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Topic: Bill Haley's steel guitar |
John Lang
From:
Las Vegas, Nevada
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Posted 30 Dec 2006 7:26 am |
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While surfing the cable channels last night, I happened to catch the 1955 movie Rock Around the Clock, featuring Bill Haley's Comets.
Anyone know who the steel player was in his group? He played a multi-neck instrument while standing, I couldn't tell if it was a Fender guitar or not. |
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Jon Light (deceased)
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 30 Dec 2006 7:31 am
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| Yeah--I watched that last night and I've seen it before. Try a search--it's been asked & I think answered on the forum before. I kept trying to get a better view of the guitar--no Fender diamonds or logo, four legs, maybe D-6. I assume that at one time the steel was a real part of Bill Haley & the Comets' music--I know they were a swing outfit. But by this time it's hard to figure why he was even carrying a steel. |
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Gary Lynch
From:
Creston, California, USA
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Posted 30 Dec 2006 7:35 am
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| There are many clips on YouTube of the group but I have never seen the steel take a lead on any of them. |
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c c johnson
From:
killeen,tx usa * R.I.P.
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Posted 30 Dec 2006 7:47 am Bill Haleys steel
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| I saw Bill haley and group in kansas city in early 55 and they later came to Leavenworth KS to promote a new Fender dealer. The steel at the show and at the promo was a fender dbl 8 but I can't remember what model it was. The steel player was a friendly guy and came to my home. A fellow across the alley named Bud came over and played rhythem and we took turns jamming on my steel, a National triple 8. I wish I could remember his name. CC |
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Brad Bechtel
From:
San Francisco, CA
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William Clark
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Posted 30 Dec 2006 12:54 pm Bill Haley's Steel Guitar Player
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| I have a song that was on a Rhino Compilation of great guitarists of the 1950's. Bill Haley's Rock This Joint was on the compilation and the steel guitarist takes a solo on that song. The solo is killer! |
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Mitch Druckman
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 30 Dec 2006 9:13 pm
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| It's interesting that (according to Wikipedia) he dropped out of music in 1963 and never played another note. Does anyone know anything else about this? |
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Jerry Overstreet
From:
Louisville Ky
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Dan Sawyer
From:
Studio City, California, USA
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Mitch Drumm
From:
Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake
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Posted 31 Dec 2006 6:04 am
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http://www.the-jime.dk/Rockabilly_Guitar/Rock_Around_the_Clock_Solo.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Cedrone
Above links contain info and pictures of Danny Cedrone, who played the classic standard guitar break on both "Rock The Joint" and "Rock Around The Clock", using a 1946 Gibson ES-300.
Cedrone died tragically two months after Rock Around The Clock was recorded in April 1954 (before it became a smash hit a year later), and is not seen in any survivng film footage. Franny Beecher is the Haley guitarist seen miming Cedrone's break in all the classic film clips.
Cedrone played on quite a few Haley recordings, but was never a full time group member, concentrating instead on his own "Esquire Boys" group in the Philadelphia era. That group made a bunch of recordings, notably a great version of "Caravan".
I have heard that Billy Williamson had a serious falling out with Haley much later in Haley's life, after Williamson had quit music. Haley's career was on the rocks after the 1950s and he approached Williamson to help finance a comeback attempt. Williamson supposedly lost his house as a result of the venture. |
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John Bechtel
From:
Nashville, Tennessee, R.I.P.
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Posted 1 Jan 2007 10:53 pm Bill Haley's Steel Guitar Player
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I think Nick (Masters) Nastis was also a Steel Player for The Comets in the 50's! [Not sure when it was!] I believe he played a Fender Q–8 Stringmaster. At least that's what he was playing when I saw him working with a Country Group! I never saw him working with Bill Haley! I did get acquainted and hung-out around his playing-job, while living in Honolulu in ’80.
