Bill Haley Tribute, Part II
by José G. Cruz Ayala
("La Historia del Rock 'N' Roll")
Welcome to this page! Have a little patience for it to load.
It has lots of pictures (many which you might never have seen before!), to ensure that you will have a good time.
I recently met, through the internet, Denise Gregoire, a most dedicated fan of Bill Haley and His Comets. She is quite interested in the Mexican era of Bill's career. In one of her e-mails she asked: "I have another question for you.....do you have any idea who the trumpeters were on Bill Haley's Orfeon recordings? Someone said, years ago, they were some mariachi friends of Bill's (??). They played on songs like "Skokkian A Go Go", "Harlem Nocturno", etc."
Thanks to Denise, I gave myself some time to look for the answer. Here it is, with some interesting facts along the way!
A brief research on the historical background of "SKOKIAN A GO GO".
or
(What do an African tribal drink and a Bill Haley Mexican recording have in common?
Here's the story of a Zulu warrior song that inspired a recording by Ralph Marterie and his Orchestra, which in turn inspired a recording by Bill Haley [who had previously inspired a recording by Ralph Marterie] and how one of Ralph's orchestra members would later become a very important Bill Haley Comet; plus the parallel story of another song, recorded by the lead guitar player on "Rock Around The Clock" and also by Ralph Marterie, which inspired another Bill Haley recording, and how these two songs wound up in the Mexican "A-go go" and "Twist" platters by Bill and his Comets; plus all the interconnections that usually exist in the zany world of popular music.... How does it sound? Crazy, Man, Crazy!)
Original title: "ZIMBABWEAN"
English title: "SKOKIAAN (SOUTH AFRICAN SONG)"
Composer: AUGUST MSARURGWA
Publisher: © 1952 GALLO AFRICA LTD., Johannesburg, South Africa
English lyrics: TOM GLAZER
Subpublished in the U.S. © 1954 by Shapiro, Bernstein & Co., Inc.
This song, which was named after a South African Zulu tribal drink was introduced in South Africa by THE BULAWAYO SWEET RHYTHMS BAND on GALLOTONE RECORDS. It was released in the U.S. on London Records # 45-1491 and entered the Pop Charts on AUGUST 28, 1954; spending 8 weeks on the charts and achieving its Peak Position at No. 17.
The main hit recording of this song in the U.S. was by: RALPH MARTERIE & HIS ORCHESTRA on Mercury Records (# 70432-X45). It entered the Pop Charts on AUGUST 28, 1954, and reached its Peak Position at No. 3 (15 weeks on the charts).
Ralph was born in Naples, Italy and grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He became a very popular bandleader during the early 50's, and...
Here's an interesting twist: Another one of Ralph's hits, on Mercury 70153-X45, entered the Pop Charts on JUNE 20, 1953, peaking at No. 13 (4 weeks on the charts). It was a cover recording of the Bill Haley composition "CRAZY, MAN, CRAZY", with vocals by Larry Rogen & Smarty-airs.
Question: Who played sax on the above two recordings?
None other than RUDY POMPILLI.
Rudy was voted "BEST NEW SAXOPHONIST OF 1953" by the "DOWN BEAT" magazine jazz poll, when he was playing with the Ralph Marterie Orchestra; where his fine musicianship and stage antics earned him the attention of music lovers everywhere.
Here's a picture of Rudy, making his saxophone blow!
As fate would have it, after the salaried members of Bill Haley's Comets (Joey D'Ambrosia, Dick Richards and Marshall Lytle) left the band to form THE JODIMARS in late 1955, Bill had to re-form The Comets.
In addition to Johnny Grande, with his keyboard expertise, Billy Williamson, of steel guitar well-earned fame, and Frank (Franny) Beecher, with his rockin' guitar licks, Bill hired Al Rex (Al Piccarelli), a former friend and some-time member of Bill's groups, to take on the bass duties and slapstick his way around. The other new-boys-in-the-band were Ralph Jones, a drummer like no other (who had been doing a regular milkman job) and, sure enough, RUDY POMPILLI!!!
And here's the complete picture of Rudy and Bill, rockin' the joint!
The new group was without question, the best and most complete Rock 'N' Roll band on the face of earth. Their first two recordings, on September 22, 1955, were "R-O-C-K" and "ROCK-A-BEATIN' BOOGIE". The next day, "THE SAINTS ROCK 'N' ROLL" and "BURN THAT CANDLE" would follow. History in the making!
Interesting Counter-twist: Ralph Marterie's hit recording of "CARAVAN" (Mercury # 70097-X45), which entered the Pop Charts on MARCH 21, 1953, peaking at No. 6 (11 weeks on the charts), was in turn covered on 1961 by... Bill Haley & His Comets!, as "CARAVANA TWIST", for their first Mexican LP: "TWIST" (Dimsa DML-8255).
"CARAVAN", a song composed in 1937 by Juan Tizol & Duke Ellington, with later lyrics by Irving Mills, was introduced by DUKE ELLINGTON & HIS ORCHESTRA, with their recording on Master Records (# 131). It entered the Pop Charts on JULY 3, 1937. Peak Position: No. 4 (18 weeks on the charts).
Other hit recordings of "CARAVAN" are by BARNEY BIGARD & HIS JAZZOPATORS, clarinetist with Duke Ellington from 1927 to 1942 (on Variety # 515); a recording which entered the Pop Charts on JUNE 19, 1937 and peaked at 20 (1 week on the charts), and by BILLY ECKSTINE with the Hugo Winterhalter's Orchestra on M-G-M (# K 10368-A). This vocal version entered the Pop Charts on APRIL 23, 1949. Peak Position: No. 27 (1 week on the charts).
