Bill Black's Combo - The Memphis Scene (2018) [Hi-Res]

By the time this album came out on Mega Records in 1971 all the core members of the Bill Black's Combo that scored a number of instrumental hits in the 1960s were long gone. In fact leader Black had died of a brain tumor in 1965, at age 39.

Black, of course, was the bass player on all the early Elvis Presley recordings for Sun and the first sides that Elvis recorded for RCA Victor.

Black formed his own combo in 1959 and scored a number of instrumental hits, among them Smokie, Part 2, White Silver Sands and Don't Be Cruel.

The band heard on The Memphis Scene is under the direction of producer Larry Rogers, who had opened a Memphis recording studio, Lyn Lou Studio, with Black in 1962. Saxophonist Robert Gladney is the only musician identified on the album, although road manager and bassist Bob Tucker, who joined the combo in 1963 and had taken over leadership of the group after Black's death, likely also was part of this recording.

The Memphis Scene retains the basic sound of the classic Bill Black's Combo of the '60s, but adds a few funk elements as well.

Bill Black's Combo

Digitally remastered