Bill Haley Picture Gallery
Biography with many pictures.
http://freespace.virgin.net/c.gardner/haley/gallery.htm |
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Bill Haley
Inductee biography.
http://www.rockhall.com/hof/inductee.asp?id=116 |
Bill Haley and His Comets Revival
Tribute band based in Germany.
http://www.billhaley.de/ |
Rockabilly Hall of Fame: Bill Haley
Artist "firsts", facts and photos.
http://www.rockabillyhall.com/BillHaley.html |
Bill Haley and his Comets
A celebration of the Rock and Roll pioneers. Biography, discography, lyrics and links.
http://www.billhaley.co.uk/ |
Amazon offers
Rock Around the Clock (Audio CD),23 March, 2004
List price $9.98
"Rock Around The Clock" More Than a Great Album - It's an album of Rock n Roll History / 4
Rock Around The Clock - the album, should be just as significant in music history as James Brown's Please Please Please album, a not only great sounding album but an album demonstrating the roots of Brown.
I do however have a special interest in both albums. My father co-wrote Dim Dim The Lights featured on the Rock Around The Clock album. My father knew Haley and Alan Freed so what I am about to say not only gives this album its deserved kudos, it also sets the record straight via primary source information about the history of some of the songs on the album.
Haley first recorded Rock Around The Clock in April of 1954. It didn't do that great, coming in at #33 and only staying on Billboard's Popular chart for one week.
Freed had met Haley in 1953. He showed great interest in Haley, even having him on his radio show out in Cleveland Ohio. What interested Freed about Haley, like Elvis interested Sam Phillips, was that he was looking for a white artist to take R&B to the mainstream and thought Haley could be that vehicle. Freed wasn't naive. He knew he had to do it in this racist world using a white music act. However, he was not willing to do it at the expense of legitimacy. Haley would first have to get the stamp of approval not by white music critics or a white music audience. Haley would have to get his stamp of approval by the Black music audience. This is why, other than a featured guest spot,you don't hear Haley songs until Dim Dim The Lights on Freed's radio shows.
Haley than scored a #7 pop hit doing a cover of Joe Turner's "Shake Rattle and Roll." He recorded his version somewhere in July of 54. Even that song was not played on a Freed show, although maybe Freed wanted to play it.
However, after Haley recorded Dim Dim The Lights in the month of November 54, Freed noticed that it was getting a lot of airplay on R&B stations. Freed started playing the song when Dim Dim The Lights became the first R&B song recorded by a white artist to not only get on the R&B charts but land in its Top Ten. Freed was on WINS New York by then playing an authentic R&B program. Dim Dim was also a Top Ten Pop hit on the Variety Charts, which was a more prestigious chart than Billboard or Cash Box back then, making Dim Dim The Lights the first record by a white act to be on two charts - top ten at that.
Everyone started playing and buying the three Haley songs that were lingering out there, which included left over Rock Around The Clock 45's still hanging around record stores from 54 and juke boxes. That's why one might see Rock Around The Clock getting significant juke box play around January of 55, which was clearly off the heels and success of Dim Dim The Lights.
This would explain why the producer of the movie "The Blackboard Jungle" starring Glen Ford heard his little preteen daughter playing Rock Around The Clock in January of 55 on her record player. He liked the response his daughter was giving the record so he decided to use it in the movie's soundtrack.
The success of the movie and its soundttrack told Decca Records to re-release Rock Around The Clock as a single in July of 55. That's why this album gets to us in 56.
While there is no question that Rock Around The Clock became the anthem of the R&B genre under the now agreed term Rock n' Roll with its first Rock n' Roll Icon, Bill Haley, rather than Rhythm and Blues and historically is considered the first international R&B/RR record, Dim Dim The Lights no doubt led the way and as Alan Freed said, "...is the grand daddy song of Rock n Roll."
There is room for little doubt that when Haley put an original thumb print on an R&B song he clearly performed a song in the Rhythm and Blues' spirit. That he didn't do with Shake Rattle and Roll. Maybe because he leaned away from the genre due to a command R&B performance by Joe Turner. But when he recorded Rock Around The Clock it was original and in the true R&B vain. It just had to wait for a stamp of approval. That came after he decided to record Dim Dim The Lights. My father told me that Haley did follow his demo that was given to him.
So when listening to this great album you will see Haley at his finest R&B performance level with most of the songs. Pay close attention to Thirteen Women. It has a Cab Calloway Band feeling to hit.
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Guitar Notes: Searching the Largest Guitar Tab Archive...
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Note ... HALEY BILL AND THE COMETS, ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK, tab, 1. ...
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Haley bill and the comets "Shake rattle and roll" Guitar chords
To get the complete list of tabs by this band please visit the main Haley bill
and the comets index with guitar tabs, bass tabs, chords and CD reviews. ...
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Bill Haley And The Comets Tabs: 78 Tabs Total @ 911Tabs
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