Bill Haley

Welcome to Rock and Roll Flashback podcasts!  
Bill Haley and his group the Comets are generally credited with first popularizing Rock and Roll in the early 1950's.  As a result of their success, they sold over sixty million records worldwide.  During the period from late 1954 to the end of 1956, the band recorded nine Top 20 singles, one of which reached number one and three that were Top Ten hits.  "Rock Around the Clock" became the best-selling rock single in the history of the genre and retained that position for many years.  I'm Bill Price, and this is their story on Rock and Roll Flashback.

All podcasts on the Rock and Roll Flashback Podcast are produced by brothers-in-law Bill Price and "Jumpin' John" McDermott. The Podcast Theme Song, "You Essay", was written by John, and the basic track was recorded by Bill and John on April 1, 2004.
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Transcript

Bill Haley and his group the Comets are generally credited with first popularizing Rock
and Roll in the early 1950's. As a result of their success, they sold over sixty million
records worldwide. During the period from late 1954 to the end of 1956, the band
recorded nine Top 20 singles, one of which reached number one and three that were Top Ten hits. "Rock Around the Clock" became the best-selling rock single in the history of the Genre and retained that position for many years. This is their story on Rock and Roll Flashback.

William John Clifton Haley was born on July 6th, 1925, in Highland Park, Michigan.
When he was four years old, Haley underwent an inner-ear operation, which accidentally severed an optic nerve, leaving him blind in his left eye for the rest of his life. Years later, he curled some hair over his right eye to draw attention away from his left eye. The curl became a trademark referred to as a “kiss curl”, a gimmick that also added to his persona and popularity. During the great Depression of the 1930s, the family moved from Highland Park, Michigan to Boothwyn, Pennsylvania. According to Haley, when he began using cardboard to simulate a guitar, his parents eventually purchased a guitar for him. When Haley was 13 years old in 1939, one of his first performances was at an entertainment event for a junior baseball team.

According to the sleeve notes from the 1956 album “Rock Around the Clock”, at the age
of fifteen, Haley left home with his guitar to seek fame and fortune. In the mid-1940s,
Bill Haley performed with a band called the Down Homers and later formed a group
called the Four Aces of Western Swing. From 1949 to 1952 the group that later became
the Comets were initially called "Bill Haley and the Saddlemen". During those years,
Haley was considered one of the top cowboy yodelers in America, going by the name of
Silver Yodeling Bill Haley. According to one account, Haley began performing as the
“The Rambling Yodeler” with the country band The Saddlemen.

Original band members were Haley, Johnny Grand on piano and accordion, Billy
Williamson on steel guitar and Al Thompson on bass. Al Rex and Marshall Lytle would
later replace Thompson. From 1952 to 1981, there would be several personnel changes
in the band, and would encompass over 100 different musicians in various positions such as recording and later reunions.

The sleeve notes also mention that Haley worked as a musical director for radio station
WPWA in Chester, Pennsylvania. Eventually, the band was referred to as Bill Haley’s
Saddlemen. The music they played emphasized the cowboy Western style. The band
performed in clubs in Philadelphia and on the radio, and by 1951 began recording at
Keystone Records in Philadelphia. Later they signed with Holiday Records, and recorded a cover of “Rocket 88” by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats. In September 1952, The Saddlemen became Bill Haley with Haley’s Comets. The name was the idea of the program director at radio station WPWA, where Haley had a live show.

In 1953 Haley recorded “Crazy Man, Crazy”, a song co written by Haley and bass player
Marshall Lytle. Haley said he heard the phrase “Crazy Man, Crazy” from his teenage
audience. It was the first Rock and Roll song to enter the charts, climbing to number
twelve on the Billboard and eleven on Cash Box charts. Then a modification to the
band’s name was made to Bill Haley and His Comets.

By 1954 Haley had a worldwide hit with a cover of Big Joe Turner’s “Shake, Rattle and
Roll”. The recording sold a million copies and also became the first Rock and Roll song
to enter the UK Singles chart, earning a gold record. With the recording, Haley was
instrumental in introducing and promoting Rock and Roll music to a broader audience.
“Rock Around the Clock” also recorded in 1954, achieved moderate success, peaking at
number thirty-six on the Cash Box singles chart for just two weeks. However in 1955, the song was to achieve number one status for eight weeks after it was featured as the theme song in the film “Blackboard Jungle”, which resulted in the song earning a gold record. “Rock Around the Clock” also went on to sell over one million copies in both the UK and Germany. Interestingly, Elvis Presley also recorded the song in 1956, however it was not a significant hit. Additional hits recorded by the band include "Don't Knock the Rock", "Rock-a Beatin' Boogie", "Skinny Minnie" and "Rudy's Rock", which was the first instrumental hit of the rock and roll era.

