William Everett Justis Jr. (October 14, 1926 – July 16, 1982)[1] was an American pioneer rock and roll musician, composer, and musical arranger, best known for his 1957 Grammy Hall of Fame song, "Raunchy".
Justis was born in Birmingham, Alabama, United States,[3] but grew up in Memphis, Tennessee and studied music at Christian Brothers College (high school department) and Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana.
[3] Released in September 1957, his song "Raunchy" was the first rock and roll instrumental hit, and its popularity was such that it reached #2 on the American Billboard chart by three different artists, Ernie Freeman for Imperial, and Billy Vaughn on Dot.
[3] He played saxophone on the soundtrack for the 1964 Elvis Presley film, Kissin' Cousins and that same year took over as manager of the singing group, Ronny & the Daytonas.
Justis also wrote the scores for several films including Dear Dead Delilah (1972), Smokey and the Bandit (1977), Hooper (1978), The Villain (1979), and Island Claws (1980).