Bill Black's Combo

I was going to write that this is an obscure album by an obscure group, but googling it and finding several references has convinced me otherwise. Apparently Bill Black’s Combo still lives (though I bet you’ve never heard of them) and so does the early 60s best of collection, called Bill Black’s Greatest Hits.

Bill Black played bass, and his was the ba-doop ba-doop ba-doop you heard on Elvis’ Sun recordings. He put together this group in the late 50s, and they put 18 records on the top 100. The last was in 1968, 3 years after Black died. The groups’s recordings are pretty similar, they all pretty much have the same chop chop rhythm, and they highlight sax, organ, and piano variously. Never guitar.

Bill Black's Combo

• Do It - Rat Now – From the spring of 1963.
• Josephine – From the summer of 1960.
• Rollin’
• Hearts Of Stone – The Jewels’ / Charms / Fontane Sisters / Blue Ridge Rangers hit. From the winter of 1961.
• Yogi
• White Silver Sands – Their biggest hit, from the spring of 1960.
• Blue Tango – A hit for Les Baxter. From the winter of 1960 / 1961.
• Willie
• Ole Buttermilk Sky – From the summer of 1961.
• Royal Blue
• Don’t Be Cruel – Black revisits the Elvis hit. From the fall of 1960.
• Smokie – Part 2 – For some inexplicable reason, the group redid this song for their Greatest Hits album. It’s way faster than the original.
• Smokie – Part 2 – The original. From early 1960.