Billy Lee Riley plays the Blues and RocknRoll, and he plays them well. He ought to, he has been doing it for over 40 years. Billy started his music career playing the blues on the back porches of the plantations where he grew up in rural Arkansas. He was just a kid at the time but it shaped the music that he would eventually write and record.
In the 50s Billy Lee Riley met Sam Philips, Sun Records, and he began recording for the Sun label. The band was called Billy Lee Riley and The Little Green Men and they made RocknRoll history. They were so good that their work may be heard on much of what Sun delivered because they backed about everybody that came through the door.
Now 40 some odd years later Billy Lee is still going strong. He had two hit CDs in the past three years and he is performing all over the world. His music is flavored by the strong Blues influence of his childhood and the raucus, fun loving music of the birth of RocknRoll. His latest CD on his own Sun Up label is entitled Shade Tree Blues.
If you love the Blues and old time RocknRoll then Billy Lee Riley is your man. His harp work is second to none and his song writing is world class. Go see him the next time he comes to town and let the Blues grab you.
Billy Lee Riley Live - Photos and Review
Billy Lee Riley On Delta Musicians
Shade Tree Blues
The Billy Lee Riley Story - His Autobiography
The Rockabilly Hall of Fame
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