BILL HALEY & THE COMETS

JFK+50:  Volume 6, No. 1850

BILL HALEY AND THE COMETS ARRIVE IN LONDON TO BEGIN EUROPEAN TOUR

London (JFK+50) Bill Haley* and The Comets arrived here in London 59 years ago today, February 5, 1957, to begin the first major American rock-n-roll tour in Europe.  The tour came two years after the band achieved success with their #1 hit, "Rock Around the Clock."**

The band was greeted by thousands of young fans at Waterloo Station.  The tour gave the group's British fans an opportunity to see their first live "rock-n-roll" concert.

Paul McCartney of the Beatles said...."The first time I really ever felt a tingle up my spine was when I saw Bill Haley and the Comets...."   McCartney saved up 24 shillings for a ticket because he "knew there was something going on here." 

Pete Townshend said Bill Haley and the Comets represented "the birth of rock-n-roll for me."  Graham Nash was so taken by seeing the band's performance live in Manchester that he kept his ticket stub.


*William John Clifton Haley (1925-1981) was born in Highland Park, Michigan but grew up in Pennsylvania.  His father played the banjo & mandolin while his English mother played piano. Bill Haley died of a brain tumor at the age of 55.

**"Rock Around the Clock" was written by Max Freedman & Jimmy (De Knight) Myers & was recorded by Decca. 

It has been called "the biggest selling rock-n-roll record of all time" with more than 25 million copies sold. 

Rock Around the Clock

Decca "45"

Photo by John White (2013)

                      

Bill Haley

You Tube Video

ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK

"ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK" RECORDED 60 YEARS AGO TODAY

Rock 'n Roll history was made 60 years ago today, April 12, 1954, when "Bill Haley and the Comets" recorded a song written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers titled "We're Gonna Rock Around the Clock Tonight".

The song was to be on the "B" side of "Thirteen Women" which the group spent most of the session recording.

"Rock Around the Clock", as it would later be known, was almost an afterthought.

There were only 2 takes in 40 minutes of the 3 hour recording session.

The single sold a modest 75,000 copies but when actor Glenn Ford's son, Peter, "fell" for the "B" side.

Glenn Ford convinced movie producers to use the tune as the background soundtrack for his latest film "Blackboard Jungle".  

"Rock Around the Clock" then sold 1 million copies in a single month in 1955.

                            Bill Haley


RUSSIAN LAUNCHED INTO SPACE 53 YEARS AGO

The Soviet Union launched both the first man into space as well as the first to orbit the earth 53 years ago today, April 12, 1961.

Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin's space flight aboard the "Vostok I" lasted less than two hours.

President John F. Kennedy was forced to acknowledge the United States is still behind in the space race and added "the news will be worse before it gets better."

Gagarin became a Soviet hero and was awarded the Order of Lenin.

     Yuri Gagarin in Sweden (1964)
     Photo by Arkiv Sydsvenskan


FDR DIED OF STROKE IN WARM SPRINGS, GEORGIA 69 YEARS AGO TODAY

Warm Springs, Georgia (JFK+50) President Franklin D. Roosevelt died shortly after 1 p.m. sixty nine years ago today, April 12, 1945, of a cerebral hemorrhage at the "Little White House" here in Warm Springs.

Little White House at Warm Springs

The President, while sitting in the living room having his portrait made, suddenly grabbed his head and said: "I have a terrific headache".  Those were his last words.

FDR was carried to his bedroom where he was later pronounced dead.

As a procession took FDR's body from the home, Graham Jackson played "Going Home" and one of FDR's favorite hymns, "Nearer My God To Thee", on his accordion.

                     Graham Jackson


CIVIL WAR BEGAN IN CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA 153 YEARS AGO

Charleston, South Carolina (JFK+50) 153 years ago, April 12, 1861, at 4:30 a.m., Confederate shore batteries began to bombard Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor.

