Songs You Might Not Know Were Covers Vol. 9: Rock Around the Clock (#1)

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Well, it’s a lot cooler here! Not “sweater weather,” but the air conditioner is sleeping because the cool air is free today. I did need an extra cover. And I only need one more cover to wrap up the ninth installment of this series. Here it is. #1: Rock Around the Clock It was 1955. An “explosive” film called Blackboard Jungle was making people talk, with its themes of racial prejudices (this was right on the heels of Brown v. Board of Education, which desegregated public schools in America) and teenage crime. (The film was also notable for introducing the world to two notable actors: Sidney Poitier, and Jamie Farr, the guy who played Klinger on M*A*S*H.) It also went a long, long way to introducing the world to rock and roll, with its “opening credit” song “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley and His Comets. I feel sorry for Bill Haley sometimes. He was a bitter man late in his relatively short life (he died at 55 in 1981). That could have been fueled by his alcoholism; however, he bemoaned the fact that he never got credit for “inventing rock and roll.” C’mon, Bill, you didn’t even invent “Rock Around the Clock”!!! That distinction goes to Sonny Dae and His Knights (no relation to Otis Day and His Knights in Animal House ). They were members of the Old Dominion Barn Dance (one of the countless country radio Opry/barn dance style shows throughout the country in the 40s and 50s), and they apparently only recorded one 45: “Rock Around the Clock.” Before Bill Haley. If it’s any consolation, Kris Kristofferson said that his all-time favorite version of his song “Me and Bobbie McGee” was recorded by…..Bill Haley. Happy Days (“Rock Around the Clock” — the Haley version — was the original theme song for that TV show) are here again. Thanks for reading. Rock Around the Clock Written by Max Freedman and James E. Myers Originally recorded by Sonny Dae and His Knights, 1954 Famously covered by Bill Haley & His Comets, 1954 The original recording of one of the Mount Rushmore of rock and roll songs: