Bill Haley was on the road performing the day Elvis Presley died in 1977. Haley heard someone say that, “the king of rock and roll is dead.” That’s when Haley had to call home. “If you see a headline that the king of rock and roll is dead, don’t believe it,” he told his family. “I’m still alive.”
Bill Haley Jr., who performs with his band the Comets Saturday at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. in the Orange Blossom Opry, Hwy 25 and 42 in Weirsdale, tells that story about his father. It may seem hard to comprehend, but there was a time when Bill Haley truly was the king of rock.
It was before Elvis, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ricky Nelson or Chuck Berry had a national hit rock and roll record. In fact, Elvis was driving a truck around Memphis in 1953 when he turned on the radio and heard Bill Haley and his Comets sing, “Crazy Man Crazy.”
“Elvis told my dad that when he heard, ‘Crazy Man Crazy,’ that was when he wanted to be a rock and roll singer,” the younger Haley said. “Elvis joined the Bill Haley Fan Club and Elvis wrote on his application: ‘Bill Haley is my favorite singer.’”
The two singers first met in 1955, when Haley sort of took Presley under his wing on a tour with country singer Hank Snow. “My dad was kind to Elvis, and Elvis never forgot it,” Haley Jr. said. “They remained friends and saw each other throughout the years.”
The irony is that it was Presley who not only knocked Haley out of rock’s top spot, but inadvertently started Haley’s career downward spiral. It was about a younger, harder style of rock and roll, sex appeal and a new generation of teenagers coming of age.
When the 1950s ended, Bill Haley became sort of a forgotten figure in America, although he remained popular in Europe throughout his life. This was the man who forever changed music when he recorded the revolutionary record “Rock Around the Clock.”
That was 60 years ago, in 1954, and Bill Haley, who died at 55 in 1981, still lives — on radios and digital media around the world. To see him go to YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-qjc17KEsc&feature=player_detailpage
Bill Haley Jr., who started touring about three years ago, carries on his father’s music with a sense of history.
“A lot of people don’t understand how rock and roll came into being,” he said. “For me, it’s very gratifying to authentically play my father’s music and help people understand his role in creating rock and roll.”
Lou Gatto, a longtime musical performer in the Northeast who now sings in The Villages, believes Haley was one of “the founders of rock and roll.
“Haley took country and blended it with rhythm and blues, and pop. He was the first one that did it. I was a part of that era. When you heard ‘Rock Around the Clock,’ that song changed everything. It had the rhythm and the beat that made kids want to get up and dance. And it was in a movie.”
The 1955 film was called “Blackboard Jungle,” and starred Glenn Ford, Sidney Poitier and Vic Morrow. It was about a teacher in a troubled inner-city high school dealing with violence and prejudice.
The opening scene showed the outside of the school, with tough kids goofing off and hanging out as “Rock Around the Clock” blared over the motion picture screen.
Kids went nuts in theaters across America. There were reports of teens jumping out of their seats, dancing in the isles and sometimes ripping up the theaters. “It was wild,” Lou Gatto said. “That was the first time a rock song was in a movie and there had been nothing else like it.”
“Rock Around the Clock” jumped to No. 1 on the record charts and Bill Haley was the world’s biggest rock star. For him, that was good and bad.
Some parents started blaming rock music for juvenile delinquency. “My dad had to defend the music,” Haley Jr. said. “There was a tremendous amount of resistance to rock and roll.”
Haley Jr., who was born in 1955, said he was told that his father wasn’t pleased with “Blackboard Jungle,” telling a friend, “if that’s what I do to these kids then I don’t want to do it anymore.”
Bill Haley was born in Michigan and spent most of his youth in Pennsylvania. He started out as a country singer and yodeler. By 1949, Haley formed a band and started experimenting with country swing, jazz and R&B music. He had some early hits like, “Rocket 88” and “Rock This Joint.” Then, everything exploded with “Rock Around the Clock.”
Haley made a couple of quickie movies and was soon touring with other rock and R&B acts, including African-Americans. He had difficulties touring the south and was criticized for playing black music, his son said.
Still, Haley’s popularity kept growing and he made such hits as: “See You Later Alligator,” “Rip It Up,” and “Shake Rattle and Roll.”
Then Elvis hit it big in 1956 and along came Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and a host of other young rockers. “Elvis was good looking and had a great voice,” Haley Jr. said. “Suddenly, Bill Haley and the Comets were looking old and their sound seemed familiar.”
Bill Haley toured until shortly before his death in 1981. His final years were bittersweet. He had a drinking problem, lost much of his fortune and suffered personal tragedies, his son said. He left the U.S. and lived in Mexico in later years.
“He felt he had been forgotten in America,” Haley Jr. said.
Recognition came in 1987 when Haley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He sold over 60 million records in his career.
Bill Haley Jr. keeps his father’s music and legacy alive, because when it comes to rock and roll, “I think my dad would like to be remembered as the guy who was there first.”