Bill Black would've been 80 today. :dance:

 

William P. Black, "Blackie", was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on Friday, 17th September 1926. He would grow up to be a well built man, standing around the six foot mark. Like Elvis', and many other families of the period in the south, his family wasn't a rich one. Apart from Bill, there were younger brothers Johnny, "Jack" (who would also become a musician), and Kenny, and sister Mary-Ann. Their mother, Ruby, and the family at one time lived in the same Lauderdale Courts housing project, in Memphis, as the Presley's. Indeed, Ruby and Gladys are said to have been on friendly terms (I have found no reference to Ruth's husband and the childrens father). Bill had left home before the Presley's moved into the building. While he had been doing his military service in Virginia in the mid-40's, Bill had met 18 year old Evelyn. They married a year later, in 1946. Eventually they would have three daughters, Nancy, Louise, and Leigh-Ann. Returning to Memphis, following his stint in the U.S. army, Bill worked at Firestone Tyres and Ace Appliance Co., plus played in one or two local groups, before joining up with the Starlight Wranglers.

The Starlight Wranglers were a Sam Phillips group. Scotty met Sam in 1952, after the guitarist had come out of the U.S. navy. His day job at the time was cleaning and blocking hats at his brothers' dry cleaning firm. Bill was with the group for almost three years before Elvis came on the scene. At the time Doug Poindexter was the featured vocalist. With Scotty as leader, they issued the Sun single "Now She Cares No More For Me"/"My Kind Of Carrying On" (SUN 202), on Saturday, 1st May 1954.

Following Elvis' early sessions, solo visits to the Memphis Recording Service, to cut two personal acetates, Sam had Scotty arrange for the young singer to come over to his home for a try-out session. Scotty also had Bill come by later in the session, which is said to have taken place on Sunday afternoon, 27th June 1954. The meeting lasted something like two hours. After Elvis had left, Scotty asked Bill what he thought. Bill replied, in his typical blunt style, "Well, he didn't impress me too damned much!" Sam Phillips remembers that he one time warned Elvis that Bill was this way, and would be likely to get in his face from time to time, tell him he was no good or couldn't sing, "But that was just Bill's way. Don't pay him no mind."

Despite any misgivings Bill might have held after that first short meeting, the two began to work with Elvis in the tiny studio at 706 Union Avenue, an address they were destined to make world famous. According to Evelyn Black, in those early days, both Bill and Scotty done much to teach the nervous young singer his stage-craft, the way he would stand at the mike, and also some of the ways to move.

After various attempts at songs, the group "stumbled upon" the sound which gave them "That's All Right (Mama)", on Tuesday, 6th July 1954. Following on from that number, it's said to have been Bill who jumped up and started to mess about on "Blue Moon Of Kentucky", the eventual B-side to their first single. He plucked like crazy at the strings of his 'dog house', and sang the lyrics in a high falsetto voice, bringing both amusement and inspiration to those present. The single version, like most of his Sun work, features fine bass work from Bill.

http://www.talentondisplay.com/rocvlBlack1961.JPG

http://www.kki.pl/elvisal/plat/bill_black.jpg

http://www.fiftiesweb.com/elvis-bill-scotty.jpg

Happy Birthday Bill :D Another one we lost at an early age :(

 

Here's a link to the Australian Elvis site, where there's a great article on Bill :D

 

http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/article_blackie.shtml

Happy Birthday Bill :D Another one we lost at an early age :(

 

Here's a link to the Australian Elvis site, where there's a great article on Bill :D

 

http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/article_blackie.shtml

 

 

Interesting article thanks Carole :D