_________________
<marquee> Go~Daddy~Go, (No), Go, It's your Break Time</marquee> L8R, jb
My T-10 Remington Steelmaster
Last edited by John Bechtel on 7 Sep 2009 7:12 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Denny Turner
From:
Oahu, Hawaii USA
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Posted 2 Jan 2007 2:15 am Nick Masters
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Nick Masters (born Nastos) was a quite well-known Guitarist and Steeler around the Philadephia area since the early 1950's. Nick joined The Comets in 1964 to replace Billy Williamson on steel guitar (according to Nick and archives); Although he had worked as a session musician alongside members of The Comets for several years before that. Nick left the Comets after about a year and formed The Country Showmen (whom some "archivists" have erroneously confused with The Country Gentlemen). In 1968, Nick rejoined The Comets as lead guitarist. In the late 1960's Haley did some Country Music and Nick again got to play some Steel Guitar with Haley's act. Comets' members (sans Haley) played under Nick's band name The Country Showmen between gigs & tours with Haley, and Nick played some Steel in those acts. When Haley temporarily "retired" in the late 1970's Nick also occasionally played again with the Comets under the Comets name. Nick moved to Hawaii in the late 1970's and formed band configurations under his own Name as well as doing Solo acts. Nick broke out his old pedal-Steel again in the late 1980's but played it only for several weeks before it was stolen. It had his original and very different copedent which he felt was just too much trouble to re-decipher / re-create on another pedal-Steel. So he borrowed my BR6 I had been playing lap-Slide on for 20 years, and played it in his acts; Which was the first time I really got to see what could be done on lap-Steel  (and realized how much of the Steel I had heard and thought was pedal-Steel, wasn't); And forever-changed my music life and course. Nick arranged my appointment with Jerry Byrd for lessons.
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Nick, his Family and I were very close Friends. I played guitar with Nick (and with his daughter Sia) many times here in Hawaii for about 10 years. Nick had a remarkably authentic early-Rocker & Rockabilly style of playing as well as being an excellent all-around Guitarist and Singer (and Steeler). Nick moved to Houston for cancer treatment, but returned to Hawaii on 2 occasions, for our circle of Friends' customary before-the-fact wakes (for him here at the house), prior to him succombing to cancer in Houston in April 1995. It took 2 "wakes" since Nick was such a stubborn Coot .... and boy were those great jam sessions, with many Musicians, ...momentuous bashes, captured on video and audio tape by professional crews (raw tapes still boxed away in my studio  ). Earlier that April Nick and I went on a week-long, knowingly-last, live-music bar hopping binge from Dallas to San Antone (with Tommy Morrel tapes running in the rental-car stereo all the time), ....stopping in Austin to hit 5th St. and for Nick to be inducted into the infamous "Assholes Anonymous". Our "binge" ended 2 nights later when Nick finally ran out of steam on the San Antone river walk about 2:00 AM. We returned him to Houston where he spent the next 10 days with family before giving up the old Masters' ghost. He telephoned a few of us friends on the evening of April 27 to say Good-Bye, and passed in his sleep that night alongside his wife Jeannie. Nick's Family brought his ashes to Oahu where our Ohana spread his ashes offshore Waikiki per Nick's desires (a remarkably warming but creatively comical affair Nick knew he would get without asking).
Aloha,
DT~ |
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Michael Lee Allen
From:
Portage Park / Irving Park, Chicago, Illinois
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Posted 2 Jan 2007 10:17 am
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DELETED
_________________
"Wisdom does not always come with age. Many times age arrives alone."
