Editing Bill Haley & His Comets (section)

==National success and "Rock Around the Clock"==
[[File:BillHaleyHankSnowTicket.jpg|thumb|Bill Haley/Elvis/Hank Snow Ticket – Oklahoma City newspaper ad. for Sunday October 16, 1955; two shows at the Municipal Auditorium. Note: Elvis Presley's first appearance to be co-promoted (with Hank Snow) by Colonel Tom Parker.]]
In 1953, Haley scored his first national success with his original song, "Crazy Man, Crazy", a phrase Haley said he heard from his teenage audience, again released on Essex. Haley later claimed the recording sold a million copies, but this is considered an exaggeration. Some sources indicate that the recording—a blend of R&B, western and pop music—is a contender for the title of "first rock'n'roll record" while others state that it was merely "the first rock and roll song to be a hit on the pop charts". It was also said to be the first rock'n'roll recording to be played on national television in the United States (in an episode of [[Omnibus (American TV program)|Omnibus]] in 1953).<ref>{{cite book |last=Kallen |first=Stuart |date=May 9, 2012 |title=The History of American Pop |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zohmDwAAQBAJ&q=Crazy+Man%2C+Crazy+bill+haley+million&pg=PA33 |publisher=Greenhaven Publishing LLC |pages=33–34 |isbn=978-1420506723}}</ref>

On their last release from Essex, new band member Joey Ambrose is heard on the B-side, "Straight Jacket".

In the spring of 1954, Haley and His Comets left Essex for New York-based [[Decca Records]], where they were placed under the auspices of veteran producer [[Milt Gabler]], who would produce all of the band's recordings for the label and who had been involved in creating many proto-rock and roll recordings by the likes of the [[The Andrews Sisters|Andrews Sisters]] and [[Louis Jordan]] dating back to the 1940s. One of Jordan's records, [[Saturday Night Fish Fry]] (1949), is considered to be a contender for the title of "first rock'n' roll record. Gabler later commented that "all the tricks I used with Louis Jordan, I used with Bill Haley".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/30288/5-candidates-first-rock-n-roll-song |title=5 Candidates for the First Rock 'n' Roll Song |date=March 23, 2012 |publisher=Mentalfloss |access-date=August 2, 2020}}</ref><ref>[https://wwwrock'n'roll.theguardian.com/music/2004/apr/16/popandrock#:~:text=The%20most%20widely%20held%20belief,records%20and%20discover%20Elvis%20Presley] {{dead link|date=November 2020}}</ref>

The group's first session, on April 12, 1954, yielded "[[Rock Around the Clock]]", which would become Haley's biggest hit and one of the most important records in rock and roll history. Sales of "Rock Around the Clock" started slowly, since it was the B-side of the single, but it performed well enough, that a second Decca session was commissioned.

"[[Shake, Rattle and Roll]]" followed, a somewhat bowdlerized cover version of the [[Big Joe Turner]] recording<ref name=pc4>{{Gilliland |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19750/m1/ |title=Show 4 – The Tribal Drum: The Rise of Rhythm and Blues. [Part 2] }}</ref> released earlier in 1954. The single was one of Decca's best-selling records of 1954<ref>''Billboard'', January 15, 1955, p. 38.</ref> and the seventh-best-selling record in November 1954.<ref>''Billboard'', November 13, 1954, p. 64.</ref>

In 1954, [[Anita Gordon]] starred in ''Round Up of Rhythm'', a film short in which she, and Disc Jockey Bill Delzell, played ' Straight Jacket ' and 'Shake Rattle and Roll', which the group are seen playing.

In March 1955, the group had four songs in Cash Box magazine's top 50 songs: "Dim, Dim the Lights (I Want Some Atmosphere)"; "Birth of the Boogie"; "Mambo Rock"; and "Shake, Rattle and Roll".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cashboxmagazine.com/archives/50s_files/19550305.html|title=Cash Box Top Singles 3/05/55|publisher=Cashboxmagazine.com|date=March 5, 1955|access-date=November 4, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120422080253/http://www.cashboxmagazine.com/archives/50s_files/19550305.html|archive-date=April 22, 2012}}</ref>

Haley's "Shake, Rattle and Roll" never achieved the same level of historical importance as "Rock Around the Clock" but it predated it as the first international rock and roll hit. It did not attain the Number 1 position on the American charts, but it became Haley's first gold record. [[Elvis Presley]] recorded the song in 1956, combining Haley's arrangement with Turner's original lyrics, but his version was not a substantial hit. Late in 1954, Haley recorded another hit, "Dim, Dim The Lights", which was one of the first R&B songs recorded by a white group to cross over to the R&B charts. [[Johnnie Ray]] had reached Number 1 with "[[Cry (Churchill Kohlman song)|Cry]]" in 1952.

