Hijo de un aparcero de Arkansas medio cherokee, Billy Lee era parte de la llamada basura blanca del sur y con solo 6 años ya tenía que estar recogiendo algodón (a esa edad empezó a tocar la armónica como distracción en los descansos). De adolescente pasaba más tiempo con los jornaleros negros que con los chicos de su edad, y de ellos fue de quién aprendió a tocar la guitarra, principalmente blues. Huyendo de la pobreza se alistó en la Marina de Estados Unidos sin tener edad para ello falsificando su partida de nacimiento en 1951. A pesar de que estaban en guerra con Corea Billy Lee sacaba tiempo para tocar, para componer canciones e incluso para grabar algun acetato en el barco, con un estilo country muy acelerado que ya presagiaba lo que habría de ser su toque rockabilly personal. En 1955 se licencía y marcha a Memphis, La Meca del rock and roll en esos dias, con un buen bagaje de composiciones propias, donde forma una banda de hillbilly llamada The Arkansas Valley Ranch Boys. Consiguieron algunas actuaciones en la radio que Billy alternaba con apariciones con un grupo de gospel. Un dia cogió a dos autoestopistas, Jack Clement y Slim Wallace, que resultaron ser dos músicos que estaban formando un estudio de grabación. Se hicieron muy amigos y juntos grabaron "Trouble bound", canción que impresiona tanto al gurú del r´n´r Sam Phillips que le ficha para su discográfica Sun. Le cambia el grupo de acompañamiento (ahora son Billy Lee Riley y sus Little Green Men, porque van siempre vestidos de verde, uno de los cuales es un joven pianista llamado Jerry Lee Lewis) y regraban "Trouble bound" en 1956, pero su primer éxito, y su canción más conocida, no llega hasta el año siguiente con "Flying saucers rock and roll", un salvaje rockabilly que gracias a una espectacular puesta en escena les convierte en el grupo revelación sureño. Lewis iniciaría su carrera en solitario gracias a los arreglos que hizo Riley para la canción "Crazy arms". En 1958 Riley graba una magnífica versión del "Red Hot" de Emerson pero Phillips no la distribuye como es debido ya que ha reservado todos los recursos de la discográfica para su nueva estrella Jerry Lee Lewis. Riley se emborracha y monta un follón en Sun que solo Phillips puede aplacar diciendole que tiene mejores planes para él. Era solo comedia, las siguientes grabaciones de Riley (no solo rockabilly sino tambien de blues y de rythm & blues) no se vendieron tampoco y rompió su contrato con Sun en 1959. Tras pasar sin pena ni gloria por otras modestas discográficas, en los ñaos 60 Billy Lee se empleó como músico de estudio para otros artistas, así fue el guitarrista del éxito de Herb Alpert "The lonely bull", y el fantástico armónica de "Houston" de Dean Martin, del "Help me Rhonda" de los Beach Boys o del "But not for me" de Sammy Davis Jr., aparte de otros acompañamientos para gente como Ricky Nelson o Johnny Rivers.
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Son of a half-Cherokee Arkansas sharecropper, Billy Lee was part of the so-called southern white trash and by the time he was 6 years old he had to be picking cotton (at that age he started playing the harmonica as a distraction during breaks). As a teenager he spent more time with black day laborers than with boys his age, and it was from them that he learned to play the guitar, mainly blues. Fleeing poverty he enlisted in the United States Navy without age to do so by falsifying his birth certificate in 1951. Although they were at war with Korea Billy Lee took time to play, to compose songs and even to record some acetate on the boat, with a very fast country style that already presaged what would be his rockabilly personal touch. In 1955 he graduated and went to Memphis, the Mecca of rock and roll in those days, with a good background of his own compositions, where he formed a hillbilly band called The Arkansas Valley Ranch Boys. They got some performances on the radio that Billy alternated with appearances with a gospel group. One day he caught two hitchhikers, Jack Clement and Slim Wallace, who turned out to be two musicians who were forming a recording studio. They became very close friends and together they recorded "Trouble bound", a song that so impresses the r'n'r guru Sam Phillips that he takes him to his label Sun. He changes the accompaniment group (now they are Billy Lee Riley and his Little Green Men, because they are always dressed in green, one of which is a young pianist named Jerry Lee Lewis) and re-recorded "Trouble bound" in 1956, but his first success, and its best-known song, does not arrive until the following year with "Flying saucers rock and roll", a savage rockabilly that thanks to a spectacular staging makes them the southern revelation group. Lewis would start his solo career thanks to Riley's arrangements for the song "Crazy arms". In 1958 Riley recorded a magnificent version of Emerson's "Red Hot" but Phillips did not distribute it properly because he has reserved all the resources of the label for his new star Jerry Lee Lewis. Riley gets drunk and rides a mess in Sun that only Phillips can placate by telling him he has better plans for him. It was just comedy, the following recordings of Riley (not only rockabilly but also blues and rythm & blues) did not sell either and broke his contract with Sun in 1959. After passing without grief or glory for other modest record companies, in the ñaos 60 Billy Lee was employed as a studio musician for other artists, such as the guitarist of Herb Alpert's hit "The lonely bull", and the fantastic harmonica of "Houston" by Dean Martin, from "Help me Rhonda" by the Beach Boys or "But not for me" by Sammy Davis Jr., apart from other accompaniments for people like Ricky Nelson or Johnny Rivers.
Tracks:
1. Red Hot
2. Pearly Lee
3. Flying Saucers And Rock And Roll
4. Baby Please Don't Go
5. Searchin'
6. Betty & Dupree
7. Trouble Bound
8. Wouldn't You Know
9. College Man
10. Got The Water Boiling Baby
11. I Want You Baby
12. Swannee River Rock
13. Rock With Me Baby
14. Open The Door Richard
15. No Name Girl
16. That's Right
17. Down By The Riverside
18. Come Back Baby (One More Time)
19. Lookin' For My Baby
20. Tallahassee
1999
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