{"id":25865,"date":"2023-09-13T05:30:53","date_gmt":"2023-09-13T09:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=25865"},"modified":"2023-09-05T08:38:47","modified_gmt":"2023-09-05T12:38:47","slug":"five-bill-haley-and-the-comets-covers-you-should-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2023\/09\/13\/five-bill-haley-and-the-comets-covers-you-should-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Bill Haley and the Comets Covers You Should Know"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>One of the chief popularizers of rock \u2018n\u2019 roll, Haley led his band The Comets through a string of popular releases in the 1950s. Haley passed away in 1981, but he kept lineup of the Comets together for many years. In the years after his death and well into the 21st century, prime-era members Joey Ambrose (saxophone) and Dick Richards (drums) continued to perform as Bill Haley\u2019s Original Comets, holding down a long-term residency at the Andy Williams Theatre in Branson, Missouri where they regularly appeared on a bill with Paul Revere and the Raiders.<\/p>\n<p>Today Haley\u2019s contributions are sometimes overshadowed by those of other musical giants such as Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard, but the body of work that Haley left behind continues to influence rockers today and into the future. Here are five notable covers of songs originally popularized by Bill Haley and His Comets.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers \u2013 \u201cThe Saints\u201d (1962)<\/strong><br \/>\nThose with a knowledge of rock and roll history will know that this recording made in Hamburg, Germany features British singer-guitarist Sheridan backed by the young foursome of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and \u2013 on drums \u2013 Pete Best. Other songs from the sessions include a rocked-up reworking of \u201cMy Bonnie,\u201d a cover of \u201cAin\u2019t She Sweet\u201d (sung by Lennon) and the only song ever credited to the songwriting duo of John and George, \u201cCry for a Shadow.\u201d Haley and the Comets released their version of \u201cThe Saints Rock \u2018N Roll\u201d in 1956.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/iU0hmFfSajw\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Sex Pistols \u2013 \u201cRock Around the Clock\u201d (1979)<\/strong><br \/>\nWhile their influence upon rock and popular culture is undeniable, the Sex Pistols\u2019 time in the spotlight during their original run was quite brief. Their first record release was in 1977; by \u201879 the original lineup was no more, with both bassist Glen Matlock and singer Johnny Rotten (ne\u00e9 Lydon) gone from the band. For the soundtrack of the quasi-documentary <em>The Great Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll Swindle<\/em>, svengali Malcolm McLaren drew upon some unreleased rehearsal tapes to create some \u201cnew\u201d Sex Pistols releases. Some tracks featured vocals by other singers, including a cover of \u201cRock Around the Clock,\u201d sung by Edward Tudor-Pole of the group Tenpole Tudor. Haley\u2019s original recording was released in 1954.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WVsG2yudcuI\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Renegades \u2013 \u201cThirteen Women\u201d (1966) <\/strong><br \/>\nWhen The Beatles appeared on the scene in the early \u201860s, many commented upon their \u201clong\u201d hair. But it wouldn\u2019t be until near the end of that decade that men routinely sported anything like what would today be considered lengthy tresses. But there were exceptions. The Renegades were from Birmingham, England, and they rocked so hard that they made The Pretty Things \u2013 who out-rocked most other bands \u2013 look positively tame. This raging slab of proto-punk from 1966 presaged the harder-edged sounds to come, but was released only in selected countries (Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden and an especially hard-to-find UK release). The original version of this saucy sci-fi number was the B-side of The Comets\u2019 \u201cRock Around the Clock.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wu2pKXSIzr4\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Los Lobos \u2013 \u201cRip It Up\u201d (1987)<\/strong><br \/>\nOne of the best and most important \u2013 if too often overlooked \u2013 groups celebrating American musical traditions is Los Angeles-based Los Lobos. With a perspective that encompasses all flavors of American music, the group has been making critically-acclaimed music since its start in the early 1970s. In 1987 they were called upon by the makers of the film <em>La Bamba<\/em> \u2013 a biopic of Richie Valens \u2013 to provide the music. Eight of the 12 songs on the <em>La Bamba<\/em> soundtrack \u2013 including a reading of this song, which Haley released in 1956 \u2013 are by Los Lobos.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mEV-_-mYuPI\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Brian Setzer Orchestra \u2013 \u201cRock a Beatin\u2019 Boogie\u201d (2000)<\/strong><br \/>\nGuitarist Brian Setzer came to fame fronting the rockabilly revival trio The Stray Cats; their sound hearkened back to rock and roll\u2019s earliest days, with a supercharged delivery that won over modern-day listeners. The group\u2019s original run lasted only from 1979 to 1984, though there have been a number of reunions since then. By the 1990s, Setzer had launched another project \u2013 one that continues to this day: The Brian Setzer Orchestra. Combining big band swing arrangements with his wild and out-front guitar, Setzer has managed a successful parallel career that celebrates the exuberance of early rock. Haley and His Comets released their version in 1955.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MGv8TB8I7Bo\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the chief popularizers of rock \u2018n\u2019 roll, Haley led his band The Comets through a string of popular releases in the 1950s. Haley passed away in 1981, but [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25866,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[314],"class_list":["post-25865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essay","tag-bill-haley","cat-27-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25865"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25865\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25867,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25865\/revisions\/25867"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}