Bill Black
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William "Bill" Patton Black, Jr. (September 17, 1926 - October 21, 1965), is an American musician.
Born in Memphis, Tennessee, in July of 1954, Bill Black played bass ('slapped/rockabilly' upright double) with guitarist Scotty Moore while Elvis Presley sang "That's All Right (Mama)" in a Sun Studios session in Memphis that is considered a seminal event in the history of Rock and Roll.
Bill black would go 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", "Hound Dog", "Too Much" and "Jailhouse Rock" during the late 1950's.
After leaving Presley he had a subsequent career as the leader of Bill Black's Combo which made a number of commercially successful instrumental records in the early 1960s.
He died of a brain tumour in 1965 at the age of thirty-nine and is buried in "Forest Hill Cemetery" in Memphis Tennessee.
External links
- Rockabilly Hall of Fame (http://www.rockabillyhall.com/BillBlack1.html)
- MSN Entertainment (http://entertainment.msn.com/artist/?artist=132505)
- AllMusic Guide (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=UIDSUB040407052139390018&sql=B6au67ur0h0jg)