atSunasSam’sassistantproducer.Rileydelivered
the self-penned
RockWithMeBaby
andbothhe
and JackClementwerenowonSunRecords.
RockWithMe Baby
and
Trouble Bound
did
not set theworldalightbutnow thatBillywas in
the building, he quickly made himself almost
indispensable to Phillips. He recruited his own
band, initially comprising Riley himself on
rhythmguitar,RolandJanes(leadguitar),JMVan
Eaton (drums) andMarvinPepper (bass). Later
PatO’Neill replacedPepper,MartinWillis (sax)
was added and for a brief period a young piano
player, Jerry Lee Lewis was hired, before
Whole
LottaShakin’Goin’On
senthimspinningoff into
the big time and JimmyWilson took over the
piano stool.
The reason that Riley was becoming
indispensableatSunwas thathisbandorvarious componentsof itwere increasinglyutilisedby
Phillips to back other artists, including Jerry Lee Lewis, RoyOrbison, Charlie Rich, Barbara
Pittman and Bill Justis as well as a whole host of unknowns. Countless, now long forgotten,
audition and demo sessions took placewhich all helped to pay the bills but were notmaking
Billy a star.What he reallyneededwas ahit recordof his own.
ItwasBilly ‘Lee’ Riley’s second and third releases onSunwhichprovided the indisputable
evidence that he should have been destined for stardom.
Flyin’ Saucers Rock ‘n’ Roll
, a novelty
rockerwith lyrics on the topical subject ofUFOs, was cut at the Sun studiowith JerryLee on
6
