Bill Black

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William Patton Black Jr. (born September 17, 1926 in Memphis , Tennessee , † October 21, 1965 ibid) was an American musician. He became known as the bass player in Elvis Presley's first band , the Blue Moon Boys . He had his greatest success in the early 1960s with his Bill Black Combo .

Career

Another member besides Elvis Presley (vocals, rhythm guitar) and Bill Black was Scotty Moore (melody guitar). Bill Black previously played with Scotty Moore in the Starlite Wranglers . The creation of the B-side of Elvis' first hit "That's Alright Mama", "Blue Moon of Kentucky", allegedly goes back to Bill Black, who sang the Bill Monroe song in high falsetto during the recording session in the Sun Records studio , whereupon Presley adapted the song in this way.

After breaking up with Presley on September 21, 1957, Bill joined a band from Memphis that was soon renamed the Bill Black Combo . The members of the instrumental band were until 1961: Bill Black (bass), Carl McVoy (piano), a cousin of Jerry Lee Lewis , Martin Wills (saxophone), Reggie Young (guitar) and Jerry Arnold (drums).

This formation had their first hit with Smokie (Part II) in 1959. The following single, White Silver Sands , was the only top 10 hit of the group with a 9th place, which was able to land six top 20 hits in a row between December 1959 and April 1961. Between 1959 and 1962 the group was able to place eight hits in the top 40. The albums Solid And Raunchy (1960) and Let's Twist Her (1961) reached places in the top 40 of the LP charts.

In 1964, Bill Black's combo was with the Beatles on their first American tour.

Bill Black died in 1965 of complications from a brain tumor at the Memphis Baptist Memorial Hospital. 12 years later, his former bandmate Elvis Presley was also to die here of heart failure.

Trivia

Bill Black's double bass is now owned by ex-Beatle Paul McCartney, who received the bass as a birthday present from his wife Linda McCartney in the late 1970s. The bass is u. a. seen in the video clip for McCartney's song "Baby's Request", in which Linda McCartney plucks the strings . In the documentary "The World Tonight" Paul McCartney gives his version of "Heartbreak Hotel" to Black's bass.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Laufenberg, Frank / Hake, Ingrid: Rock and Pop Lexicon. Vol. 1: ABBA - Kay Kyser . Düsseldorf / Vienna: Econ Verlag, 1994, p. 138
  2. ↑ Pareles, Jon / Romanowski, Patricia (Eds.): The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia Of Rock & Roll . London: Rolling Stone Press / Michael Joseph, 1983, p. 44
  3. ↑ The single, catalog number Hi 2018, reached number 17 and received a "Golden Record". The single chart listings according to: Whitburn, Joel: Top Pop Singles 1955-1993 . Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Ltd., 1994, p. 51
  4. ↑ Catalog number Hi 2021
  5. ^ Whitburn, Joel: The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Hits . 7th revised and expanded edition. New York City, New York: Billboard Books, 2000, p. 66
  6. ↑ Catalog number HI 12003
  7. ^ Catalog number Hi 12006; the LP was also released in Great Britain with catalog number London SAH-U 6222
  8. ↑ For the LP discography see: Tilch, KD: Rock LPs 1955-1970. Vol. 1: AE . 3rd ext. Hamburg: Taurus Press, 1990, pp. 138f
  9. ^ Whitburn, Joel: Top Pop Albums 1955-1996 . Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Ltd., 1996, p. 81

literature

  • Laufenberg, Frank / Hake, Ingrid: Rock and Pop Lexicon. Vol. 1: ABBA - Kay Kyser . Düsseldorf / Vienna: Econ Verlag, 1994, p. 137f
  • Pareles, Jon / Romanowski, Patricia (Eds.): The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia Of Rock & Roll . London: Rolling Stone Press / Michael Joseph, 1983, pp. 44f
personal data
SURNAME Black, Bill
ALTERNATIVE NAMES William Patton Black Jr.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American musician
DATE OF BIRTH September 17, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH Memphis , Tennessee
DATE OF DEATH October 21, 1965
Place of death Memphis , Tennessee