The firing on Sumter came after Commander Robert B. Anderson refused to surrender.

Confederate authorities maintained the fort, garrisoned by US troops and located in their territory, was the property of the Confederacy.

The bombardment of the fort continued throughout the day.

4000 Confederate shells were fired on Fort Sumter in the space of 33 hours.

             Bombardment of Fort Sumter

ROCK-N-ROLL INVADES BRITAIN

ROCK-N-ROLL INVADES GREAT BRITAIN

London (JFK+50) Fifty-seven years ago today, February 5, 1957, "Bill Haley* and the Comets" arrived here in London to begin the first major American "rock-n-roll" tour in Europe.

The European tour came two years after the band achieved success with their #1 hit, "Rock Around the Clock."**

                 Rock Around the Clock*
                          Decca 45
             Photo by John White (2013)

**"Rock Around the Clock" was written by Max Freedman and Jimmy (De Knight) Myers.  The song was recorded by Decca. 

It has been called "the biggest selling rock-n-roll record of all time" with more than 25 million copies sold. 

***The full title of the A side is "(We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock".  
The label designates the recording as a Fox Trot. 

The title of Side B is "Thirteen Women (And Only One Man In Town)."  

                Bill Haley and the Comets

The band was greeted by thousands of young fans at Waterloo Station.  

The tour gave the group's British fans an opportunity to see their first live "rock-n-roll" concert.

Paul McCartney of the Beatles said....

"The first time I really ever felt a tingle up my spine was when I saw Bill Haley and the Comets...." 

McCartney saved up 24 shillings for a ticket because he "knew there was something going on here." 

Pete Townshend said Bill Haley and the Comets represented "the birth of rock-n-roll for me."

Graham Nash was so taken by seeing the band's performance live in Manchester that he kept his ticket stub.
                      

Bill Haley

*William John Clifton Haley (1925-1981) was born in Highland Park, Michigan but grew up in Pennsylvania.  His father played the banjo & mandolin while his English mother played piano. Bill Haley died of a brain tumor at the age of 55.

                       You Tube Video

AMERICAN ROCK-N-ROLL INVADES BRITAIN

February 5, 2013

AMERICAN ROCK-N-ROLL INVADES BRITAIN

London (JFK+50) 56 years ago today, February 5, 1957, "Bill Haley* & The Comets" arrived in Great Britain to begin the 1st ever major American rock-n-roll tour in Europe.

*William John Clifton Haley (1925-1981) was born in Highland Park, Michigan but grew up in Pennsylvania.  His father played the banjo & mandolin while his English mother played piano. Bill Haley died of a brain tumor at the age of 55.

The European tour came two years after the band achieved success with their #1 hit, "Rock Around the Clock."**

                 Rock Around the Clock
                          Decca "45"
             Photo by John White (2013)

JFK+50 NOTE

I just purchased the record shown above from Lost & Found Records here in Knoxville.  

The full title of the A side is "(We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock".  
The label designates the recording as a Fox Trot. 

The title of Side B is "Thirteen Women (And Only One Man In Town)."  


**"Rock Around the Clock" was written by Max Freedman & Jimmy (De Knight) Myers & was recorded by Decca. 

It has been called "the biggest selling rock-n-roll record of all time" with more than 25 million copies sold. 

                Bill Haley & the Comets

The band was greeted by thousands of young fans at Waterloo Station.  

The tour gave the group's British fans an opportunity to see their first live "rock-n-roll" concert.

Paul McCartney of the Beatles said....

"The first time I really ever felt a tingle up my spine was when I saw Bill Haley & the Comets...." 

McCartney saved up 24 shillings for a ticket because he "knew there was something going on here." 

Pete Townshend said Bill Haley & the Comets was "the birth of rock-n-roll for me."

Graham Nash was so taken by seeing the band's performance live in Manchester that he kept his ticket stub.
                      

                                      Bill Haley

                       You Tube Video