Bill Riley Rockabilly Hero
Abstracts, Hards, rockabilly, Tom Hilborn January 23rd, 2010
This colorful, joyous abstract painting of Bill Riley by Tom Hilborn draws in its audience by its playfulness and touch of humour.
Bill Riley was one of the original American rockabilly musicians, born October 5, 1933 in Arkansas.
This is a short history of his claim to rockabilly fame from Rockabilly.net.
In the 1950s, Bill Riley:
“…recorded Flying Saucer Rock and Roll which was his first hit record. Recording at Sun Studio’s in Memphis, Tennessee, Riley ended up backing up many of the performers who came through the door to do session work at Sun. His guitar and harmonica work was called into play for any performer without a band. Joining him during these sessions were Roland James and J.M. Van Eaton. These three formed a group called the Little Green Men the name drawn from Riley first hit.”
I’ve included a second painting by Tom Hilborn of Bill Riley in this posting which gives you another perspective into Tom’s artistic vision of this “Hard” from the Saints and Hards collection. This is a darker view of Bill Riley. If you wish to read more about Bill Riley, go check out the website: Rockabilly.net, the ultimate source for rockabilly information.
I wish Bill Riley could see these works of art. There ain’t no Saints here.
