Bill Haley and his Comets : C/D + S/D

Amazingly, there is no Bill Haley thread, which is amazing given his impact on rock music. Thought of it because I just read this article about his life, which is pretty sad. It basically paints him as a pioneer in the genre who never really got his due in subsequent decades because he avoided interviews and press for years, and his wife never talked about him after his death, leaving his story to go untold.

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

So, classic or dud? Search/Destroy?

Classic! I have Bear Family's "Bill Rocks" comp and it's great fun from start to finish and highlights his earliest stuff as well as all the touchpoints from his career.

The Sugarhill Gang of rock

really sad story. i've always loved 'rock around the clock,' even if it is kind of hard to imagine anyone rioting to it. nick tosches has a good chapter on haley in his 'unsung heroes' book.

there's something charmingly pre-rock about the 'his' in the band's name -- when did bands stop doing that?

That is indeed a sad story, Pp, thanks for posting. I love Haley a ton, and it irks me that due to the ubiquity of "Rock Around The Clock" he's perceived by many as a one hit wonder. "13 Women," "Dim, Dim The Lights," "Burn That Candle"... he had a ton of great songs. The early, Western-swing stuff is super, and even most of his latter-day, lesser-grade material is highly enjoyable to me.

Okay, should I risk picking up a super cheap $10 reissue of the first 7 albums if it spells his name HAYLEY on the front cover?

http://www.raucousrecords.com/products/300px/billhaley-7classicalbums.jpg

It doesn't make you think that a lot of care and attention will have gone into the "enhancement for superior quality", does it?

Ha, no, but what the hell, I just went for it. I'm a sucker for quantity and obscurity (and cheapness.) $10.93 shipped to my door.

This thread needs that one picture of Bill Haley with Dave Day of The Monks.

http://www.the-monks.com/album/edbill.jpg

FUCKING CLASSIC!

That Texas Monthly article is amazing.

I was just listening to a few Bill Haley songs, and it really became apparent how much the Stray Cats stole from them. Like, entire licks and phrases. I knew they were influenced, but jeez.

ok well I'm bummed out now

wow at the monks photo

reading about almost any of the early pioneers of rock is kinda sad because they either died young or quickly declined in popularity and spent the rest of their lives trying to recapture the magic. like, little richard was already making 'comebacks' just a few years after he'd first gotten famous. they never got to just settle into a long, comfortable career like later rock stars; there's always this sense of desperation and imminent failure hanging over their heads. but haley's story seems sadder than any of them because for a while he really was IT, not just the biggest rock star in the world but practically the only one, and then suddenly he wasn't much of anything anymore and here we are 60 years later suddenly realizing that we've had a thread for pretty much every musician ever except him.

:(

Ok, time to fix that. Can we make a POX for this forgotten hero?

love the solo in this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=4839s_H_93M

Have to say I hadn't been a big fan, but I found that article really moving and need to revisit the man's work.

he drank too much.

Story was sad but touching. In way it reminded me of that one profile of Bob Stinson.

Heard on the way home that "Rock Around the Clock" was released exactly 59 years ago today. (Wikipedia says May 20, 1954, in New York City--maybe it got a slightly earlier regional release, or maybe I've uncovered an inaccuracy on Wikipedia.) Had a huge impact on me at a young age via American Graffiti. Otherwise, not really a fan.

Oops--looked at the Wikipedia box more closely, and there it is: "Recorded April 12, 1954, Pythian Temple studios, 135 West 70th Street, New York City."

fantastic story. and it should be noted that michael hall, who wrote it, is a pretty great rock and roller himself.

Yeah, I noticed his byline as well and have been meaning to email a mutual friend about it.

The whole fading entertainer goes to Mexico to come back but ultimately ends up blowing that too is a classic Film Forum B-movie double feature noir plot. See Anthony Mann's The Great Flamarion

See this whole series: http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/filmseries/mexiconoir

If the Bill Haley story ever gets filmed it would fit right in

Very readable I suppose but I'm not sure it was 'hurting his legacy' to not having these details out in the public. I certainly recall having heard that he had a tough time and went mad/was hospitalised but what does it do to know this? I think the children wanted to know what ther mother was keeping back more than anything.

It would have been more of a piece if the writer were to talk about some of his other records too, which he kinda did before the human story took hold.

there's something charmingly pre-rock about the 'his' in the band's name -- when did bands stop doing that?

http://www.audiodestination.co.uk/image/data/Music%20/Vinyl/Captain-Beefheart--Magic-Safe-As-Milk-460336.jpg

yeah, i struggle with the too much information thing too. not everyone is bill haley but lots of people struggle and drink too much or die unhappy/unhealthy. his legacy is safe even if most people only remember/know the one song. rock & roll will never die and all that. its safe to say that pitching an article about his music would not have been published as quickly as an article about his sad end. so, i get that. and it does serve the purpose of reminding people of his music and people will seek it out. but, on the other hand, details like bill whistling his tune in the diner so that people will recognize him...i just get a chilling vision of philip seymour hoffman doing that in the movie version and THAT is something bill haley does not deserve. i'm kinda with his wife and her silence. its up to other people to champion the actual art and remind people why he was important. in my cranky older age i find myself getting more and more pissed off when people come in my store and tell 8th hand half-remembered anecdotes about a musician's drug use. i just don't really care. but people have an insatiable appetite for it. (and meanwhile i'm reading the keith richards book right now but it is an interesting and entertaining book and its all stuff that HE chose to share.)

having said all that, i found the mexico thing really interesting! kinda wish the whole thing had been about the mexico years. i had no idea.

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

My Haley box set arrived (cover art has correct spelling this time!) and I have no complaints. No booklet or liner notes, just titles and dates on the back, but I knew that going in. Sound quality is fine. Most of you probably don't need to hear "Rockin' Rollin' Schnitzelbank," but there are days (many days) when that sort of 50s ephemera is exactly what I need.

This label, Real Gone Rock and Roll, has a bunch of similar boxes, from Harry Belafonte to Gene Vincent to James Brown, and I gather some of them use some live and TV performances and the like, but so far the Haley one is solid LPs and singles. Is this stuff public domain in EU now? I still haven't figured out how they are so cheap.

actually, i think i probably do need to hear "Rockin' Rollin' Schnitzelbank"......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUd9r3Linnk

danke. aber, ach du lieber augustin! das ist eine ohrwurm....

Bitte. My tolerance for his faux-"world music" like "Oriental Rock" and hepped-up versions of moldy oldies like "Sweet Sue, It's You" is supremely high; the first 2 CDs of the set got me through dinner prep and cleanup the last two nights in rockin' fashion.