Haley was blinded in his left eye as a child due to a botched operation. According to biographer John Swenson, Haley later adopted his distinctive spit-curl hairstyle to distract attention from his blind eye. The spit-curl caught on as a 50's style signature, although Haley and others had worn the hairstyle much earlier.
In 1946, Haley joined his first professional group, a Pennsylvania-based western swing band called The Down Homers run by Kenny Roberts. It has often been reported in musical reference works that Haley's first professional recordings were made with the Down Homers on a pair of singles released in 1946 by Vogue Records. This was later debunked by Roberts and others, stating Haley had already left the group by the time the singles were made. In the early 2000s, however, a set of 1946 radio recordings by the Down Homers were discovered and Haley is definitely present as he is identified by name and sings a solo number "She Taught Me to Yodel"; these recordings were commercially released for the first time in 2006.
After gaining experience with the Down Homers, Haley set out on his own, forming several groups such as the Range Drifters and the Four Aces of Western Swing. With the Four Aces, he made a number of regionally successful country music singles in the late 1940s for Cowboy Records while working as a touring musician and later a radio DJ at WPWA. (Many of Haley's early recordings from this period would not be released until after his death.) After disbanding the Four Aces and briefly trying a solo career using the names Jack Haley and Johnny Clifton (as chronicled in the biography Sound and Glory), Haley formed a new group called The Saddlemen in either 1949 or 1950 (sources vary as to the exact year); this new group recorded for several labels, including one single for Atlantic Records, Haley's first exposure to a major national record company. In 1951, Haley was signed to Dave Miller's Philadelphia-based Holiday Records and began to change musical styles, recording cover versions of "Rocket "88"" (previously recorded by Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats), and in, 1952, "Rock the Joint", previously recorded by several bands including Jimmy Preston and His Prestonians. (By the time of "Rock the Joint", Haley had graduated from Holiday Records to Miller's larger Essex label.) The relative success of these recordings (both sold in the 75,000-100,000 copy range in the Pennsylvania-New England region) convinced Haley that his new and as-yet officially unnamed hybrid of country and rhythm and blues could be a commercial success.and some of his family lives in oklahoma and there is a road named after his family.
Rock-a-Beatin' Boogle
Bill Haley Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Roll, roll, roll, everybody
Rock, rock, rock, everybody
Roll, roll, roll, everybody
Rock, rock, rock, everybody
Rock-a-beatin' boogie beat
You take a rock you take a beat
You take a rock-a-beatin' boogie,
Rock-a-beatin' boogie beat
Well, the rock-a-beatin' boogie, B-O-O-G-I-E
Well, rockin' to the rythm of the rock-a-beatin' boogie
Dancin' to the rhythm of the rock-a-beatin' boogie
Shakin' to the rhythm of the rock-a-beatin' boogie
Jumpin' to the rhythm of the rock-a-beatin' boogie
Rompin' to the rhythm of the rock-a-beatin' boogie
B-O-O-G-I-E !
You gotta jump you gotta jive
You gotta dance to be alive
You do the rock-a-beatin' boogie,
Rock-a-beatin' boogie beat
Rock-a-beatin' boogie, B-O-O-G-I-E
The lyrics to Bill Haley's "Rock-A-Beatin’ Boogie" are a simple yet energetic call to dance and enjoy life. The repetition of "rock" and "roll" creates a sense of urgency and excitement, as if the music is urging everyone to join in the fun. The lyrics highlight the importance of rhythm and movement, emphasizing the need to jump, jive, dance, and shake to "be alive."
The title of the song, "Rock-A-Beatin’ Boogie," combines three essential musical elements of the mid-20th century: rock, beat, and boogie. The song is essentially a celebration of these three elements, calling on everyone to embrace and enjoy them. The lyrics evoke a sense of freedom and release, encouraging listeners to forget their worries and just dance.
One interesting fact about "Rock-A-Beatin’ Boogie" is that it was among the first songs to be referred to as "rock and roll." The term had been used before to describe rhythm and blues music, but it was Bill Haley's hit songs that helped popularize the term as we know it today. Another interesting fact is that the song was originally released as the B-side to another popular Haley hit, "See You Later, Alligator." However, "Rock-A-Beatin’ Boogie" eventually became just as popular and enduring as its A-side counterpart.
Line by Line Meaning
Rock, rock, rock, everybody
Let's all rock together
Roll, roll, roll, everybody
Let's all roll together
Rock-a-beatin' boogie beat
Let's do a dance to the beat of the rock-a-beatin' boogie
You take a rock you take a beat
Combine rock and beat
You take a boogie you make it sweet
Make the boogie music more enjoyable
Well, the rock-a-beatin' boogie, B-O-O-G-I-E
This is the rock-a-beatin' boogie
Well, rockin' to the rhythm of the rock-a-beatin' boogie
Let's rock to the beat of the rock-a-beatin' boogie
Dancin' to the rhythm of the rock-a-beatin' boogie
Let's dance to the beat of the rock-a-beatin' boogie
Shakin' to the rhythm of the rock-a-beatin' boogie
Let's shake to the beat of the rock-a-beatin' boogie
Jumpin' to the rhythm of the rock-a-beatin' boogie
Let's jump to the beat of the rock-a-beatin' boogie
Rompin' to the rhythm of the rock-a-beatin' boogie
Let's have fun and dance energetically to the beat of the rock-a-beatin' boogie
B-O-O-G-I-E !
This is the boogie beat we are dancing to
You gotta jump you gotta jive
We need to jump and jive for this dance
You gotta dance to be alive
Dancing is essential to feel alive
Rock-a-beatin' boogie, B-O-O-G-I-E
This is the fun dance we are enjoying
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
James Wallin
Timeless classics will never die away.
Marilyn Miller
Never ever!
Janet Wilson
Thats true they will never ever go ,i am quite active and i still love the beats of the music 21009@janet
Teresa d brown Brown
Agree
Rock Brentwood
Take Rhythm & Blues and put the beat on the back, to make Rock & Roll and this is what happens. You can definitely hear the earlier legacy of the country style Bill Haley and the Saddlemen in this. That's where it came from. It's a grafting hybridization. The same thing happened when Disco got morphed into House except there you also got 3-2 interweaving (when House is done right).
Fenris Wolf
I wasn't there at the time, but through my parents I learned to love this music and I still listen to it. Simply timeless
Владимир
Жаль
Teresa d brown Brown
Yes
Marsel Marsov
10 years after a terrible war and a collapsed economy, the world came to life again through music and dance.
life goes on…
KYRGYZSTAN BISHKEK
👍👍👍