I am ashamed to admit my interest in and knowledge of Mr. Riley was extremely limited until recently. My classmate and pal at Redondo Union High School, Tony Garnier, toured with Robert Gordon's band right after the remake of "Red Hot", which was my first exposure to that song. (After a few years in the Saturday Night Live Band Tony has been with Bob Dylan's band since I think 1992). About 10 years ago i got a K-Tel rockabilly collection (yes, i actually own a K-Tel record) specifically for an amazing Carl Perkins song called "Kitty Put Your Cat Clothes On". Also included was the Billy Lee Riley version of "Red Hot". K-Tel is NOT known for their extensive liner notes - there were none in this collection - so i read what little was written in my rock and roll reference books. But the recent Sun Records documentary re-ignited my curiosity in Mr. Riley and his music, so here i am. '92's "Blue Collar Blues" has some great stuff, but i read about, and am now searching for, a double-CD collection on the Charly-UK label called "Red Hot Riley". Anyone heard of it, anyone have it, anyone know where and how to find it? Thanks.

If anyone knows where I can get a copy of the Hot Damn CD please email me and let me know. My mother is dying to have this CD, and man she has looked at all the new and used stores for it with no luck. Any help will be greatly thanked. By the way, great music Mr. Riley, great music.

Great website! Thanks for keeping real rock n roll alive!

Need email address to send photos of you at the King Biscuit. Also, need email or phone to discuss contract about photos which I gave you. Keep Rockin'

mr rilley i may be 26 but i hate the largest part of modern music. it has broken so far away from its roots the music is a joke and the lyrics or ironic. the best music came out before i was born but my mother intrudeced me to the better music of yesterday. i had the oppurtunity to see jerry lewis in green bay last may unfurtunatelly he cancelled due to illness. but you made the show well worth while and you handled things very well under the circumstances. the show was great and i bought shade tree at the show very happy w/ it and it stays true to its roots, its what music is all about.

Interesting site,but I couldn't find the song "got my mojo working"on Mercury label. I was searching for the year of recording it. Greetings Ad.

Hello Mr.Riley, you were in Washington D.C.in August at the Smithsonian Museum. Great interview and great music,but what really put the day over the top, after your performance my wife and I sat down to a great brunch. You came over sat down and talked with us about life experiences. You signed posters and really made us feel special, like we were the only people in the room and the room was packed..We took pictures with you at the book and CD signing, you were very gracious!! Met your wife , daughter and her male companion and they were nice also.The CD is GREAT but your kindness will last forever! Many Thanks!! Terry and Teresa Turner PS.Love the black and white gator shoes:-)!!

My brother introduced me to your music recently and I am now an avid fan, particularly of your later work like Shade Tree Blues and Blue Collar Blues. I also have Rockin' Fifties and Red Hot albums and enjoy them, too. I have searched the world over trying to purchase one copy of the May 1997 release of Hot Damn! I've heard only clips of it on various websites and would love to add it to my collection of your work. If you know of any location where it is still available or if it will be re-released soon is it possible to be notified via email? It would be appreciated more than you'd ever know! Thank you! And thanks for making music that makes me want to get up and move - I can't sit still and listen at the same time! Jean

Hi Billy, Pete here in Pittsburgh w/ Ray Condo & the Ricochets. Hi...long time, no see. Hope to play w/ you again. Happy trails, Pete

Hi: I'm from Argentina, have 19 years old and I'm a great fan of Mr. Jerry Lee Lewis, but I'll like to swap songs of Riley. I'm going here because in the stores there's nothing interesting, althoug I would like to have some of the new cds. Any interest mail me and I can send Elvis or JLL material. David

I read the note about Marvin Peppers playin bass. I remember him and J.M vANEATON. There was a real tall fellow leading the band named Gene Stafford,the band was called the Echoes.They played at the parvillion at Overton Park alot. Good old days.

MY WIFE AND I HAD THE PLEASURE OF WATCHING BILLY LEE PERFORM IN WHITTER AND SAN DIEGO CA. AWESOME PERFORMANCES! "A THOUSAND VOLTS OF CONCENTRATED ENERGY" IS A TERM THAT I READ IN A BOOK (DESCRIBING BILLY LEE RILEY). IT STILL APPLIES.

I SENT YOU A NOTE AND SOME OF IT MESSED UP. I WAS TELLING YOU THAT MARVIN PEPPERS PLAYED BASS ON YOUR HIT RECORDS.READ NOTE TO YOU FROM ME BELOW THANKS...

