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William Patton "Bill" Black, Jr. (September 17, 1926 – October 21, 1965) was an American musician....

William Patton "Bill" Black, Jr. (September 17, 1926 – October 21, 1965) was an American musician. He is noted for being Elvis Presley's bassist. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, and one of nine children, Black played bass ('slapped/rockabilly' upright double) with guitarist Scotty Moore, while Elvis Presley played rhythm guitar and sang "That's All Right (Mama)" in a Sun Studios session in Memphis that is considered a seminal event in the history of rock and roll. As the oldest of the nine children in the not well-to-do household (his father was a motorman for the Memphis Street Railway), Black first played music on a cigar box with a board nailed to it and with strings attached made by his father. The Black family entertained itself and Bill's father would play the banjo and fiddle, "A hoedown, 'Old Joe Clark', Sally Good'n, whatever was popular then." By the age of sixteen Black was playing in local bars and clubs which were beyond the notice of polite middle class society. Live music was a big attraction at these working class establishments. Bill played acoustic guitar in a mixture of sounds that he described as "honky-tonk music": danceable pop, country standards, and jump blues.