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The Morning Journal
Sunday, Sept. 26 |
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Al Rappa, "The Original Walking Bass Man,"
who has been with Bill Haley's Comets since 1956, rocks the
crowd last night for the "50 Years of Rock'n'Roll" at the
Lorain Palace Civic Center. Danny and the Juniors also
performed. |
Bill Haley's Comets revive Rock 'n Roll
Tom Loftus
© 2010 Western Courier
KEWANEE - Dr. Matthew Warnock - Matt, to
enrollees of his Music in the Rock Era Music 196 course at
Western Illinois University - takes his students through a
chronological tour of the origins of rock and roll, covering the
last five decades of the twentieth century, from the Crickets to
the Pumpkins, from tuxedos and polite applause to flannel shirts
and body surfing.
Already, by the time the three-day Labor Day
weekend had arrived, Matt's class had learned about Chuck
Berry's duck walk, Buddy Holly's "hiccup singing," the payola
scandal that ruined deejay Allan Freed's career, and The Day The
Music Died.
And, of course, Bill Haley and the Comets - "one
of Buddy Holly's earliest heroes," as Dr. Warnock told his class
back on August 26 - and Haley's landmark hit, "Rock Around the
Clock."
In checking the website www.festing.com this
past Saturday, a serendipitous coincidence revealed itself: Bill
Haley's Comets were appearing at the Kewanee Hog Days Festival
that evening, a mere 85 miles north of Macomb. A rare chance to
catch rock history in person, and a learning opportunity that
might provide insights that You Tube could not match.
The crowd ... formed a wide semicircle in front
of the smallish stage, with a "People's Bank of Kewanee" sign
painted on the side of an ancient brick building, almost as
large as the stage itself, serving as the backdrop. Two small
American flags on each side served as the stage's only
adornments, adjacent to a tiny stack of Peavey amplifiers. There
was ample room for a large mosh pit, wide open before the first
row of seats.
There would be no body slamming tonight,
however.
This was the music of Grandma and Grandpa's
time, and the audience seemed to be dominated by music lovers
who would have been teenagers, or perhaps toddlers, back in the
1950s. Gray hair, walkers, wheelchairs, American Legion baseball
caps and lawn chairs with American flags draped over them were
the rule of the day. ...
The band on stage, "Bill Haley's Comets,"
represented a faint whisper of a memory of the original group
that helped establish rock and roll as a musical force back in
the 1950s.
Bill Haley himself - lead singer and songwriter
for "Rock Around the Clock", which was released as a B-side of
the now-forgotten nuclear war-themed single "Thirteen Women (And
Only One Man in Town) in 1954, but then went on to sell 25
million copies, still No.1 all-time for vinyl singles - died of
a heart back in 1981.
...
So, who were these "Comets" that ... took the
stage in Kewanee?
The group was fronted by 83-year-old bassist and
trumpeter Al Rappa, who played with the Comets off and on
between 1959 and 1969. The band - like Rappa, clad in silk
windbreakers and black pants - also included two guitarists (one
of who also played sax and handled most vocal chores) and a
drummer. But it was clearly Rappa's show.
As teens shuffled nearby on the carnival midway,
stopping to try their hand at "Corkgun Fun," "Gone Fishin" ("Win
a goldfish!"), or "Duck Pond" ("Square deal: Prize every
time!"), or huddle in small groups, laughing and talking, Rappa
and his musicians did their best to evoke nostalgic memories in
the silver-haired audience. At one point, Rappa played his
giant, oversized white bass sideways, as if it were a Fender
Stratocaster ...
There was a medley of Elvis Presley's "Blue
Suede Shoes" and "Hound Dog," another combining Richie Valens'
"Donna" with "Good Night Sweetheart," a spirited rendition of
"Tequila," a lively version of "When the Saints Go Marching In,"
with Rappa on trumpet and, in a nod to "modern" rock, a decent
take of "Move It On Over," a big hit for George Thorogood and
the Destroyers a mere 32 years ago.
...
Finally, it was time for the song. But first…
"I'd like you to stand up now," Rappa
half-ordered, half-pleaded with the audience. Then, before half
of them had begun to comply, the Comets launched into a mournful
version of "God Bless America", and by the time Rappa had
finished singing, "… with the light from above," the lawn chairs
were empty, and many hands were covering many hearts.
