1960, repossession blues

music often hit me late ... i was still very much into elvis in 1960, had just started getting dizzy listening to ray charles' early gospel jazz, when one of rockabilly's greatest heroes (i hadn't even heard of him at the time), billy lee riley, recorded this strangely contemporary (musically and socially) wailing blues .... it was rediscovered nearly twenty years later by one of billy lee riley's greatest fans, bob dylan, who sang it in concert in 1978 (one or two rare bootlegs of his very faithful interpretation have survived) ...
billy lee started a new career lately, thanks to dylan's praise everywhere ... he appeared in good shape, white hair combed rockabilly style, but this poor cotton sharecropper's son did not live long to enjoy his late cult status ... he died in his native arkansas, on august 2, 2009 ... he's sadly missed ...