The belated success of "Rock Around the Clock" is attributed to its use in the soundtrack of the film ''[[Blackboard Jungle]],''<ref name=pc5>{{Gilliland |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19751/m1/ |title=Show 5 – Hail, Hail, Rock 'n' Roll: The Rock Revolution Gets Underway. [Part 1] }}</ref> which was released on March 19, 1955. The song was re-released to coincide with the film and shifted to the single's A-side. Haley's recording became an anthem for rebellious 1950s youth<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rockhall.com/inductees/bill-haley|title=Bill Haley|website=Rockhall.com|access-date=October 10, 2016}}</ref> and reached Number 1 on the pop charts, remaining there for eight weeks,<ref name="auto1">[https://www.billboard.com/articles//6634450/rewinding-the-charts-60-years-ago-bill-haley-ushered-in-the-rock-era] {{Dead link|date=May 2021|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> and went to Number 3 on the R&B chart.<ref>
{{cite book |last=Weinstein |first=Deena |date=January 27, 2015 |title=Rock'n America: A Social and Cultural History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-8WnBgAAQBAJ&q=the+first+rock+n+roll+record&pg=PA57 |location=Toronto |publisher=University of Toronto Press |page=57 |isbn=978-1442600157}}</ref> According to [[The Guardian]], the group was "the first rock'n'roll band" and the song was particularly "important because it was the first rock'n'roll record heard by millions of people worldwide".<ref name="auto"/>

Ambrose's acrobatic saxophone playing, along with Lytle on the double bass – literally on it, riding it like a pony, and holding it over his head – were highlights of the band's live performances during this time. Their music and their act were part of a tradition in [[jazz]] and [[rhythm and blues]], but it all came like a thunderclap to most of their audience. In late 1954, Haley and His Comets appeared in a [[short subject]] entitled ''Round Up of Rhythm'', performing three songs. This was the earliest known theatrical rock and roll film release.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0217775/|title=Round Up of Rhythm (1954) - IMDb|access-date=November 24, 2020|website=IMDb.com}}</ref>

[[Image:BillHaley.JPG|right|thumb|300px|Bill Haley & His Comets in 1954. Left to right: Joey D'Ambrosio, Dick Richards, Bill Haley]]
In 1955, Lytle, Richards and Ambrose quit the Comets in a salary dispute and formed their own group, the [[The Jodimars|Jodimars]]. Haley hired several new musicians to take their place: [[Rudy Pompilli]] on sax, Al Rex (a former member of the Saddlemen) on double bass, and Ralph Jones on drums. In addition, lead guitarist [[Franny Beecher]], who had been a session musician for Haley since [[Danny Cedrone]]'s death in the spring of 1954, became a full-time Comet and Haley's first performing lead guitarist (Cedrone had played the guitar solo on the original recording of "Rock Around the Clock" and died shortly after the recording session for "Shake, Rattle and Roll" in the summer of 1954). This version of the band became more popular than the earlier manifestation and appeared in several [[motion pictures]] over the next few years.

Other hits recorded by the band included "[[See You Later, Alligator]]"<ref name=pc5/> in which Haley's frantic delivery contrasted with the [[Louisiana]] languor of the original by [[Bobby Charles]], "Don't Knock the Rock", "Rock-a-Beatin' Boogie", "Rudy's Rock" (the first instrumental hit of the rock and roll era), and "Skinny Minnie".

Bill Haley and the Comets performed "Rock Around the Clock" in an a cappella and a lip-synched version on the [[NBC]] television program ''[[Texaco Star Theater]]'' hosted by [[Milton Berle]] on May 31, 1955. Berle predicted that the song would go to Number 1, calling the band "A group of entertainers who are going right to the top." Berle also sang and danced to the song, which was performed by the entire cast of the show. This was one of the earliest nationally televised performances by a rock and roll band and provided the new musical genre a much wider audience.

Bill Haley and the Comets were the first rock and roll performers to appear on the [[CBS]] television musical variety program ''The [[Ed Sullivan Show]], or Toast of the Town'' on Sunday, August 7, 1955, in a broadcast from the Shakespeare Festival Theater in [[Stratford, Connecticut]]. They performed a live version of "Rock Around the Clock" featuring Franny Beecher on lead guitar and Dick Richards on drums. The group made a second and final appearance on the ''Ed Sullivan Show'' on Sunday, April 28, 1957, performing "[[Rudy's Rock]]" and "Forty Cups of Coffee".

Bill Haley and the Comets appeared on ''[[American Bandstand]]'' hosted by [[Dick Clark]] on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] television twice in 1957, on the prime-time show on October 28 and on the regular daytime show on November 27. The band also appeared on Dick Clark's ''Saturday Night Beechnut Show'' (also known as ''[[The Dick Clark Show]]''), a prime-time TV series from New York on March 22, 1958, during the first season (performing "Rock Around the Clock" and "Ooh, Look-a There, Ain't She Pretty") and on February 20, 1960 (performing "Rock Around the Clock" and "Tamiami").

In 1956, the group appeared in two of the earliest full-length rock and roll movies with [[Alan Freed]]: ''[[Rock Around the Clock (film)|Rock Around the Clock]]'' and ''[[Don't Knock the Rock]].'' The [[The Platters|Platters]] were co-stars in the first movie, and [[Little Richard]] appeared in the second. ''Rock Around the Clock'' was produced by Sam Katzman (who would produce several Elvis Presley films in the 1960s) and directed by Fred F. Sears.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/184955|title=&#124;Rock Around the Clock |website=Turner Classic Movies|access-date=November 24, 2020}}</ref>