In 1955, original members Marshall Lytle, Dick Richards and Joey Ambrose left the
Comets due to a dispute over salaries and later formed their own group, the Jodimars.
Haley then hired new musicians to take their place featuring Rudy Pompilli on sax, Al
Rex on double bass, and Ralph Jones on drums. In addition, lead guitarist Franny
Beecher, who had been a recording session musician for Haley, became a full-time
Comet and Haley's first performing lead guitarist.

By March 1955, the band had four songs listed in Cash Box magazine’s top fifty songs,
which included “Dim Dim the Lights”, ”Birth of the Boogie”, “Mambo Rock” and
“Shake, Rattle and Roll”.

In May 1955, Bill Haley and the Comets performed “Rock Around the Clock” on the
Texaco Star Theater. Host Milton Berle predicted that the song would become a number one hit. This was one of the first nationally televised performances, featuring a Rock and Roll band, which offered a new musical genre and exposure to a broader audience. The song’s success marked the end of the Jazz and pop standards era, and the beginning of Rock and Roll. In August, Bill Haley and the Comets became the first Rock and Roll band to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show performing a live version of “Rock Around the Clock”. In April 1957, they appeared for a second time on the show, performing “Rudy’s Rock” and “Forty Cups of Coffee”. Later in 1957, they toured in Europe, making Haley the first major American rock singer to perform overseas. They also performed twice on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand in 1957.

Throughout the 1950's they continued have hits with songs such as “See You Later
Alligator” and in 1956 also starred in the Rock and Roll films “Rock Around the Clock”
and “Don’t Knock the Rock”. In the US, their popularity diminished with the appearance
of artists like Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard. Haley recorded a cover
of Little Richards “Rip It Up”, which was released at the same time as Richard’s version.
Surprisingly Haley’s version out sold the original. However, during the 1960's, Haley
and the Comets remained popular in Europe, Australia and Latin America. Later, in the
1970's, the revival of old Rock and Roll music enabled Haley to have a comeback.
On an interesting “twist”, from 1961 to 1962 the band signed with Orfeon records in
Mexico, where they were known as Bill Haley y sus Cometas. They achieved an
unexpected hit with “Twist Espanol”, which was based on the popularity of the twist
dance. A follow up release “Florida Twist” became Mexico’s best selling single at that
time. Even though Chubby Checker and Hank Ballard are recognized as popularizing the twist, Bill Haley and the Comets were referred to as the Kings of the Twist in Mexico and Latin America. Haley also recorded several songs in Spanish, since he was fluent in the language.

Despite dealing with an alcohol problem, Haley continued performing in the 1960s.
1969 marked the beginning of the “Oldies Revival” concerts. Promoter Richard Nader,
started a series of tours featuring artists from the 1950s and 1960s. At one of the early concerts held at the Felt Forum at Madison Square Garden in New York, Haley received an eight and a half minute standing ovation at the conclusion of his performance.

In 1974 “Rock Around the Clock” made it on to the US charts again since it was featured
in the film American Graffiti and for two years on the Happy Days television program.
He appeared at the Royal Variety Performance in London, performing for Queen
Elizabeth II on November 26,1979. The next year he made his final performances in
South Africa. Before the tour, it was reported that he had a brain tumor. A planned tour
of Germany was cancelled due to the medical condition. However, Haley’s wife Martha
and Bill’s close friend Hugh McCallum would later deny that he had a brain tumor.
McCallum felt that the Haley did not want to tour any longer, and that the tumor
explanation provided justification for ending any further performances. Haley’s ongoing
drinking problem continued to affect his well being. Additional serious mental issues
also developed which ultimately led to his death on February 9,1981 at the age of 55.

In February 1976 saxophone player Rudy Pompilli died Founding member Johnny Grande died following a brief illness in 2006.

Haley received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 1960.
In 1982 “Rock Around the Clock” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without the Comets in 1987. In 2012, the Comets were also inducted, due to a rule change that allowed the induction of backing groups. Then in December 2017 Haley was inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame. In the late 1980's, surviving members from the 1954 to 1955 era reunited and performed around the world for several years. In 2006, they performed at Dick Clark’s American Bandstand Theater in Branson, Missouri. Then in February 2006 in recognition of Bill’s contribution to Rock and Roll, the International Astronomical Union named asteroid number 79896 as Billhaley to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Haley’s death.

So in retrospect Bill Haley and His Comets certainly played an important and significant
role in establishing Rock and Roll and it’s introduction to a worldwide audience, that led
to the beginning of a whole new style of music.

This has been a look back at Bill Haley and His Comets, the pioneer band of the early
Rock and Roll era.