HEY LADIES

Good ol' spit curled Bill Haley, the first old fart of rock 'n' roll. He was in his late twenties and way past teen idol years when he changed the name of his band from the Saddlemen to the Comets. Judging by every photo I've ever seen of him, my guess is that he didn't exactly make knees weak with the ladies, so dumping country and western to become one of the first white rock 'n' roll singers was a leap.

Check the video above, particularly the solo at about :40 seconds. Someone please clue me in to the identity of the guy playing lead. (I don't think it was the original guitarist Danny Cedrone because I think he had already died before it was filmed.) The thing that gets me about Bill Haley and the Comets is how tight they are on record, the solos, even on the overly familiar "Rock Around the Clock". Man, listen to "Crazy Man Crazy". Imagine hearing that for the first time in 1953. All the other white boys were still crooning. Plaid suit or not, dude was wild.

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Listen:
Bill Haley and the Comets - Crazy Man Crazy mp3 at Russ Strathdee
Bill Haley and the Comets - Rock Around the Clock mp3 at Rocky 52
Bill Haley and the Comets - Mambo Rock mp3 at Rocky 52
Bill Haley and the Comets - Razzle Dazzle mp3 at Mp3 Rockabilly
Bill Haley and the Comets - A-B-C Boogie mp3 at Internet Archive
Bill Haley and the Comets - Goofin' Around mp3 at Internet Archive
Bill Haley and the Comets - See You Later Alligator mp3 at Rocky 52
Bill Haley and the Saddlemen- Rocket 88 mp3 at Internet Archive