Category: Movies

A Rushed “(We’re Gonna) Rock Around the Clock” Goes to Hollywood and the Hall

bill haley and the comets decca
On April 12, 1954, Bill Haley & the Comets recorded the rock and roll classic, “(We’re Gonna) Rock Around the Clock.” During the recording session, the band spent most of the time on another song. It would be in the final forty minutes of that three-hour session where the band would make history, with a little later help by a 10-year-old kid.

The Rushed Recording Session

The band went in the recording studio for Decca Records that day and worked on the song “Thirteen Women (and Only One Man in Town)” for most of the three-hour session.  Finally, with forty minutes left, they turned to “(We’re Gonna) Rock Around the Clock.”

At the start of that forty minutes, the group played “Rock Around the Clock” one time. Then, because the first recording of “Rock Around the Clock” did not sound right, they then ran through a second take, leaving Sammy Davis Jr. in the hallway waiting for his turn in the studio.

Time was running out.  So, an engineer was able to put together the two takes to make the classic record we know today.

The Guitar Solo

Because of the rushed nature of the recording of “Rock Around the Clock” the guitarist for the session, Danny Cedrone, did not have time to put together a unique guitar solo for the song. So he stuck in a solo he had used two years earlier with Haley on a song called “Rock This Joint.”

You may hear the familiar solo that Cedrone took from “Rock This Joint” in the video below.

The B-Side Release and Modest Sales

That spring, Decca released “Rock Around the Clock” as the B-side to the song on which the Comets spent most of the recording session, “Thirteen Women (and Only One Man in Town).”

The single “Thirteen Women” and B-side “Rock Around the Clock” had modest sales that year. Perhaps the record would have remained a modest hit if not for a little boy.

Glen Ford’s Son Saves the Song

A 10-year-old named Peter Ford fell in love with the B-side of his new record. Peter eventually played the song for his father, the actor Glen Ford.

Ford was preparing to star in a movie called Blackboard Jungle (1955). Ford took the record, along with some others, from his son’s collection to the movie’s producers (or some accounts have the producers hearing the song at Ford’s home).

“(We’re Gonna) Rock Around the Clock” was selected to be played over the opening credits of the film about juvenile delinquency that also starred Sidney Poitier.  With the boost from the movie, “Rock Around the Clock” sold more than a million copies in one month in 1955.

“Rock Around the Clock” Lives On

Twenty years later the song was familiar for another generation when it appeared on the soundtrack of American Graffiti (1973) and was used as the opening of the TV series Happy Days (1974-1984) for its first two seasons.

Funny how a rushed job, a 10-year-old kid, and a little luck created one of the most memorable records of the early rock era.  It also helped send the late Bill Haley to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. And on April 14, 2012, a few days after the fifty-eighth anniversary of the recording of “Rock Around the Clock,” the Comets were finally inducted too.

What do you think of “Rock Around the Clock” and inducting the Comets into the Hall of Fame? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • “American Graffiti” Opens in 1973
  • Buddy Miller’s Touchstone: “That’s How I Got to Memphis”
  • Happy Birthday Little Richard!
  • Mork and Happier Days
  • The Long Lost Chuck Cunninghams
  • Happy Days on Love, American Style

    • John Carter & How Ishtar Cost Me a Job

    John Carter

    The $250-million-film John Carter (2012) has made news recently as being a big bomb. The Edgar Rice Burroughs adventure film about a Civil War veteran who ends up on Mars in the middle of a war there and falls in love with a princess reportedly will lose an estimated $200 million on its U.S. release. Commentators note a number of reasons the film did not do will, with a lot of blame going to poor marketing and a generic title.

    Unfortunately, sometimes when a movie is expensive, the money drives the reviews as much as the quality of the film. the fact that a film is expensive and called “the $250-million John Carter” leads to bad press when the film is not making back the money spent. The bashing of such films is okay if you are talking about bad business decisions, but if you are talking about the quality of the film, the fact that a movie lost a lot of money should not scare you away.

    There are a number of famous bombs that are decent movies and of equal — if not better quality — than other similar films that got better press. As Kevin Costner’s post-apocalypse Waterworld (1995) became more costly in production the bad press started even before the film was released. Then it did not do well. But it is a decent science fiction film.

    Director Michael Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate (1980) is famous for costing so much money it brought down United Artists. But if you give the movie a chance and go into it with modest expectations, it is an entertaining, albeit long, film about Wyoming’s Johnson County War with excellent actors and nice cinematography.

    Are these movies great? No, not by a long shot. But they are as good or better than a lot of decent movies.

    Ishtar Warren Beatty Dustin Hoffman

    One such bomb cost me a job years ago when I was on a job interview. The job had nothing to do with film, but during the interview the subject of favorite movies came up. I asked the person in charge what his favorite film was, and with a smile on his face he said, “Ishtar.” They asked me what I thought of the 1987 movie starring Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman, and I answered honestly that despite all of the bad press because it was so expensive, the movie entertained me when I saw it in the theater. Thus, I thought it was not as bad as a lot of other comedies. The interview continued, and the next week I found out I did not get the job.