The Comets then segued into "Rock Around the
Clock," interestingly, some in the crowd sat down, while one
couple did "the twist," and another man twirled his wife around
in spirited circles. Up on stage, Rappa made big circular
gestures, representing the face of a big, rock-and-roll clock.
...
It was at festivals such as this one that rock
and roll first got its footing, some 55 years hence, at county
fairs, barn dances, and high school gyms, on quiet summer nights
that were enlivened by the newfangled sounds of electric guitars
and snare drums, and the energy of wild-eyed youths.
For one more night, in a small rural town in the
American Midwest, rock and roll was still too young to die.
Comets bring back rockin’ Peninsula memories
Aug. 1, 2007, Door County Advocate, Fish Creek, Wisc.
By Joe Knaapen, assistant editor
After Bill Haley’s Comets intoned their anthem —
“1-2-3 o’clock, 4 o’clock rock” — enough people danced in the
aisles of Door Community Auditorium to sell out the next segment
in the 2007 summer version of the roots of Rock ‘n Roll.
The Comets, founded in the 1950s by the late
Haley, put on a solid show of ’50s hits July 25 at DCA.
The folks who may have had the most fun
listening to Bill Haley’s Comets, other than the band, may have
been the couples who took up the invitation from bandleader Al
Rappa to dance.
Arnie and Pam Bischoff of Franklin took to the
aisle with the steps, the moves. The only things missing were
Pam’s white blouse with a cursive letter P, a gray flannel skirt
with an embossed poodle and patent leather shoes.
Don Rubin and Barb Winer, a couple who share
their time between Fish Creek and Highland Park, Ill., had the
moves, too, and went through their arm-twisting gyrations in the
opposite aisle.
Asking Rubin what he thought of the band brought
the standard American Bandstand answer: “I’m Donnie, and I’d
give it a 10; it had a good beat and you could dance to it.”
A few more folks got into the spirit, dancing in
the balcony as The Comets rang out the hits of another era.
The founding father, Haley, died in 1981, but
his legacy is carried on by Rappa, the bass player with an
inimitable style who started touring with the band in 1956.
Rappa acquired the rights to the name and
continues to play the hits that made Haley — and his
contemporaries from Elvis to Little Richard — great. Rappa is
celebrating his 52nd year touring as many as five nights a week
across the U.S.
While Rappa is the man with the credentials that
make him a grandfather of rock, his sidemen make the music come
to life.
From “Rock Around the Clock” to “See You Later,
Alligator” and “Shake, Rattle and Roll,” the band got in its
licks. They nailed “Mumbo Rock” and left some of us waiting for
a version of Teresa Brewer’s “Rock ’n’ Roll Waltz.”
John Melinchock does more than yeoman work as
lead guitarist — looked like he borrowed licks from everybody;
Les Paul to Stevie Ray Vaughan. Pianist Gabe Graham really
rattles the ivories, and drummer Joey Kay walked his sticks
around the trap set and into the audience in a classic “Wipe
Out” solo.
Check out the band’s Web site at
www.billhaleyscomets.com for details.
Rockin' around the town
July 15, 2007, St. Cloud Times, St. Cloud, Minn.
By Frank Lee fclee@stcloudtimes.com
They've been rocking around the clock for more
than a half-century.
Now they're coming Wednesday to the Paramount
Theatre.
Bill Haley's Comets - or Bill Haley & His
Comets, as they were known when the group began - took the world
by storm back in the mid-1950s with "Rock Around the Clock."
"When they went to Europe for a big tour in
England, all the big names in England wanted to work with Bill
Haley. Bill Haley was their idol," John Melinchock said.
The 60-year-old from Philadelphia joined the
band in 1990 as a guitar player and singer, and still plays gigs
with the touring group when he's not working for Allstate
Insurance.
Al Rappa has recorded and toured with Bill
Haley's Comets since 1956. He has appeared with the band in
movies and on Dick Clark's "American Bandstand."
"John Lennon was one of Al's best friends from
the day they toured, when The Beatles opened up for them for a
few dates," said Melinchock, a founding member of Midnight
Circus.
Lennon gave Rappa - who is Bill Haley's original
bass and trumpet player - an amplifier and two guitar straps.