Here's another curious twist: "CARAVAN" was revived in 1953, when the instrumental recording by THE ESQUIRE BOYS (Rainbow # 188) entered the Pop Charts on FEBRUARY 21, 1953 (one whole month before Ralp's version), peaking at No. 27 (1 week on the charts). This record competed against the version of RALPH MARTERIE & HIS ORCHESTRA (Bingo!)
These "curious twists" go back and forth, because Bill Haley said that he wrote the great "ROCK-A-BEATIN' BOOGIE" precisely for THE ESQUIRE BOYS, whose leader was... DANNY CEDRONE. Their recording of the song appeared on Guyden Records # 105.
Danny, of course, was THE lead guitar player on the legendary BILL HALEY AND HIS COMETS recording of April 12, 1954 (Double Bingo!!): "(WE'RE GONNA) ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK" (Decca 9-29124).
Back to:
"SKOKIAAN" was also a vocal hit by THE FOUR LADS with Neal Hefty & His Orchestra, on COLUMBIA (# 4-40306), which entered the Pop Charts on SEPTEMBER 4, 1954. Peak Position: No. 7 (12 weeks on the charts). "SKOKIAAN" was their second Top Ten Hit, almost a year after their first Top Ten rendition, named after the exotic city of "ISTANBUL (NOT CONSTANTINOPLE)".
THE FOUR LADS, a vocal group from Toronto, Canada, consisting of Bernard Toorish (Lead Tenor), Frank Busseri (Baritone), James Arnold (2nd Tenor) and Connie (his nickname) Codarini (Bass), had been the vocal backing group of JOHNNIE RAY in his famous back-to-back recordings of "CRY" and "THE LITTLE WHITE CLOUD THAT CRIED".
The English lyrics of "SKOKIAAN" are quite singable and amusing. Enjoy a repro of the original lyrics as published in the song magazine "Hit Parader":
Other charted versions of "SKOKIAAN" were (check above) by:
RAY ANTHONY on CAPITOL (# F-2896), which entered the Pop Charts on SEPTEMBER 25, 1954, peaking at No. 18 (5 weeks on the charts);
PEREZ PRADO & HIS ORCHESTRA on RCA VICTOR (# 47-5839), which entered the Pop Charts on SEPTEMBER 25, 1954, peaking at No. 26 (1 week on the charts);
And by LOUIS ARMSTRONG, accompanied by an orchestra directed by SY OLIVER, on DECCA (# 9-29256), which entered the Pop Charts on OCTOBER 2, 1954. Peak Position: No. 29 (1 week on the charts).
Now, here are the BILL HALEY AND HIS COMETS recordings of "SKOKIAAN":
Bill and his Comets (Franny, Billy, Rudy, Johnny, Ralph and Al Rappa, on Bass) first recorded "SKOKIAAN" at THE PYTHIAN TEMPLE in New York, on SEPTEMBER 23, 1959, under the A&R guidance of Milt Gabler.
This version was released on the album "STRICTLY INSTRUMENTAL", which was:
a) The FIRST (and last) Bill Haley instrumental album;
b) His SECOND stereo album (# DL-78964); and
c) His LAST original album on Decca (# DL-8964).
This version was also released on the Extended Play # ED-2671. You'll enjoy the following scan of the front cover of this EP, with the AUTOGRAPHS of Bill and several of the Comets!
With the exception of the 1974 chart re-entry of "ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK", caused by its inclusion in the TV series "Happy Days", "SKOKIAAN" was the Last Charted Hit in the U.S. by BILL HALEY AND HIS COMETS, on DECCA (# 9-31030). It entered the Pop Charts on JANUARY 4, 1960. Peak Position: No. 70 (6 weeks on the charts).
BILL HALEY "Y SUS COMETAS" next recorded the tune on JANUARY 28, 1966 for DISCOS ORFEON at the ESTUDIOS ORFEON (Estudio "A") in Avenida Universidad # 1273, Colonia Acacias, near Coyoacán, on the south side of México City. The track was labeled as "SKOKIAN A GO GO", with no songwriter credits, except Bill's as "arranger". The musical style was annotated as "JERK".
The recording session was not supervised by any of the usual A&R men at Orfeón (Paco De La Barrera, Romulo Morán or Porfirio Reyna), but by Porfirio's younger brother, Vladimiro Reyna. Although no information is readily available on who were the trumpet players in this recording, it is estimated that they were syndicated session musicians; possibly Chilo Morán, Lupe López and/or Victor Guzmán (Ha! reason enough to carry out another search; now, at the Musicians' Union files!)
This recording appeared in several Orfeón releases on the DIMSA label (which was the record line for the young audiences) and Bill was nicknamed "MR. GO-GO", because the discotheque craze was in full bloom, and "A Go Go" was the way to go!
Like many other recordings by BILL HALEY AND HIS COMETS, this one is a part of their legend!
And this is how you can connect an African tribal drink with a Bill Haley Mexican recording!
End of Research, and thanks to Denise for asking the question!
© 2001 by JOSE G. CRUZ AYALA.
Well, that's it! I hope that you have enjoyed the above. If you are ready for some more info on BILL HALEY AND HIS COMETS, you might rock on to the following sites:
- You can start with Denise's website, appropriately called "www.d4haley.com". She has great material for sale on Bill Haley & His Comets.
Or you can go back to our GALAXIA Home Page!
Back to Home Page