Tag: Billy The Kid Emerson

Billy Riley and The Little Green Men – Red Hot

When I wrote up Robert Gordon last week, he covered a song by this artist. Love his voice and the intensity of Sun Records. His voice is what made me listen right off the bat.

Riley grew up in rural Arkansas in the 30s and 40s. He soaked up hillbilly music, blues, and raw Southern grit. By the time he drifted into Memphis in the mid-1950s, he already sounded like someone who’d lived hard and fast. Sam Phillips loved his edge and his delivery that felt like it could veer off the rails at any moment. He cut a string of in-your-face singles, Flyin’ Saucers Rock & Roll, Trouble Bound, and of course, this 1957 song, Red Hot. Records that were made with urgency and no restraint.

It has been said that Riley was every bit as talented as his Sun peers, but timing and luck never quite lined up, leaving him almost-famous. This song should have been his ticket, but instead it became a cult classic, passed down among rockabilly obsessives. He was on the same label as Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, and Roy Orbison. Riley was competing in a house full of once-in-a-generation talent, and someone had to draw the short straw.

I love the sound of him swinging hard at the big time with his records. To hear his recordings, he gave everything he had. Decades later, this song it still jumps out of the speakers like it wants another chance, and it deserves one. History isn’t just about the winners; it’s also written by the ones who swung just as hard and never got the crown. I tend to lean toward that crowd.

The song was written by his labelmate Billy “The Kid” Emerson in 1955.

Red Hot

My gal is red hot
(Your gal ain’t doodly-squat), yeah
My gal is red hot
(Your gal ain’t doodly-squat)
Well, she ain’t got no money
But, man, she’s really got a lot

Well, I got a gal, six feet four
Sleeps in the kitchen with her feets out the door, but

My gal is red hot
(Your gal ain’t doodly-squat), yeah
My gal is red hot
(Your gal ain’t doodly-squat)
Well, she ain’t got no money
But, man, she’s really got a lot, yeah, alright

Well, she walks all night, talks all day
She’s the kind of woman who’d have her way, but
My gal is red hot
(Your gal ain’t doodly-squat), yeah
My gal is red hot
(Your gal ain’t doodly-squat)
Well, she ain’t got no money
But, man, she’s really got a lot, woah, alright

Well, she’s the kind of woman who lounges around
Spreads my business all over town, but

My gal is red hot
(Your gal ain’t doodly-squat), yeah
My gal is red hot
(Your gal ain’t doodly-squat)
Well, she ain’t got no money
But, man, she’s really got a lot, woah, alright

Well, she’s a one-man’s woman, that’s what I like
Not a wishy-washy woman, change her mind every night, but
[Chorus]
My gal is red hot
(Your gal ain’t doodly-squat), yeah
My gal is red hot
(Your gal ain’t doodly-squat)
Well, she ain’t got no money
But, man, she’s really got a lot

…

Billy (The Kid) Emerson – Move Baby Move

Happy Sunday to everyone out there reading this!

How I love these early Sun Record artists. There were more there besides Elvis, Jerry Lee, Orbison, Perkins, and Cash. The key to this song to me is that the guitar plays a hell of a rhythm through the song. The saxophone break cuts through the recording with a great solo.

In January 1954, Ike Turner brought the young Billy Emerson to Sam Philips’ attention. He would cut some great songs at Sun but not any hits. He wrote songs covered by Elvis,  Junior Wells, Willie Mabon, Wynonie Harris, and Buddy Guy.

Move Baby Move was cut in Memphis, Tennessee in October 1954 by Billy Emerson (piano and vocal), Luther Taylor (trumpet), Charles Smith (alto saxophone), Bennie Moore (tenor saxophone), Elven Parr (guitar), and Robert Prindell (drums); the song was written by Billy Emerson.

This song uses the melody of “Shake, Rattle, and Roll”, using an uptempo rocking arrangement. Emerson’s voice drives it home.

Billy Emerson: “At Sun, Sam Phillips was always wanting to hear something different, and back then I could just go away and think of something different to record overnight.” 

Sam Phillips:  “Billy Emerson wrote such great songs. He was one of the very best.”

Move Baby Move

Stop banging on the door and come on in this house
Stop banging on the door and come on in this house
Kick off your slippers and tip here quiet as a mouse

You passed by the house and I was laying here wide awake
You passed by the house and I was laying here wide awake
You’d better stop that cattin’ and give this dog a break

You gotta move, baby, move
You gotta move, baby, move
You gotta move, baby, move
You gotta move, baby, move
Well, you won’t do right and you know I ain’t no fool

You gotta go that line and watch the way you do
You gotta go that line and watch the way you do
If you don’t stop rappin’ then you and me are through

You’d better pack your rags and move on down the line
You’d better pack your rags and move on down the line
I’m tired of this jive and I won’t stop by crying

You gotta move, baby, move
move, baby, move
move, baby, move
move, baby, move
Well you won’t do right and you know I aint no fool