Bill Haley - Falling Comet

[Rocker]

Quite a depressing read:



Falling Comet

In 1955 "Rock Around the Clock" went to the top of the charts and turned Bill Haley into the king of rock and roll. Twenty-five years later, he was holed up in a pool house in Harlingen, drunk, lonely, paranoid, and dying. After three decades of silence, his widow and his children tell the story of his years in Texas and his sad final days.

http://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/falling-comet/




And here some videos:



Bill Haley & The Comets "Rock Around The Clock/Shake Rattle Roll" 1969 (RITY Archives)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqYGgj5Rwgc



Bill Haley and the Comets - The Saint Rock'N'Roll / Shake Rattle And Roll (live in Belgium 1958)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKC6FazdriQ



Bill Haley and the Comets - See You Later Alligator /Rock Around The Clock (live in Belgium 1958)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdVMAtK0OVM



Bill Haley and the Comets - Mambo Rock (live in Belgium 1958)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq3RxyOeoZE




Bill Haley and the Comets - Tequila (live in Belgium 1958)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeOKf-L7WeI


Bill Haley & His Comets - Rudy's Rock Ed Sulllivan Show 1957

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9_LIBnyA48



Bill Haley Royal Command Performance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBp3FUHWr4k



BILL HALEY - JEALOUS HEART - STEREO - Unissued - 1967

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPeBIREseyo

[the professor]

Rocker, just read half--rushing to school--thanks for this: compelling and tragic. . . .chilling really--a classical epic moral tale about the whims of Fortuna.  Thanks Rocker,

[Rocker]

Rocker, just read half--rushing to school--thanks for this: compelling and tragic. . . .chilling really--a classical epic moral tale about the whims of Fortuna.  Thanks Rocker,

You're welcome! I was fascinated by the article. I mean the Comets were a great band (which I have reassured myself of in the last two days by listening to some stuff on youtube). But the material..... oh my.... they were cutting some seriously horrible stuff. Thanks to the article I now know that it was because Bill wanted to record stuff his publishing company had an interest in. That's too bad. As I said, he had a great band and could sing. His - original - version of "Rip it up" almost even beats Little Richard's original imo. I guess I will put on one of his records now.... and skip to the really good stuff... 

[Lonely Summer]

It makes me sad that Bill Haley is mostly forgotten now; but that is true of most of the 50's rockers. Just watched the PBS documentary on Fats Domino, it was great, the only complaint I had is that it pretty much stopped in 1962. I guess it's true that most of the 50's rockers were has-been's even before the Beatles came to America; a lot of people today think rock and roll started with the British Invasion.

[guitarfool2002]

There is a part of the Bill Haley story that involves the music itself, which I always thought was something of a loss for future generations. Keep in mind Bill was a Pennsylvania guy, and his connections run pretty close to where I am and people I know, regarding his band members and the like.

Here are two articles to check out about his PA area connections and home he built called "Melody Manor" which was listed for sale a few years back:

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/23769

http://www.phillymag.com/property/2014/02/04/bill-haleys-yes-bill-haley-melody-manor-market-garnet-valley/

The music issue: Bill's early single sides like the most famous Thirteen Women and Rock Around The Clock had simply blazing electric guitar solos. jaw-dropping classics, to this day, played by Danny Cedrone and later the great Frank "Frannie" Beecher. Bill's band was a western swing band, so you had guys who could blow jazz all day, only the rocked-up (before that was a term) kind of country/jazz/jump blues hybrid that got the title Western Swing. But at the core, for guitar players, it was all about jazz chops and unorthodox, sometimes totally crazy lead solo breaks. Like be-bop, like jump blues...but country.

So the breakthrough Blackboard Jungle use of Haley's signature tune features that raucous, crazy lead guitar style. The guy is blowing jazz all over a 12-bar blues and swing beat. Thirteen Women, same way - loud, distorted tone, playing bop and swing lines on electric guitar.

The stuff of juvenile delinquency and the fair gigs after the kids went home full of cotton candy.

So that was a trademark sound, that jazz abandon in the loud prominent guitar leads.

And they were told to water it down, apparently by Haley, for subsequent recordings. "Play commercial", "Play simple", etc. It was what was told to some of the finest players of that era, guitar-wise, in order to smooth out and make more palatable to the masses this music.