    The rejection letter made me realize that when the boss claimed he liked Ishtar, he was testing me to see if I had the guts to disagree with him. To test me, he picked the most ridiculous favorite movie he could think of. So from his viewpoint, I failed the test because I did not stand up to him and tell him that Ishtar was a horrible movie. Little did he know though, that while he really believed Ishtar was one of the worst movies of all time, I did disagree with him on that point. But because he said the opposite of what he thought, he missed the real chance to test me. So I will disagree with him here. I was right. Wherever you are, you were wrong.

    So now I will conclude this review of John Carter that does not talk about John Carter with my point: John Carter, starring Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins, is a fun movie if you are only paying the price of a ticket and not the $250 million production costs. If you can watch it without thinking of reviews or money, you might enjoy it.

    What did you think of John Carter? Leave your two cents in the comments.

    Ron Burgundy Returns

    Last night on Conan, Ron Burgundy (i.e., Will Ferrell) played a little jazz flute and announced there will be a sequel to Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004).

    Although one always wonders whether a sequel is a good idea, Anchorman is a fun movie, so I am looking forward to the sequel. I hope it stays classy.

    Do you think a sequel is a good idea? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • Ron Burgundy Enters the 1980s in “Anchorman 2” Trailer
  • Triumph the Insult Comic Dog Visits Presidential Debate
  • The Springsteen Song Rejected By the Harry Potter Films
  • Ernie Kovacs and the Corvair
  • The Civil War and Conan O’Brien
  • “Jungleland” Makes Louis C.K. Sad

    • (Some Related Chimesfreedom Posts)

    Magic Johnson’s “Announcement” (Short Review)

    magic johnson the announcement

    This month, ESPN began running a documentary about Earvin “Magic” Johnson and his 1991 announcement that he was HIV-positive. The film is an excellent look back at the time when the Los Angeles Laker point guard shocked the world with his off-the-court announcment.

    The Announcement    , directed by Nelson George, is largely told from Johnson’s perspective as he describes his reactions to the diagnosis, including how one of the hardest things he ever had to do was to go home and tell his wife that he was HIV-positive. But while the film keeps a major focus throughout on Johnson, it also includes interviews with others who give their reactions, such as Johnson’s wife, Arsenio Hall, Pat Riley, and Karl Malone, the latter who had voiced concerns at the time Johnson returned to basketball.

    The documentary also captures a time in America where many thought only certain groups became HIV-positive and the general public did not understand how it was transmitted. The film takes us back to that time period and shows how Johnson’s announcement and his work in later years helped educate a paranoid America about the disease and the necessity of using protection when having sex.

    I remember the announcement and Johnson’s subsequent returns to basketball, and the movie made me realize how much that I knew about HIV came from Johnson’s struggles. At one point in the film, Arsenio Hall explains how the Magic Johnson you used to see on the court, smiling and joyously leading his team to victory, was the real guy. That is who he was all the time. And you get a sense from the film that Johnson is an all-around decent guy who admits his mistakes, forgives others, and has compassion for other people. The film tells us a lot about Johnson, but it also tells us a lot about ourselves.

    What do you think of the film? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • Will Ferrell Introduces Bulls & Hornets
  • Although the Oscars Passed Over “Little Richard: I Am Everything,” You Shouldn’t
  • Metallica’s National Anthem at the NBA Finals
  • History of the Basketball Shoe
  • OJ Simpson, Arnold Palmer, and June 17, 1994
  • Trailer for Roger Ebert Documentary “Life Itself”

    • (Some Related Chimesfreedom Posts)

    The Godfather Opened in March 1972

    The Godfather
    On the Ides of March (March 15) in 1972, Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather (1972) opened in theaters. Both Coppola, who was only 31 when he signed on to direct the film, and the book’s author Mario Puzo fought together to convince Paramount Pictures to cast Marlin Brando as Vito Corleone, despite the studio’s concerns about Brando’s notorious moody behavior.

    Orson Welles and Edgar G. Robinson, among others were considered for the lead role, and Burt Lancaster reportedly sought the role too. It is interesting but hard to imagine anyone besides Brando as the Godfather.

    Coppola and Puzo were right about the casting, of course, as Brando went on to win the Best Actor Academy Award, although he famously sent Sacheen Littlefeather to refuse the award on his behalf. The film also won Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. Now, the movie is considered one of the greatest of all time, with a 100% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

    The film went on to spawn two sequels, but in recent years Coppola has argued that it should have ended with the first film. He stated that the first movie “wrapped up everything” and “[t]o make more than one Godfather was just greed.” Do you agree? Leave your two cents in the comments.

    Bonus Godfather Trivia    : For the anniversary, Time Entertainment has “40 things You Didn’t Know About The Godfather.”

  • Marlon Brando’s Lonely Oscar
  • Nevada’s Legalized Gambling and Bugsy in the Movies
  • Dill from “To Kill a Mockingbird” Was (Almost) in “The Godfather, Part II”
  • The Perfect Song for Every Film: “Walk of Life”
  • That Time George Kennedy Gave a Great Movie Its Name
  • Breaking Down the Ending Segment of “Goodfellas”

    • (Some Related Chimesfreedom Posts)