HI BILLY..YOU HAVE COME A LONG WAY IN THE ROCK-N-ROLL MUSIC. BUT YOU ARE LEAVING OUT A VERY IMPORTANT PERSON THAT HELPED YOU TO GET THERE. I'M REFERING TO WHO PLAYED BASS FOR YOU ON ALL YOUR HIT RECORDS.. ALSO GENE STAFFORD HAD THE BAND BEFORE HE JOINED THE NAVY..J.M VAN EATON AND MARVIN PEPPERS WERE THE ONES THAT MADE THE HOLLERING IN RED HOT & FLYING SAUSERS..PLEASE WHEN YOU TELL ABOUT YOUR MUSIC DON'T LEAVE THESE GUYS OUT. THEY WERE A PART OF IT TOO..KEEP ON ROCKIN'.~+~

Hey, Riley, Thanks for filling in for the Killer in Green Bay, Seattle and in France and Switzerland. The fans are getting MORE than they ever expected with your rockin' butt on the bandstand! I hope that you will be in Memphis at the end of September when I make it there, but I look forward to seeing you at Lincoln Center in a few weeks.... Look out for me! xxxk

You can come by car, boat, flying saucer or donkey's back -- but make sure you've got plenty of gas, because you don't wanna miss this show! Next Saturday -- June 23rd -- the original white boy bluesman "Red Hot" Billy Lee Riley is cooling his heels at the Center for Southern Folklore in downtown Memphis TN. Rock with him, baby -- the classic Sun sideman will be playing a rare acoustic guitar set -- and Oxford, MS-based Tyler Keith & the Preacher's Kids are opening the show at 8:00 sharp. Bring your wallets, coz the show costs $10 advance/ $12 at the door -- and there'll be plenty of cold beer on ice. C'mon down and check out the white boy blues at the Center's new-ish location in Pembroke Square at Peabody Place. Rock it, roll it, just do it -- mark your calendar coz there's no excuse for missing this one! Call 901.525.3655 for details, or check out www.southernfolklore.com for more info. Wanna learn more about the Preacher's Kids? Go to www.romeohood.com Wanna help with the Center for Southern Folklore's 14th Annual Music & Heritage Festival, to be held this Labor Day weekend? Come to a volunteer meeting Tuesday, June 19th at 6:00 PM.

Thanks Billy for the great show .You were great !!! Hope too see you again at the Golden Key Claire

Dear Billy,thanks so much for the excellent shoe you put on last week in Green Bay. MY son and i drove 275 miles from iowa to see Jerry Lee and discovered you instead!I loved Joel and the Scotsman!! Use those boys again. Thanks for everything. Please think about doing a show in Iowa Also my house is your house.God bless you!!

red hot show in green bay, wisconsin and mostly because billy lee played two full sets after Jerry Lee was "stricken". God Bless BILLY LEE RILEY leonard

I really really enjoyed his performance last month in the Netherlands. I'd never thougt I would have seen him play in my live... He played there with the Tin Cans which are a really good band. It was an experience I'll never forget...

Hi there, I'm very glad to tell you the full C.D. "Rock Bop Jump & Hop" from The Billygoat Riders is just out!!! For those who doesn't already know, the Billygoat Riders is a (country-)rockabillyband from Bruges, Belgium. Visit www.billybop.be and click on Rock Bop Jump & Hop (or on Rockabilly) to look and listen!!!! Enjoy it! Yves

I just bought "Red Hot" and am totally floored!!! I keep playing "Rock with Me" over and over again. The song has inspired me to learn rockabilly licks on my Telecaster. Please come back to L.A.! I'll be the guy in the audience with the black "Sun Records" t-shirt. Culver Saloon sadly is no more so you'll have to find another venue.

WOW! Ril, I just read your interview and did you tell it like it was. My fondest memories performing in the 50's were with you. We had a lot of fun! I really appreciate your not forgetting your old Sax Man and the comments made. Even though most people have thought me to be long dead, you found me and let the world know that "Willie" is still around and might even play again. Who knows what might have happened if Red Hot & Flying Saucer Rock & Roll had been as big as their potential. You are still my favorite performer that I backed up both on recordings and live performances. I look forward to reading that book.

Just got on the net, what a shock to see your name! We cover a few of your songs,maybe get to see you one time, Liverpool have been waiting for you,COME ON OVER!!! STYX

Anything by Billy Lee Riley is and will be appreciated by Johtaja.

Hi Billy... Luv your sound since I am a Baby..and now, I'm 22 years old, and I've got almost the same looks as you had in the 50's..funny, isn't it? Sincerley Nick a.k.a. Tricky Nicky

I heard my first Billy Lee Riley record in about 1977. It was Flying Saucers Rock n Roll. It came on a compilation along with Jerry Lee Lewis tracks and many others, including Warren Smith, Carl Perkins etc. I bought the Legendary Performers album then the Sun Sessions, both Charlie Label I think. Before we had the internet I often wondered what ever became of this wonderful performer. I had no idea fo where or who to write to. The world is now a much smaller place and I find that I have missed so many tours in England and Europe. When is the next Europe/England tour planned?

I agree with Gaz Allen,I don´t think I´ve ever enjoyed playing with a rockabilly vet,as I did with You Billy. I´ll never forget it,Thanks and bop on bloke !

