![]() Rocking around with Bill Haley & His Comets (1957)īy John Grande of Bill Haley’s Comets – Radio & TV Mirror, February 1957 Taken together, they offer some interesting behind-the-scenes takes on what it was like to have screaming success during the early days of rock. His account, written for the old-school entertainment fan magazine Radio & TV Mirror, offers a unique look at the early days of rock ‘n’ roll, comin’ to you direct from the 1950s.Īlong with several rarely-seen photos, Johnny shared how the band got together, their musical inventions, and what life was like for the group when they were on tour.Īfter that, you’ll find a 1970 interview with Mr Haley, when he took a look back at his career, and talked about his ongoing plans. So what’s the story with Bill Haley & His Comets? Where did they come from - and where did they go?īelow are insights from two people: one of the guys who was in the Comets, and then Bill Haley himself.įirst up is an article by Johnny Grande, the piano player/accordionist in the band. The Beatles’ John Lennon would one day go on record saying, “I had no idea about doing music as a way of life until rock and roll hit me.” And what exactly was it that hit him? “ Rock Around The Clock.” David Gilmour from Pink Floyd said the same song probably had something to do with him picking up his first guitar. And when we say big time - it was on fire.Įlvis would soon look up to him. In fact, Bill Haley was turning 30 as his musical career hit the big time. On July 9, 1955, this rollicking two-minute tune was the first rock and roll recording to hit the top of Billboard’s Pop chart.įamous follow-ups included “Shake, Rattle & Roll” and “See You Later, Alligator.”īut the ride to the top wasn’t direct, and it wasn’t smooth. That’s because they are the group behind one of the first huge rock and roll hit songs, “Rock Around the Clock.” However, according to the report, police said they had brought him there several times after finding him wandering late at night.Though the name might not be up there in lights as bright as Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, and Chuck Berry, Bill Haley & His Comets certainly deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence. Once, according to a wire service report, a reporter went to his house and was told he never lived there. In recent years, little was heard from the entertainer who was one of the founding fathers of rock. Haley's count they made 37 hit records, including "See Ya Later, Alligator," "Shake, Rattle 'n Roll," and "Rock 'a Beatin' Boogie." After their star seemed to fade in this country, they went abroad, and found new and equally eager audiences. Haley and his group won hordes of howling, screaming, irrespressibly enthusiastic fans. Haley and the Comets recorded "Rock the Joint," "Real Rock Drive" and "Crazy, Man, Crazy." Throbbing with energy and exuberance, the latter, according to music historians, was, in 1953, the first rock record to become a national pop hit. "Rock Around the Clock," which sold more than 16 million copies within 15 years of its release, was not his first rock release. As a young man he had a group billed as Bill Haley and The Four Aces of Western Swing and later he and his band were called Bill Haley and The Saddlemen. While in high school in Pennsylvania, he started playing country music. Haley sometimes described as the first white rock singer, was born in Highland Park, Mich., a Detroit suburb, and moved as a child to Booth's Corner, a small southeastern Pennsylvania town. This was a new music for kids who hadn't had any of their own. "That's when the mob scene started - thousands of kids at the stage door. "Actually, it had been gathering momentum and when we made 'Rock Around the Clock' it just exploded. "People associate the beginning of rock 'n roll with 1954," Mr. But few individuals or groups did more to introduce rock to the popular music audience, or to ignite the explosion with which it blazed its way into the world's consciousness. Haley died of natural causes.īill Haley and the Comets, with their loud, pulsating sound, did not invent rock 'n roll, whose roots have been traced to country music and to black rhythm and blues. The precise cause of death was not known, but a justice of the peace said that Mr. Police said he was found dead in his bed about 12:35 p.m. Haley, who with his group, the Comets, sent teen-aged film audiences into frenzy when they played the song over the credits of the movie "Blackboard Jungle." had lived for some time in relative seclusion in a fashionable neighborhood of Harlingen in the Rio Grande valley. Bill Haley, 53, who helped make rock 'n roll a major part of the American musical idiom with his 1950s classic "Rock Around the Clock," died yesterday in his home in south Texas.
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