Huge thanks to Testify for nudging me on this. I had seen that he passed but Testify sent me this photo which he took when Billy Lee Riley and others came to London's Barbican for the 'It Came from Memphis' season in 2005.
Associated Press announcement about his passing here.
Read Testify's post about Billy Lee Riley here.
6 comments so far:
The documentary Good Rockin' Tonight brings together a lot of Sun people. Billy Lee gets right in Sam Phillips' face at one point, accusing him of boosting others over him. Sam didn't deny it, exactly, but did indicate he had only so much cash and had to boost the record that had the biggest chance at success. More here: http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/25256/t/Sun-Records-artist-Billy-Lee-Riley-Flying-Saucers-Rock-n-Ro.html?page=-1
Dig my post about Riley's passing featuring a killer '60s clip of the man himself... Rest in peace, Billy Lee.
http://achillesinthealleyway.blogspot.com/2009/08/sun-sets-again.html
I dug it; I dig it. Fantastic blog!
Thanks, Tom... Love your blog (have you linked up too).
I first heard Red Hot as a cover on Beatles bootleg, they didn't nearly do it justice.
Riley's best records are far wilder than anything released these days. He was the genuine article.
Ad . . . as occurred to me the other day . . . another Sun Records titan Jerry Lee has outlived.
There's something to be said for being touched by the angel of the bottomless pit, I guess
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