Great to see you on the web. It has been a long time since the Domino Club, Whisky a Go Go, Albany Ga. Valpariso Fl.etc. I enjoyed playing bass for you then, and finding a few artists. There is no other better Delta blues artist who lived it and played it like you. You will always have my deepest respect. Your long lost friend......Roger(Jose)Gutierrez...

Great to see you on the web. It has been a long time since the Domino Club, Whisky a Go Go, Albany Ga. Valpariso Fl.etc. I enjoyed playing bass for you then, and finding a few artists. There is no other better Delta blues artist who lived it and played it like you. You will always have my deepest respect. Your long lost friend......Roger(Jose)Gutierrez...

I saw you in L.A. at The Culver Saloon, with Ray Condo and the Ricochets. The greatest double-bill of all time. Billy Lee Riley RULES

GREAT TO SEE A PAGE DEDICATED TO ONE OF THE BEST ORIGINAL ROCKERS I HAVE EVER HAD THE PLEASURE OF SHARING A STAGE WITH.

Dear Billy, I think that you fit right up there with the greatest Rock n' Rollers of all time! I wish you could make it down here to Atlanta. I'm sure all of us will love you down here. If you do show up in Atlanta, I won't be able to see you-you'd probably do a fif a a bar (I'm not old enough to go into a bar). Anyway I'm honored to have signed your guestbook

Dear Billy,

I can't wait for the show in December...I think I might go nuts waiting....Billy Riley you rock my world!!

Hey I'm kickin myself in the ass cause I missed you in Memphis,When will you grace Tennessee again? Oh yeah I love Is that all to ball Mr.Hall.Rock

hi billy good luck with the new cd your buddy dave _ (at) _zany sounds promotions england

Hope to see you on a West Coast tour soon. Mary

Hello from KC....Glad you are still rocking...Thanks for playing bass on the Alton and Jimmy Sun #323 back in good old days!!!! We are proud to say that you, Roland and Jimmy Van are on that 45...thanks again and the very best to you!!! Alton Lott

Great to hear that a new Billy Lee Riley record is coming out! Hope I have 20 bucks left after I fix the swagmobile, I'll order one. If you ain't heard Billy Lee Riley yer ears ain't diddley-squat. We're with ya, Billy!

Great site! I enjoyed it! Keep rockin' Billy Lee! Jimmy

Billy Lee Riley is the hard-rockin', testifyin', blues and early rock monster! I sure wish you'd come out to Southern California soon, Billy. You'd KILL 'EM!! Many blessings, T-Ray

Alright Billy! Keep rockin buddy, Detroit's listenin man, hope to see you out here!!

GREAT TO FIND ANOTHER PAGE DEDICATED TO BILLY LEE RILEY. BACK IN 1979 I HAD THE PLEASURE OF BEING HIS ORIGINAL BASS PLAYER IN EUROPE WHEN WE TOURED ENGLAND, GERMANY, FRANCE, HOLLAND AND BELGIUM WHERE WARREN SMITH WAS WAITING TO MEET BILLY FOR THE FIRST TIME IN AROUND 20 YEARS. THEY PUT ON A WONDERFUL SHOW. I MET UP WITH BILLY IN NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE IN MARCH THIS YEAR AND SAW HIM PUT ON ANOTHER TREMENDOUS PERFORMANCE. UNFORTUNATLY I CAN'T MAKE CHICAGO, NOV 6TH, BUT IF YOU DO AND YOU CATCH A WORD WITH HIM, PLEASE GIVE HIM MY BEST WISHES. I ALSO HAD THE PLEASURE OF BACKING SONNY BURGESS IN 1984 AT A ROCK N ROLL WEEKENDER AT WEYMOUTH, ENGLAND. IT WAS ONLY ONE SHOW AND ALTHOUGH HE PROBABLY DOESN'T REMEMBER JOHNNY AND THE ROCCOS FROM BACK THEN, PLEASE ALSO PASS ON MY BEST TO HIM. THANKS AGAIN FOR THE INTERESTING WEB SITE. KEEP ROCKIN' IAN

BILLY LEE RILEY IS ONE OF THE GREAT UNCROWNED KINGS OF ROCK AND ROLL. THE "GREAT MINDS"OF THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME SHOULD DO THEIR HOMEWORK AND NOMINATE SUCH LEGENDS, RATHER THAN NOMINATING SUCH NON-ROCK AND ROLLERS AS JOHNNY CASH, ARETHA FRANKLIN, ETC....

does anyone know something about Riley`s `69 album? I`ve been looking for it desperately, I only know these 3 songs: "Sun Goin` Down on Frisco", "Workin` on the River" and "Pilot Town Lousiana". I`m grateful for any information.

Does anyone know what it takes to get Billy Lee to tour Australia?

I knew Billy Lee in Atlanta and Nashville early '70's. Where is he now? Arkansas?

Has someone got the lyrics of "Flyin' saucer rock and roll" and "Red Hot" ? Thank you.