Last edited by Michael Lee Allen on 27 Feb 2011 3:40 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 2 Jan 2007 5:54 pm
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| You folks should read Bill Haley's biography, written by his son, which is very illuminating. The reason he dropped out of the limelite was that his manager had borrowed a lot of money from loansharks in the USA to buy Italian artwork, without Bill's knowledge. His manager also failed to pay tax, so Bill ended up in South America as a tax refugee. He became very popular in South America, and there are a lot of Spanish-language recordings available if you seek them out. To Hispanics his name is synonimous with the Twist, moreso than Chubby Checker. What a career ! Western Swing to Rock & Roll to Twist to C&W. |
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Gary Lynch
From:
Creston, California, USA
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Posted 2 Jan 2007 5:58 pm
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| Cool! Bill was a true renegade. No wonder he played 1950's style rock-n-roll so well. |
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Jody Carver
From:
KNIGHT OF FENDER TWEED
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Posted 2 Jan 2007 6:34 pm
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| Question for Brad Bechtel or who ever knows the answer. Is Billy Williamson still with us? I knew him when I filled in for him playing a few dates with Bill Haley way back. Just curious. |
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Jody Carver
From:
KNIGHT OF FENDER TWEED
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Posted 2 Jan 2007 6:40 pm
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| Haley's Agent was "Jolly Joyce" out of Philadelphia, I doubt he's still with us.Anyone ever hear anything of what became of him? He made Haley switch from country to Rockabilly. |
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Bo Borland
From:
South Jersey -
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Posted 2 Jan 2007 6:53 pm
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Alan mentioned the bio that Bill's son wrote.. it was a riveting look inside the life of the man who seems to have really invented the rock beat as we know as we know it...
A couple of interesting factoids.. Bill's mansion, Melody Manor, was named after Gene Autrys Melody Ranch and is not far from my home. Bill and I both started our radio careers on the same station WRCP in Delaware County Pa, although many years apart. The Comet inlay in the pavement outside his offices in Chester PA, was still there a few years ago.
Over the past 20 some years, I have met at least 30 pickers that all said they worked with Bill as a Comet.
In 1999, The last time I heard "Bill Haleys' Comets" , the sound of him spinning in his grave was better than what came off the stage.
Jody, my mother worked for Jolly Joyce long ago, Jolly is long gone, I still see Mike Dano a fine tenor player, that was one of his agents and ran the shop in his last years, on occaision.. last week actually.
_________________
Bo Borland
Rittenberry SD10 , Derby D-10, Quilter TT12, Peavey Session 400 w/ JBL, NV112, Fender Blues Jr. , 1974 Dobro 60N squareneck, Rickenbacher NS lapsteel, 1973 Telecaster Thinline, 1979 blonde/black Frankenstrat
Currently picking with
Mason Dixon Band masondixonband.net |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 6 Sep 2009 5:09 pm
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| Because of his English roots, and because he was so popular over there, Bill paid a lot of visits to England. I remember one memorable appearance of his on the Wheeltappers' and Shunters' Social Club. |
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Ron Whitfield
From:
Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA
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Posted 29 Sep 2009 7:51 pm
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Proper has a newer 4 CD box set of Bill and his gangs that ranges from far back to his early Western Swing days w/the Four Aces on the first disc to the 50s and still swinging w/The Saddlemen into the rock of the mid/late 50s of The Comets and the 4th disc is stuff from what came out of their heyday ashes.
Lot's of good music.
Can be had at amazon for $16! |
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Lee Jeffriess
From:
Vallejo California
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Posted 29 Sep 2009 9:36 pm
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You cant beat Proper, every box set I have has been excellent no filler.
Lee |
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Chance Wilson
From:
California, USA
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Mark Roeder
From:
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
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Posted 30 Sep 2009 12:39 pm
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The proper box set is great! Billy has solos on 50% to 60% of the songs. Great stuff. You can almost here the record label saying you need to put sax in there instead that steel guitar. Suddenly all the solos are guitar and sax and Billy is pushed down in the mix and only gets an occasional fill. I like the style he created. I like the recordings alot.
_________________
www.deluxe34.com lap steel stands, Clinesmith, Gibson Console Grande, Northwesterns, The Best Westerns
https://www.facebook.com/TheBestWesterns |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Mark Roeder
From:
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
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