According to Melinchock, Lennon and Rappa kept in touch for
years.
"My first recollection of Bill Haley was his hit
'ABC Boogie.' It was my first recollection of any song on
'American Bandstand,' and when I look back on it, I still can't
believe it," Melinchock said.
The group earned a place in The Guinness Book of
World Records for selling 43 million copies of its greatest hit,
"Rock Around The Clock." The song was also popular as the
opening credits theme song for Henry Winkler-Ron Howard hit TV
show, "Happy Days."
After Haley's death in 1981, the 82-year-old Rappa has scaled
back on the group's touring commitments, basically working only
weekends and during the summer.
"A friend of mine, a professional wrestler by the name of
Moondog, had contacted me, said that he heard I played 50s rock
'n' roll, and he wanted to put a band together to tour with the
circus," Melinchock said about how he became a guitar player for
Rappa.
"Later, he said he met this guy named Al Rappa,
and that they were looking for a guitar player, and they play a
lot of '50s stuff, so when I got there the next night, there
were the Coasters, and we got on a bus, and we toured for three
months, so it was a 'trial by fire.'"
Bill Haley's Comets' other hits include "Shake,
Rattle and Roll," "Skinny Minnie" and "See You Later,
Alligator."
"I have the satisfaction of knowing that I'm
playing with the world's first and greatest rock 'n' roll band,
and that means something to me as musician," Melinchock said.
Del-Vikings No Show, Haley's Comets Rock the
Joint
By Reesa Marchetti, Correspondent
8/21/04 Largo Cultural Center, Florida —
It’s too bad the Del-Vikings had to cancel at the last minute. But
on the evening the hit ‘50s group was slated to appear with Bill
Haley’s Comets here, one of the original Comets made up for the
shortage — in true rock and roll style.
Al Rappa, leader of the Comets, not only agreed to
fill the slot left vacant by the Del-Vikings on Aug. 21, he also
thoroughly rocked the house at the Largo Cultural Center. Rappa,
who first joined Bill Haley’s chart-topping band in 1956, took the
stage with the Comets to thunderous applause from the overflow
crowd.
“You’re in for the real deal,” he shouted to the
audience. “Bill Haley's Comets, playing the music that started
rock n' roll.”
Rappa had agreed to the Center’s eleventh-hour
request to perform an additional set to fill in for the absent
Del-Vikings. Center management apparently was relieved, but put up
a sign offering refunds in case any ticket holders were
dissatisfied.
“About five minutes before we went on, we were
informed no one had asked for their money back,” said John
Melinchock, the Comets guitarist. “The show was not only sold out,
but they had to put in side seating and were selling
standing-room-only tickets.”
Rappa was thrilled, and he let the audience know
it. The Comets entertained for more than an hour. As they played
their hits such as “Rock Around the Clock,” “Shake, Rattle and
Roll,” “Rock This Joint “and “See Ya Later, Alligator,” the
audience responded. People danced to every song — some in the
aisles and some in front of the stage. Most sang along throughout
the show.
When the musicians took their bows after the first
set, Melinchock found the applause “almost deafening.”
“Al was grinning from ear to ear. He gave a
heartfelt thank you to the audience when the applause finally
subsided,” Melinchock said. “And none of us were tired at the end.
Don't forget, we're not 21 anymore,” he added jokingly.
The Largo Cultural Center is a big theater
offering plush, red-cushioned seats, a more than ample stage with
great sound — both on and off stage — and best of all on a hot
Florida night: great air conditioning. Seeming refreshed by the
intermission in this beautiful venue, Rappa started the second
show alone on the stage.
As he sang with only his bass for accompaniment,
audience members stood and swayed to the music. Rappa covered a
medley of songs, from Frank Sinatra to Tony Bennett to standards
such as “Danny Boy” and “The Green, Green Grass of Home.” The
crowd rewarded him with a long, standing ovation.
The entire band then joined in to rock’n’roll
again. Many audience members left their seats, moved up to the
front of the stage and danced to the familiar Bill Haley hits.
“It was obvious that it was certainly a crowd of
true rock and rollers who had spent many hours listening to Bill
Haley and His Comets,” Melinchock recalled. “What a night!”
Al
Rappa shown with Bill Haley on "Bandstand" in the 1960s
