William Patton "Bill" Black, Jr. (September 17, 1926 – October 21, 1965) was an American musician. Events 1176 - The Battle of Myriokephalon is fought 1462 - The Battle of Świecino (or Battle of Żarnowiec Year 1926 ( MCMXXVI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1512 - Martin Luther joins the theological faculty of the University of Wittenberg. Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the He is noted for being Elvis Presley's bassist. A bass player (bassist is a Musician who plays a Double bass, Bass guitar, keyboard bass or wind
Born in Memphis, Tennessee, and one of nine children, Bill Black played bass ('slapped/rockabilly' upright double) with guitarist Scotty Moore while Elvis Presley played rhythm guitar and sang "That's All Right (Mama)" in a Sun Studios session in Memphis that is considered a seminal event in the history of Rock & Roll. Memphis is a City in the southwest corner of Tennessee, and the County seat of Shelby County. The double bass is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed String instrument used in the modern symphony orchestra. A guitarist is a Musician who plays the Guitar. Guitarists may perform solo pieces or play with ensembles and bands of a wide variety of genres Winfield Scott "Scotty" Moore III (born December 27, 1931 near Gadsden Tennessee) is a legendary American Guitarist and Rhythm guitar is the use of a Guitar to provide Rhythmic chordal Accompaniment for a singer or other instruments in a Musical ensemble " That's All Right (Mama " is the name of the first single released by Elvis Presley, written and originally performed by blues singer Arthur Crudup. The Sun Sessions is a compilation of Elvis Presley recordings at Sun Studios in 1954 and 1955 The name Despite the program's popularity the name "History of Rock & Roll" was never Trademarked As a result there are various items on the market that bear
In the early-1950s, the Black family lived in Lauderdale Courts housing complex in Memphis. Several of the Black children attended Humes High School at the same time as Elvis although Bill had already left home for the army by this time. Military service in its simplest sense is service by an individual or group in an Army or other military organization whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary Ken R. Black, the youngest of the Black children, associated with Elvis, who was a year behind him at Hume. Kenneth Ray Black ( 1934) is a Memphis, Tennessee, sign painter
Bill Black went on to play double bass on early Presley recordings including "Good Rockin' Tonight", "Heartbreak Hotel", "Baby Let's Play House", "Mystery Train", "That's All Right (Mama)", "Hound Dog", and eventually became one of the first bass players to use the Fender Precision Bass guitar in popular music on "Jailhouse Rock" in the late 1950s. " Heartbreak Hotel " is a Rock and roll song performed by Elvis Presley, with Bill Black ( bass) Scotty Moore ( " Mystery Train " is a song written by Junior Parker and Sam Phillips. " That's All Right (Mama " is the name of the first single released by Elvis Presley, written and originally performed by blues singer Arthur Crudup. " Hound Dog " is a Twelve-bar blues written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and originally recorded by Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton The Fender Precision Bass (sometimes shortened to the " P Bass " is an electric bass guitar, and was the first widely-available model of the instrument " Jailhouse Rock " is a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller that first became a hit for Elvis Presley.
Bill, Scotty, Elvis and drummer D. J. Fontana toured extensively during Presley's early career. Dominic Joseph Fontana (born March 15 1931 in Shreveport Louisiana) is an American musician best known as the Drummer for Elvis Presley for Bill was an extrovert and often "clowned" and did comedy during the live shows. Bill and Elvis had a couple of comedy routines together that they would slip into the live show from time to time. Stand-up comedy is a style of comedy where the performer speaks directly to the audience with the absence of the theatrical " Fourth wall " A concert is a live Performance, usually of Music, before an Audience. Bill's on stage personality was a sharp contrast to the introverted stage presence of Scotty Moore. This balance seemed to be the perfect fit for the Presley performances.
Bill's personality would often "warm" the audience to the band in the early live shows. Elvis' unusual and very active stage presence was not always easily accepted. Bill's comedic personality would often relax the audience and win them over to their side.
Black continued to work with Presley until 1958, leaving his band in large part due to disputes over financial terms. A recording contract (commonly called a record deal) is a legal agreement between a Record label and a Recording artist (or group where the artist He and guitarist Scotty Moore had taken one-quarter of the royalties at the outset of Presley's career, but even after Presley had rocketed to stardom with RCA starting in 1956, Colonel Tom Parker had them on a mere 200 dollars/week wage. "Colonel" Tom Parker (born Andreas Cornelis (Dries van Kuijk on June 26, 1909 &ndash January 21, 1997) was
Although guitarist Scotty Moore would eventually work with Presley again, Black never did, joining a Memphis group that evolved into Bill Black's Combo in 1959. Their instrumental "Smokie," released late that year, made the Top Ten.
Bill Black's Combo stuck to the formula of "Smokie" for many of their subsequent singles: a basic shuffle beat, simple bluesy R&B riffs, and some rinky-dink organ and smoky saxophone lines on top. In Music, a riff is an Ostinato figure a repeated Chord progression, pattern refrain or melodic figure, often played by the Rhythm The organ (from Greek όργανον – organon "organ instrument tool" is a Keyboard instrument of one or more divisions each The saxophone (commonly referred to simply as sax) is a conical- bored transposing Musical instrument considered a member of the Woodwind They weren't too imaginative, but they were quite successful, placing eight singles in the Top 40 between 1959 and 1962, including "White Silver Sands", "Josephine", "Don't Be Cruel", "Blue Tango", and "Hearts of Stone". Their sales were greatly boosted by the suitability of their instrumental rock for background music at bars, clubs, and diners, with many of their discs placed in jukeboxes.
Black died of a brain tumor in 1965 at the age of thirty-nine and is buried in Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee. A brain tumor is any intracranial Tumor created by abnormal and uncontrolled cell division, normally either in the Brain itself ( Neurons Elvis received criticism for not attending his funeral; however Elvis believed that his presence would turn the funeral into a media frenzy. A funeral is a Ceremony marking a person's Death. Funerary customs comprise the complex of Beliefs and practices used by a Culture to remember Media circus describes a News event where the media coverage is perceived to be out of proportion to the event being covered such as the number of Reporters at the He decided instead to visit the family privately after the service to express his condolences.
After Bill's death, the Combo continued touring and recording under the same name for a number of years, led by their tenor saxophone player Ace Cannon, who continues a solo career to this day. John "Ace" Cannon (born 5 May 1934 in Grenada, Mississippi) is an American Saxophonist.
Bill Black's bass is today owned by ex-Beatle Paul McCartney who received the bass as a birthday present from his late wife Linda McCartney in the late 70's. The Beatles were a pop and rock band from Liverpool, England formed in 1960 Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE (born 18 June 1942 is an English rock Singer, Bass guitarist songwriter Composer, Linda Louise McCartney (née Eastman, formerly See, September 24 1941 – April 17 1998 was an American Photographer, Musician and The bass can be seen in the video clip to McCartney's song "Baby's Request". In the documentary film "The world tonight" Paul McCartney can be seen playing the bass and singing his version of "Heartbreak Hotel".
See also
External links
- Rockabilly Hall of Fame
- MSN Entertainment
- AllMusic Guide
- http://www.geocities.com/shakin_stacks/billblack.txt
- http://www.hirecords.com/artists/billblack.htm
- Elvis Directory
- Blackie - Bill Black & Elvis
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