Haley hired several new musicians to take their place: Rudy Pompilli on sax, Al Rex ( a former member of the Saddlemen ) on double bass, and Ralph Jones on drums ; in addition, lead guitarist Franny Beecher, who had been a session musician for Haley since Cedrone's death in the fall of 1954, became a full-time Comet and Haley's first performing lead guitarist.

Several short-lived Comets reunions were attempted in the 1970s and 1980s, including one contingent ( organized by Baltimore-based piano player Joey Welz who played piano for the Comets during the summer of 1965 ) that appeared on The Tomorrow Show, and another run by an Elvis Presley impersonator named Joey Rand ( this group later lost a legal action over the right to use the Comets name ), but only one group was officially sent out to perform by Haley himself, and his management / production company, which were the official Comets who played with Haley throughout the 1960s and 1970s and continued to perform as the Comets between gigs and during Haley's retirement.

Two additional groups claim the name Bill Haley's Comets and have extensively toured in the United States since forming in the 1980s: one originally Haley's 1965 – 68 drummer John " Bam-Bam " Lane, the other run by Al Rappa who played bass for Haley off-and-on between late 1959 and early 1969 ( the 1956 album " Strictly Instrumental " on Decca was Al Rappa's first recording session with Bill Haley & His Comets.

Music reference books indicate that it was Panama Francis, a noted jazz drummer who worked with Haley's producer, Milt Gabler, however in a letter written in the early 1980s, Gabler denied this and said the drummer was Billy Gussak.

Listeners who hear Haley's version sought out Turner's.

There are also references in the Alex Haley's book Roots to a griot who passed down his family history through the oral tradition.

Haley's sources for the origins of Kinte were oral family tradition and a man he found in The Gambia named Kebba Kanga Fofana, who claimed knowledge of the Kintes.

Dora is then escorted away by an odd grey-bearded man in a Victorian-era bathing suit and sailor's cap who was a running gag throughout the cartoon, appearing periodically to interrupt the story by shuffling across the screen to the tune of Ed Haley's " While Strolling Through the Park One Day.

At the time Beecher began working for Haley's group, Haley did not employ a full-time lead guitarist who would also play on live shows and TV appearances ( such duties were usually handled by Haley himself or steel guitarist Billy Williamson ).

While held by John Waller, Kinte had a daughter named Kizzy, who was Haley's great-great-great grandmother.

He said Fofana was a griot in Juffure, who, during Haley's visit there, confirmed the tale of the disappearance of Kunta Kinte.

* Luong Lao Shi " Grandpa " ( Voiced by Keone Young ): Lao, as Jake and Haley's Chinese Dragon maternal grandfather, is a Dragon Master who teaches Jake the necessary skills in becoming a protector of magical creatures.

* Jonathan Long ( Jeff Bennett ): As Jake and Haley's well-meaning American father, he's a normal human who has no clue that he's married into a whole family of magical and mystical fire-breathing dragons.

Pompilli, who was also skilled at playing the clarinet, and worked with jazz bands prior to joining Haley's group.

Bill Haley's band would undergo many changes of personnel over the next two decades, but the one constant was Rudy Pompilli, who would become the band's road manager, taking care of paying the bills and arranging for the hiring of new musicians when required.

Haley's version eschews the traditional lyrics in favor of verses that introduce the members of his band ( who then perform instrumental breaks ).

Bill Haley's compositions included " Four Leaf Clover Blues ", " Crazy Man, Crazy ", " What ' Cha Gonna Do ", " Fractured ", " Live It Up ", " Farewell, So Long, Goodbye ", " Real Rock Drive ", " Rocking Chair on the Moon ", " Sundown Boogie ", " Birth Of The Boogie ", " Two Hound Dogs ", " Rock-A-Beatin ' Boogie ", " Hot Dog Buddy Buddy ", " R-O-C-K ", " Rudy's Rock ", " Calling All Comets ", " Tonight's the Night ", " Hook, Line and Sinker ", " Sway with Me ", " Paper Boy ( On Main Street U. S. A .)", " Skinny Minnie ", " B. B.

An excerpt from the recording was included in " Haley's Golden Medley ", a hastily-compiled single in the " Stars on 45 " mold which made the UK record charts in 1982, reaching number 50.

Other hits recorded by the band included " See You Later, Alligator " in which Haley's frantic delivery contrasted with the Louisiana languor of the original by Bobby Charles, " Don't Knock the Rock ", " Rock-a-Beatin ' Boogie ", " Rudy's Rock " ( the first instrumental hit of the rock and roll era ) and " Skinny Minnie ".