Compare Scotty Moore on Sun and the early RCA cuts (like his hammer-bashing-on-strings classic solo on Hound Dog...pure rock and roll abandon in a three second guitar break), to the stuff as the 50's got later and Elvis moved into the movies...they had Scotty "play commercial", no abandon, no chances taken (or very few) compared to Sun.

Same with Jimmy Bryant and Speedy West - two of the absolute finest, yet they actually lost or got kicked off sessions for not "playing commercial".

So unless you saw the live shows in the 50's, you get very little of the pure abandon from a musician like Frannie Beecher who is a terrific guitarist. You only got glimpses of Cedrone before he split the band soon after "Rock Around...", but what he did leave is that amazing solo.

And I just thought it is a big loss for future generations who hear these guys "playing commercial" when in reality the were literally being held back and told to reign it in, in favor of keeping it smooth and commercial.

At least a few got out. I wish it had been more.

[Rocker]

That's a nice observation, guitarfool. Something similar is the case for Lonnie Donegan whose Jazz influence and that of his musicians also always came to light. As soon as there is a guitar solo you can hear that. Only Lonnie wasn't influenced that much by Western Swing but more by Dixieland.

Compare Scotty Moore on Sun and the early RCA cuts (like his hammer-bashing-on-strings classic solo on Hound Dog...pure rock and roll abandon in a three second guitar break), to the stuff as the 50's got later and Elvis moved into the movies...they had Scotty "play commercial", no abandon, no chances taken (or very few) compared to Sun.

There I have to clarify something. First of all, Rock'n'Roll from the very beginning has always been a commercial music. But when you say "play commercial" it is probably meant in another, say: negative, way. But fact is that no one told Scotty, except Elvis (who was the producer). Scotty (and he mentioned that himself) could do whatever he wanted to do as long as Elvis liked it. Elvis' repertoire and singing abilities widened and he started to cut stuff that he obviously thought needed no guitar breaks along with the more "usual" things. But right up until the last recordings of the 50s Scotty played on, he sure got his spotlight, see the King Creole soundtrack.
After the army Elvis had, added to Scotty and D.J. Fontana, the Nashville A-Team and was going for a much fuller sound. Scotty still got some prominent guitar parts now and then and was the official band leader. But the legendary Hank Garland became the lead guitar player which seemed to get a kick out of Elvis. And as Scotty also mentioned in an interview, he was very happy with that, because first: Garland was a fantastic player and second: Scotty had enough to do with his own production and studio work for other artists.

I just felt that that should be said because it sounded like the widespread misunderstanding that someone told Elvis (and therefor Scotty) what to do or to go more "commercial".

[Lonely Summer]

That's a nice observation, guitarfool. Something similar is the case for Lonnie Donegan whose Jazz influence and that of his musicians also always came to light. As soon as there is a guitar solo you can hear that. Only Lonnie wasn't influenced that much by Western Swing but more by Dixieland.

Compare Scotty Moore on Sun and the early RCA cuts (like his hammer-bashing-on-strings classic solo on Hound Dog...pure rock and roll abandon in a three second guitar break), to the stuff as the 50's got later and Elvis moved into the movies...they had Scotty "play commercial", no abandon, no chances taken (or very few) compared to Sun.

There I have to clarify something. First of all, Rock'n'Roll from the very beginning has always been a commercial music. But when you say "play commercial" it is probably meant in another, say: negative, way. But fact is that no one told Scotty, except Elvis (who was the producer). Scotty (and he mentioned that himself) could do whatever he wanted to do as long as Elvis liked it. Elvis' repertoire and singing abilities widened and he started to cut stuff that he obviously thought needed no guitar breaks along with the more "usual" things. But right up until the last recordings of the 50s Scotty played on, he sure got his spotlight, see the King Creole soundtrack.
After the army Elvis had, added to Scotty and D.J. Fontana, the Nashville A-Team and was going for a much fuller sound. Scotty still got some prominent guitar parts now and then and was the official band leader. But the legendary Hank Garland became the lead guitar player which seemed to get a kick out of Elvis. And as Scotty also mentioned in an interview, he was very happy with that, because first: Garland was a fantastic player and second: Scotty had enough to do with his own production and studio work for other artists.

I just felt that that should be said because it sounded like the widespread misunderstanding that someone told Elvis (and therefor Scotty) what to do or to go more "commercial".

Amen. Elvis had 2 of the best in Scotty and Hank. The movie soundtracks were one thing; but for his regular studio sessions, Elvis was always in control.

[Jay]

I never knew that a huge contributor to rock&roll was from my home state.