Bill Justis

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Bill Justis was an American saxophonist, trumpeter, arranger and producer, born on 14 October 1926 in Birmingham, Alabama. He grew up in Memphis and studied music at Christian Brothers College and at Tulane University in New Orleans, where he played with jazz and dance bands. In 1951 he returned to Memphis and joined Sam Phillips at Sun Records. There he recorded his own music and wrote arrangements for Sun artists such as Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash and Charlie Rich, whom according to the source he discovered.

Music and breakthrough

His best-known piece is Raunchy, released in September 1957. He wrote it together with Sid Manker. It is the first rock 'n' roll instrumental to become a hit. It reached number two in the United States in three versions, alongside those of Ernie Freeman and Billy Vaughn, and later entered the Grammy Hall of Fame. A second hit was College Man. In 1961 he moved to Nashville, where he became a producer and arranger for pop and country artists at Monument and Mercury. He played saxophone on the soundtrack of the Elvis film Kissin' Cousins in 1964 and wrote music for films, including Smokey and the Bandit in 1977. In Australia he had a number one in 1963 with Tamoure.

Influence

Justis built the bridge between the early rock 'n' roll of Sun and the Nashville studios. With Raunchy he showed that a saxophone and a sharp guitar without a singer could make a hit. He died in 1982 in Nashville.

Listening

Discography

Studio albums

• 1963Bill Justis Plays 12 Top Tunes
• 1963Telstar / The Lonely Bull
• 1967The Eternal Sea
• 1969Raunchy & Other Great Instrumentals