Sound and Glory: The Incredible Story of Bill Haley, the Father of Rock 'N' Roll and the Music That Shook the World

Rating:
Summary: Where it all started
Review: Anyone who is interested in rock 'n' roll and its history, should buy a copy of this book. This book pretty much tells how the first rock 'n' roll band got started. Even surprises like the FBI trying to find dirt on Haley, because Hoover was a racist and didn't want blacks to mingle with whites during concerts. One concert Haley made them remove a rope that was segregating crowds. This is only one of many things I found interesting in this book. No doubt Elvis was the king, but as you read this book, you will understand why Haley is the true founding father of rock 'n' roll! - there are two books out about Haley, and both are very good, but this one goes a little deeper.

Rating:
Summary: A Little Clearer
Review: I haven't read the book so my rating of it isn't valid, but there are a couple of statements in the previous review that need a touch of reality. I'd like to think the errors didn't come from the book. My qualification? I bought my first Bill Haley record in 1953 (Crazy, Man, Crazy) and have every single ever released by him on Essex. I've met and discussed the "early days" with the surviving members of the Comets. As a 13 year old, I had the good fortune of accidentally catching Alan Freeds first Moondog Show broadcast in NYC on WINS in 1954. Fell in love with R&B from the first record I heard. Haley never recorded Rock A Beatin' Boogie till an album on Decca in the late 50's, though he had written it much earlier. The earliest recording of it that I know of was by the Esquire Boys in 1954. The Esquire Boys were Danny Cedrones Group. Danny was the unofficial lead guitar in the Comets, but never an "official" Comet. He's the lead on Rock Around the Clock, Thirteen Women, Shake, Rattle, and Roll, ABC Boogie, Dim, Dim the Lights, and Happy Baby. A heart attack took this guitar genius far before his time, just as Haley was taking off.

Alan Freed was sued by Moondog, a weird old bearded guy in a toga that used to play electronic music (?) and sell records in Times Square. I was listening the night Freed changed the "Moondog Show" into the "Rock and Roll Potty." It was actually "Party" but his east coast pronunciation was "potty." He very specifically stated that the new name came from Red Prysocks record of "Rock 'n Roll," which he was playing every night. Jus' the facts.

Rating:
Summary: Bill Haley.....Rockabilly 's Firstborn of many bretheren
Review: It seems that every rockabilly/R&B and rock & roll artist from the mid-50's has laid claim to "inventing" rock & roll, yet upon examining the historical record via recordings (eg: early demos, as well as pre-fame obscure label recordings) only one name stands in the gap as legitimately qualifying for the title of "inventor of Rock & Roll" and that would have to be Bill Haley, a white country singer from Boothwyn, PA, whose early 50's experiments with adding R&B/jump blues and swing to his nightclub appearances with his band "The Saddlemen" resulted in a new vibe in music that took hold like wildfire, first in Philadelphia, and upon getting the music out on the radio, the rest of the world. They called the new music "Cowboy Jive", for lack of a better name! The name "Rock & Roll" supposedly was coined by Cleveland, Ohio disc jockey Alan Freed who frequently played Haley & The Comets' recording of "Rock A Beatin' Boogie" where the phrase turns up in the lyrics of the chorus. A direct connection to "Cowboy Jive" if ever there was one! The book "Sound & Glory" is an intimate, detailed story of Bill Haley's rise in the late 40's and early 50's and the evolution of his band "The Saddlemen" into the "Comets" from the small country music combo into a small rockabilly combo, and on to a 6 and 7 piece full-blown rock & roll band with sax and piano along with steel guitar. The stories in the book are first-person interviews with the original band members, and many of the other people around him from his early radio days through the ups and downs of his later career. The extremely rare photos the book is filled with alone, are worth the price; most of them being from Jack Haley's family collection, and have never before been seen in print. Haley was also the first rock & roll artist to tour overseas (something Elvis never did), which he continued all the way up till the end of his career. Another TREMENDOUS plus is an exhaustive Haley discography meticulously compiled by the late Herbert Kamitz, an Austrian Haley scholar. "Sound And Glory" belongs in the library of every serious afficianado of rock/pop and rockabilly music.