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Billy Harlan | Kentucky Life | KET

3,351 views · Published 1 August 2013 · 6:57 · Indexed 21 October 2026

Channel: KET - Kentucky Educational Television · 2013 · Music

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Billy Harlan's rock and roll musical career took him around the world and into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, and then back home again to Muhlenberg County in Kentucky. 

Born in Martwick in 1937, Harlan grew up in a county that nurtured musicians like pioneering guitarist Merle Travis as well as Harlan contemporaries Don and Phil Everly. Harlan pursued his music while employed as a radio disc jockey in the 1950s. He and Royce Morgan joined "Gentleman Jim" Reeves to form the original Blue Boys Band. Success took them to Nashville's Grand Old Opry and a European tour. Harlan hit the charts by himself with his first single, "I Wanna Bop," a 1958 hit.

Harlan sang that song last year in Las Vegas for the first time in 50 years. His new CD, appropriately named "Let's Keep the 50's Spirit Alive," includes "I Wanna Bop," "Schoolhouse Rock," and "I Ain't Elvis." Harlan and Royce Morgan perform together today, honoring the late Jim Reeves with a new band they've named Blue Boys Two.

Harlan now makes his home in Greenville, where he serves on the city council. Kentucky Life paid a visit to the Merle Travis Center in Powderly for a performance by Harlan.

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