William Patton Black Jr. (September 17, 1926 – October 21, 1965)[1] was an American musician and bandleader who is noted as one of the pioneers of rock and roll.

Black learned to play music at the age of 14 on an instrument made by his father—a cigar box with a board nailed to it and strings attached.

Along with two other guitarists and a fiddler, they performed country music tunes by Hank Williams and Red Foley in Doug Poindexter's band, the Starlight Wranglers.

[5] In July 1954, Sam Phillips, of Sun Records, asked Black and Moore to play backup for the as-yet-unknown Elvis Presley.

[9] During the break, Presley began "acting the fool" with Arthur Crudup's "That's All Right (Mama)", a blues song.

[15] Moore and Black left the Starlite Wranglers after the success of "That's All Right", jealousy within the group forcing them to split.

Over the next 15 months, the trio released five singles, toured across the South, and appeared regularly on the Louisiana Hayride.

They had auditioned for the Grand Ole Opry in October 1954, but they failed to impress the people in charge, or the audience, and were not invited back.

Except for the RCA reissue of "Mystery Train" and "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" ("with Scotty and Bill"), they were no longer credited on record labels.

The balance fit the group's performances.According to Black's son Louis, Moore said, "Elvis used to just stand up there and not move, and Bill would jump around on the bass.

The lineup was Black (bass), Joe Lewis Hall (piano), Reggie Young (guitar), Martin Willis (saxophone), and Jerry Arnold (drums).

On sax, Ace Cannon took over touring duties from Willis who remained in Memphis for the studio work and movie appearances.

The Combo appeared in the 1961 film Teenage Millionaire[25] and on The Ed Sullivan Show, where they performed a medley of "Don't Be Cruel", "Cherry Pink", and "Hearts of Stone", and were voted Billboard's number one instrumental group of 1961.

[citation needed] Bob Tucker and Larry Rogers purchased Lyn-Lou Studios after Bill Black's death in 1965.

Early in 1963, Black sent from two to five different versions of the Combo to different regions of the country at the same time, while staying off the road himself, wanting to concentrate on his business, family and his health.

Bill Black's Combo created musical history in 1964 when they became the opening act for the Beatles (at their request) on their historic 13-city tour of America after their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

[3] Bill Black's Combo cut more than 20 albums, toured the United States and Europe and won awards as the best instrumental group in America in 1966 and 1967.

Black's main stand-up bass is today owned by ex-Beatle Paul McCartney, who received the instrument as a birthday present from his wife Linda in the late 1970s.

Actor Elliott Street portrayed Black in the TV movie Elvis, starring Kurt Russell.

Actor Blake Gibbons portrayed Black in the short-lived 1990 TV series Elvis, starring Michael St. Gerard.

In 2005, Clay Steakley portrayed Black in the 2005 CBS miniseries Elvis, starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers.