The “Golden Hits Of The 50s” 

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BILL JUSTIS

“RAUNCHY”

(Bill Justis, Sidney Manker)

Philips 3519

No. 2    December 16, 1957

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Little Billy (b. William E. Justis, Jr., October 14, 1926, Birmingham, AL) and his family moved to Memphis

when he was five.  Father was an affluent roofing contractor; Mother was a concert pianist; under her

influence and prodding, Bill took to tooting on the sax.  In 1951. he formed his first dance band when he

was 15.  After gathering some postgrad credits, he worked as the music director at Tulane University in New

Orleans, and did choral arrangemenu for Arirona University.  He moved to Memphis and married in 1954.

Quite soon thereafter, Justis realized that extra money was needed.  He kept dropping  in on Sam Phillips’s

Sun Studios, hoping to interest the–soon to be colossally legendary–record man with his abilities.

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“Justis, man, he was the first hip-talkin’ cat that I ever heard,” recalled Phillips in an interview with Mean

Mountain Music magazine.  “He’d repetedly come by the studio at 706 Union and play these little dangle

deals,  ‘Two Step,’ ‘Soft Shoe,’ ‘Be-Bop’… I never really took him serious.  I don’t know why.  I guess I

thought he was a joke.  I think everyone did.  In my opinion, the guy’s a genius.  He’s just been misdirected,

all his life, until he cut ‘Raunchy.'”

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Phillips finally flagged and hired the cool dude with the honkin’ sax to be his music director at

Sun/Phillips.  In that role, Bill arranged and led the studio bands for Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis,

and the rest.