In some groups, the slap bass was utilized as band percussion in lieu of a drummer ; such was the case with Bill Haley & His Saddlemen ( the forerunner group to the Comets ), which did not use drummers on recordings and live performances until late 1952 ; prior to this the slap bass was relied on for percussion, including on recordings such as Haley's versions of Rock the Joint and Rocket 88.

Genealogy received a boost in the late 1970s with the television broadcast of Roots: The Saga of an American Family, Alex Haley's account of his family line.

Gabler had previously been responsible for the highly successful string of R & B and jump blues recordings by Louis Jordan in the late 1940s, which were characterised by their strong beat, clearly enunciated lyrics and high production values, all features which Gabler sought to repeat in Haley's recordings.

Bill Haley's music from the late 1940s and early 50s is often referred to as Western swing, and his band from 1948 to 1949 was named Bill Haley and The 4 Aces of Western Swing.

The anonymous sleeve notes accompanying the 1956 Decca album " Rock Around The Clock " describe Haley's early life and career thus: " Bill got his first professional job at the age of 13, playing and entertaining at an auction for the fee of $ 1 a night.

It was then known as Bill Haley's Saddlemen, indicating their definite leaning toward the tough Western style.

During the Labor Day weekend in 1952, The Saddlemen were renamed Bill Haley with Haley's Comets ( inspired by a popular mispronunciation of Halley's Comet ), and in 1953, Haley's recording of " Crazy Man, Crazy " ( co-written by Haley and his bass player, Marshall Lytle although Lytle would not receive credit until 2001 ) became the first rock and roll song to hit the American charts, peaking at no. 15 on Billboard and no. 11 on Cash Box.

In February 2006, the International Astronomical Union announced the naming of asteroid 79896 Billhaley to mark the 25th anniversary of Bill Haley's death.

Bill Haley Jr. ( Haley's second son and first with Joan Barbara " Cuppy " Haley-Hahn ) publishes a regional business magazine in Southeastern Pennsylvania ( Route 422 Business Advisor ).

* Bill Haley's new Comets web site

* Melody Manor ( Bill Haley's house ) Google Map

In terms of its wide cultural impact across society in the US and elsewhere, Bill Haley's " Rock Around the Clock ", recorded in April 1954 but not a commercial success until the following year, is generally recognized as an important milestone, but it was preceded by many recordings from earlier decades in which elements of rock and roll can be clearly discerned.

For example, Bill Haley's incompletely bowdlerized cover of " Shake, Rattle and Roll " transformed Big Joe Turner's humorous and racy tale of adult love into an energetic teen dance number, while Georgia Gibbs replaced Etta James's tough, sarcastic vocal in " Roll With Me, Henry " ( covered as " Dance With Me, Henry ") with a perkier vocal more appropriate for an audience unfamiliar with the song to which James's song was an answer, Hank Ballard's " Work With Me, Annie ".

As Bill Haley's best-known recording, there have been dozens of compilation album releases over the years entitled Rock Around the Clock.

Another notable album release entitled Rock Around the Clock was the 1970 Hallmark Records UK release Rock Around the Clock ( SHM 668 ) which was the first British release of a 1968 album entitled Bill Haley's Biggest Hits which had been released in Sweden by Sonet Records.

Bill Haley & His Comets were an American rock and roll band that was founded in 1952 and continued until Haley's death in 1981.

The band, also known by the names Bill Haley and The Comets and Bill Haley's Comets ( and variations thereof ), was the earliest group of white musicians to bring rock and roll to the attention of white America and the rest of the world.

One of the first of these shows, held at the Felt Forum at Madison Square Garden in New York City, resulted in Haley receiving an eight-and-a-half minute standing ovation following his performance, as Nader related in his recorded introduction to Haley's live album Bill Haley's Scrapbook, which was recorded a few weeks later at New York's Bitter End club.

In 1980, Bill Haley and His Comets toured South Africa but Haley's health was failing and it was reported that he had a brain tumor.

In April 1981, Bill Haley & His Comets returned to the British musical charts once again when MCA Records ( inheritors of the Decca catalog ) released " Haley's Golden Medley ", a hastily compiled edit of the band's best known hits in the style of the then-popular " Stars on 45 " format.

Bill Haley and His Comets have also been inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and, in July 2005, the surviving members of the 1954 – 55 Comets ( see below ) represented Haley when Bill Haley and His Comets were inducted into Hollywood's Rockwalk, a ceremony also attended by Haley's second wife and youngest daughter.

More than 100 musicians performed with Bill Haley & His Comets between 1952 and Haley's death in 1981, many becoming fan favorites along the way.

This version of the group has also been credited as Bill Haley's Original Comets, and in circumstances where the use of the Comets name is in dispute, A Tribute to Bill Haley and The Original Band.