R.I.P Billy Lee Riley

The rockabilly world lost one of its longest standing members yesterday when Billy Lee Riley died of cancer at age 75.

Riley, born in Pochahontas, Arkansas, began his career at Sun Records in Memphis at the same time as Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Preseley, Carl Perkins, and Roy Orbison. While he had a couple of hits along the way, most of Sun's promotional clout was put behind these other artists, and Riley was out of music for much of the 1960s and 1970s. He returned to the scene during the rockabilly revival of the late 1970s and early 1980s and performed regularly for the next twenty years before poor health forced him off stage a few years ago.

With Riley's passing the number of "original" rockabilly singers grows even smaller, so if I can borrow a line...

Here’s tae us.
Wha’s like us?”
Gie few and they’re a’ deed!
Mair’s the pity.