Coming soon the Red Devil Lounge

::: BILL HALEY'S ORIGINAL COMETS :::

::: INFO :::

2 nights in an intimate room with Rock and Roll legends Bill Haley's Original Comets.

Very few Rock and Roll bands are still performing 50 years after their first record hit but Billy Haley’s Original Comets have managed to surpass that mark. The Comets continue to thrill audiences with their authentic 1950’s rock and roll tunes that include, “Rock the Joint,” “Crazy, Man Crazy,” and “Rock Around The Clock among others. Since 1952, the band has sold over 80 million records and earned a place in The Guinness Book of World Records, for selling 43 million copies of its greatest hit, “Rock Around The Clock.”

There's a famous quote by John Lennon that goes "Before Elvis, there was nothing." But Lennon was wrong, and he probably knew it. It's easy to forget that the Comets' signature song, "Rock Around the Clock," was recorded for Decca Records in April 1954, a full three months before Elvis Presley walked into Sun Studio to record "That's Alright, Mama."

Granted, there were many rock and roll recordings made prior to July 1955, by Bill Haley himself, as well as a few by Elvis Presley, it was “Rock Around The Clock” that established rock and roll in the public’s psyche.

There may be a dispute over who started rock and roll and with many saying it was Bill Haley while others pointing to Little Richard or Ike Turner but there is no dispute that Bill Haley and the Comets were rock pioneers. Bill Haley had a long recording/touring career and over the decades dozens of artists were part of his Comets. Indeed, bassist Marshall Lytle, lead guitarist Franny Beecher, drummer Dick Richards, pianist Johnny Grande and saxophonist Joey Ambrose are still rocking around the clock fifty years after they first stepped into the studio. All these musicians joined Haley’s Comets at various times in the 1950s. Lytle, Grande and Ambrose played on the original 1954 Decca recording of “Rock Around the Clock.”

Although the ensemble is hardly the spry youngsters of the 1950s, their zeal, passion and irrepressible energy keeps the music refreshing, exciting and highly entertaining. Eighty-one year old Franny Beecher’s nimble hands still pick out the notes on his guitar like a teenager. While seventy-eight year old Dick Richards still manages to take us back to 1956 with his intricate drumming on favorites such as “Let’s All Rock Together.”

Limited seating will be available for this show. 21 and up only.

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