Episode 57 of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs dives deep into “Flying Saucers Rock ‘n’ Roll” by Billy Lee Riley and the Little Green Men, using this electrifying track as a launchpad to explore the fascinating intersection of 1950s flying saucer mania and the burgeoning world of Rock And Roll Songs. This isn’t just about a novelty tune; it’s a story about cultural paranoia, musical innovation, and the unsung heroes who shaped the sound of early rock and roll.
A jukebox, with the words
The 1950s: When Flying Saucers Landed in Popular Culture and Music
To truly understand “Flying Saucers Rock ‘n’ Roll,” we need to step back into the 1950s, a decade gripped by a unique form of anxiety: the fear of alien invasion. Hollywood was churning out sci-fi classics, often campy but reflective of genuine cultural fascination, with titles like “Flying Disc Man From Mars” and “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers” dominating double features. This wasn’t just cinematic escapism; it mirrored a real preoccupation with the unknown, fueled by Cold War tensions and the dawn of the space age.
The term “flying saucer” itself gained widespread traction in June 1947, sparked by Kenneth Arnold’s now-legendary sighting of disc-shaped objects in the sky. Arnold, a pilot from Minnesota, was seen as a credible witness, lending credence to the phenomenon. His account ignited public imagination, with interpretations ranging from religious zealotry to genuine belief in extraterrestrial visitors. The lack of official explanations further fueled the flames, pushing many towards the extraterrestrial hypothesis as the most plausible answer.
Adding to the intrigue, the Roswell incident in July 1947, involving a crashed nuclear test monitoring balloon, became intertwined with the flying saucer narrative. Government cover-ups, intended to conceal the balloon’s true purpose, ironically amplified alien conspiracy theories. This all unfolded against a backdrop of nuclear paranoia, as the US and Russia raced to develop space programs, overtly for exploration but covertly for missile technology. The launch of Sputnik, for instance, triggered genuine fear, as exemplified by Little Richard’s reported terror, blurring the lines between science fiction and unsettling reality. In this climate, the idea of flying saucers and alien encounters didn’t seem so far-fetched, and this cultural backdrop became fertile ground for rock and roll songs seeking to capture the zeitgeist.
From Memphis Garage to Sun Records: The Launchpad for Rockabilly Sounds
This pervasive cultural fascination with flying saucers inevitably seeped into the music scene. Novelty records like “The Flying Saucer” by Buchanan and Goodman, which pioneered sampling techniques, and Ella Fitzgerald’s whimsical “Two Little Men in a Flying Saucer” emerged, reflecting the lighthearted side of the craze. But it was in the raw, rebellious energy of rockabilly that the flying saucer theme found a truly unique and electrifying expression, exemplified by Billy Lee Riley’s “Flying Saucers Rock and Roll,” a standout track amongst early rock and roll songs.
Billy Lee Riley’s journey to rock and roll stardom was far from conventional. After a stint in the army and a failed restaurant venture in a rough part of Memphis, Riley’s musical break came unexpectedly on Christmas morning 1955. Hitchhiking to his parents’ house, he picked up Cowboy Jack Clement and Ronald “Slim” Wallace, musicians with dreams of starting their own record label. Intrigued by their ambition, Riley ended up driving them much further than intended, forging a connection that would alter his musical trajectory.
Clement and Wallace, despite lacking formal studio experience, were determined. Wallace, a truck driver, would finance the venture, and Clement, a jack-of-all-trades ex-Marine and aspiring writer, would convert Wallace’s garage into a recording space. Before their studio materialized, a drunken Christmas Eve escapade led to Clement’s arrest, and his subsequent hitchhiking journey with Wallace back to Memphis resulted in their encounter with Riley. Impressed by Riley’s country singing aspirations, they invited him to be their first artist on Fernwood Records, their yet-to-be-built label. In the meantime, Riley joined their band, earning a modest income while they honed their sound.
By May 1956, Clement had acquired recording equipment but hadn’t yet transformed the garage. Impatience led them to rent studio time at a local radio station. With a band including seasoned drummer Johnny Bernero and guitarist Roland Janes, they recorded “Rock With Me Baby,” intended as Fernwood’s debut single. To master the track, they turned to Memphis Recording Services, still operated by Sam Phillips of Sun Records, even amidst his growing success.
