 'Bill Black's Greatest Hits + Bill Black's Combo Goes
West'

Hi Records HILO 175 - 'Bill Black's Combo Plays The Blues + Bill Black's Combo
Plays Tunes By Chuck Berry'

Hi Records HILO 176 - 'Bill Black's Combo Goes Big Band + More Solid And
Raunchy'

Hi Records HILO 177 - ' World's Greatest Honky Tonk Band + Award Winners'

See also: http://www.rockabillyhall.com/BillBlack.html