THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 15, 1994 TAG: 9412150047
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SUE SMALLWOOD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
``THE SUN RECORDS Collection'' is an essential document of experimentation in a variety of genres, from blues and gospel to country and rock. But the boxed set hardly reflects the entire Sun story.
Rockabilly pioneer Billy Lee Riley's rough and raunchy Sun singles seemed the stuff of surefire hits, with rasping vocals and thrashing, proto-metal guitars. But they never quite dented the charts. Riley blames Sun chief Sam Phillips for promoting Jerry Lee Lewis instead.
His bitterness is understandable: On Riley's fiery ``Flying Saucer Rock and Roll,'' a then-unknown Lewis pounds piano behind him. The song is included in the box set, along with his snarling read of ``Red Hot.''
``I had no qualms about Jerry Lee making it, or Johnny Cash or anybody,'' Riley says from Arkansas. ``I wish we all could have made it. And we could have, we could have been one of the best stables of artists on a record label of our time.
``Sam just dropped (promotion on) all of us: Dropped Cash, dropped Perkins and me and Roy Orbison and Warren Smith. Sam wound up with Jerry Lee, and that's about all he had . . . and you know Jerry Lee's story.''
Though Riley's innovative material is now being acknowledged through the Sun set, he alleges non-payment of royalties by Sun International, the entity that owns all of the Sun master recordings. Riley is organizing a coalition of similarly peeved Sun veterans to pursue litigation.
He is still making music, though. Riley's ``Blue Collar Blues'' came out in 1992, and there's a new album in the can. He has written material and opened shows for Bob Dylan, and he says he will be recognized by the Smithsonian Institution in a forthcoming American music history exhibit.
This year, he was honored on a different scale by Hampton resident Erik Mielzarek, who was so moved by Riley's wildcat stylings that he released the 7-inch single ``A Tribute to a Legend,'' featuring Riley on guitar and harmonica.
Mielzarek, 23, was introduced to Riley's music by a family friend, the outlandish hillbilly bluesman singer and pianist Billy Wirtz.
``We would cruise up and down the back country roads of West Virginia in the '64 Plymouth with the push button gears and listen to either Elvis or Billy Lee Riley,'' Mielzarek recalls.
`` `Red Hot' and `Flying Saucer Rock and Roll' were the things to listen to, those were my main tunes. Even at 4 and 5 years old, Moon Pies, grape soda and Billy Lee Riley was kind of my life.'' MEMO: Main story on page E1.
``A Tribute to a Legend'' is available for $6 from BSC Records, 2509 E.
Pembroke Ave., Hampton, Va. 23664. For more information, call 851-5641. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Billy Lee Riley is still bitter over not becoming a star.
by CNB