Phillips, upon hearing “Rock With Me Baby,” recognized its potential. He offered Clement a deal: sell the master to Sun and come work for him instead. Clement agreed, leaving Wallace to manage Fernwood, and became a pivotal figure at Sun, second only to Phillips, producing iconic sessions for Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis. His first task was to produce a B-side for Riley’s single, as Phillips rejected their initial choice. The result was “Trouble Bound,” a “Heartbreak Hotel” inspired track that satisfied Phillips and became Riley’s debut Sun single, launching his career into the vibrant scene of early rock and roll songs.
“Flying Saucers Rock and Roll”: A Sound from Outer Space Takes Off
Riley and the musicians from his initial sessions became Clement’s core team for backing Sun’s burgeoning stars. Roland Janes, in particular, became a ubiquitous name on Sun records from mid-1956 onwards. Riley also contributed to numerous sessions, primarily on harmonica but also on guitar, bass, and piano. A notable example is Riley’s accidental guitar chord at the end of Jerry Lee Lewis’s debut single, “Crazy Arms,” a mistake that Sam Phillips famously embraced and included in the final release, highlighting the raw, spontaneous energy that defined early rock and roll songs.
Jerry Lee Lewis, even before his own stardom, was a force of nature, constantly impacting the careers of those around him, including Riley. Lewis joined Riley’s band on piano, alongside Janes and drummer Jimmy Van Eaton, becoming a regular fixture in Sun sessions. While Lewis’s story is for another episode, his influence on Riley’s career is undeniable, constantly pushing his way into the narrative even before his own spotlight moment arrived.
The pivotal moment for “Flying Saucers Rock and Roll” came when Roland Janes brought a song written by his friend Ray Scott to Riley. Riley loved the track, a rock and roll tune about flying saucers, but Phillips felt it needed something extra – an otherworldly sound. Sun Studios lacked sophisticated effects, relying mainly on Phillips’s custom reverb system. However, Janes’s guitar had a relatively new feature: a tremolo bar, recently introduced on the Fender Stratocaster.
Phillips instructed Janes to maximize the tremolo effect, adding copious amounts of reverb. The result was a soundscape that perfectly captured the song’s extraterrestrial theme. As Greil Marcus aptly described it, “one of the weirdest of early rock ‘n’ roll records – and early rock ‘n’ roll records were weird!” Indeed, “Flying Saucers Rock & Roll” stands out as an exceptionally strange and innovative recording, even within the context of Sun Records’ already unconventional output of rock and roll songs.
Alt text: Energetic performance of Billy Lee Riley, a rockabilly pioneer, possibly with The Little Green Men, embodying the raw energy of early rock and roll songs.
Upon hearing the track, Phillips exclaimed, “Man that’s it. You sound like a bunch of little green men from Mars!” This spontaneous reaction led to the band’s name: Billy Lee Riley and the Little Green Men. They even acquired matching green suits from Lansky’s on Beale Street, further cementing their quirky, space-themed image. These suits, while visually striking, proved impractical for Riley’s energetic stage performances. His shows were legendary for their wildness, including piano-top dancing and near-disastrous stage dives, highlighting the physical demands of early rock and roll songs performances.
“Red Hot” and the Rollercoaster Ride of Fame
Riley’s next single was a cover of Billy “the Kid” Emerson’s blues track “Red Hot,” originally based on a schoolyard chant. While “Flying Saucers Rock and Roll” gained local traction but missed national charts, Riley was confident that “Red Hot” would be his breakthrough into mainstream success, solidifying his place among prominent rock and roll songs artists.
“Red Hot” was recorded around the same time as “Flying Saucers Rock and Roll,” or shortly after, and showcased Riley’s raw vocal power and the band’s tight rockabilly instrumentation.
[Excerpt: Billy “the Kid” Emerson, “Red Hot”]
[Excerpt: Billy Lee Riley and the Little Green Men, “Red Hot”]
Despite heavy promotion by influential DJs like Dewey Phillips and Alan Freed, “Red Hot” remained a regional hit, dominating Memphis airwaves but failing to chart nationally. This regional success created a localized illusion of national fame, as Memphis musicians like Jim Dickinson later realized, surprised to find the song unknown outside their hometown bubble.
Undeterred, Riley and his band continued recording for Sun, both under their own name and as backing musicians. They contributed to Hayden Thompson’s version of “Love My Baby,” another rockabilly take on a Sun blues classic, credited to Thompson “with Billy Lee Riley’s band [and] Jerry Lee Lewis’ ‘pumping piano’,” further showcasing their integral role in the Sun Records sound and the broader landscape of rock and roll songs.
However, Riley grew increasingly suspicious of his stalled career trajectory. “Red Hot,” he believed, should have been a national hit. He began to suspect that Sam Phillips was intentionally prioritizing him and his band as session musicians for Jerry Lee Lewis and others, rather than pushing Riley as a solo star. Riley later claimed to have witnessed stacks of orders for “Red Hot” being redirected to Jerry Lee Lewis records by Phillips, and recalled being pulled from a potentially career-boosting tour, replaced by Lewis.
Fueled by frustration and alcohol, Riley confronted Sam Phillips’s girlfriend, Sally, at Sun Studios, leading to a heated outburst and a hole punched in a double bass. Sally, alarmed, called Phillips, who calmed Riley down, denying any deliberate sabotage. Phillips reassured Riley, stating that “Red Hot” simply “ain’t got it” and that he was “saving you for something good.” In that moment, Riley, temporarily placated, felt like “the biggest star on Sun Records!”
This feeling was fleeting. Like many Sun artists before him, Riley sought stardom elsewhere, signing with Brunswick Records. He recorded “Rockin’ on the Moon,” a space-themed follow-up to “Flying Saucers Rock & Roll,” produced by Owen Bradley, a track that some speculate influenced Joe Meek’s later sonic explorations.
[Excerpt: Billy Lee Riley, “Rockin’ on the Moon”]
“Rockin’ on the Moon” also failed to chart, and Riley eventually returned to Sun, though his trust in Phillips was irrevocably damaged. He continued recording for Sun and other Memphis labels under various pseudonyms and with different bands. He played harmonica on “Shimmy Shimmy Walk” by the Megatons, a popular instrumental track, showcasing his versatility beyond vocals and guitar in the realm of rock and roll songs and instrumentals.
[Excerpt: The Megatons, “Shimmy Shimmy Walk Part 1”]
Riley also indirectly contributed to the development of Booker T and the MGs’ iconic instrumental “Green Onions.” During a session at Stax Studios in 1962, Riley was in the control room when the musicians began jamming on a twelve-bar blues progression that would become a cornerstone of instrumental rock and roll songs.
[Excerpt: Booker T and the MGs, “Green Onions”]
From Wrecking Crew to Dylan’s Embrace: A Rock and Roll Legacy Endures
Ultimately, Billy Lee Riley’s solo stardom remained elusive. He pivoted to session work, moving to Los Angeles and becoming part of the legendary Wrecking Crew, contributing harmonica to hits like The Beach Boys’ “Help Me Ronda” and Dean Martin’s “Houston,” demonstrating his adaptability across genres, even beyond traditional rock and roll songs.
[Excerpt: The Beach Boys, “Help Me, Ronda”]
[Excerpt: Dean Martin, “Houston”]
After a couple of years in LA, Riley returned to the South, continuing to record, but often finding his songs overshadowed by other artists’ versions. His 1971 recording of Tony Joe White’s “I’ve Got a Thing About You Baby” showed chart promise, but Elvis Presley’s subsequent cover eclipsed Riley’s version, highlighting the vagaries of the music industry.
[Excerpt: Billy Lee Riley, “I’ve Got A Thing About You Baby”]
In 1973, Riley retired from music, entering the construction industry. However, the allure of the stage proved too strong, and he returned to performing in 1979, touring Europe to enthusiastic rockabilly audiences.
In 1992, Bob Dylan, a long-time admirer, sought out Riley, inviting him to open for him and even join him onstage for performances of “Red Hot.” Dylan’s deep appreciation for Riley culminated in his 2015 Musicares Person of the Year speech, where he passionately defended Riley’s legacy. Dylan acknowledged Riley as “a true original” and lamented his categorization as a “one-hit wonder,” arguing that “sometimes, just sometimes, once in a while, a one-hit wonder can make a more powerful impact than a recording star who’s got 20 or 30 hits behind him.” Dylan highlighted the lasting impact of rock and roll songs like “Flying Saucers Rock and Roll” and “Red Hot,” and praised Musicares for supporting Riley in his later years.
Billy Lee Riley gave his final performance in June 2009 and passed away in August 2009 at the age of 75, leaving behind a rich but often overlooked contribution to the history of rock and roll songs. While mainstream fame eluded him, his music, particularly “Flying Saucers Rock and Roll,” remains a testament to the innovative spirit of early rockabilly and the enduring power of music to capture the anxieties and fascinations of a generation. His story serves as a reminder that the history of rock and roll is not just about the biggest stars, but also about the talented musicians who, even in the shadows, helped shape its sound and enduring appeal.
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