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.
The Green Door
Bill Haley Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
One more night without sleepin'
Uuh, Watchin'
Till that mornin' comes creepin'
Green door
What's that secret you're keepin'?
There's an old piano and they play it hot
Don't know what they're doin' but they laugh a lot
Behind the green door! (Green Door)
Wish they'd let me in so I could find out
What's behind the Green Door! (Green Door)
Knocked once
Tried to tell them I'd been there
Door slammed!
Hospitality's thin there
Wonder,
Just what's going on in there.
Saw an eyeball peepin' through a smoky cloud
Behind the green door. (Green Door)
When I said 'Joe sent me' someone laughed out loud
Behind the green door. (Uuh Green Door)
All I want to do is join the happy crowd
Behind the green door! (Green Door)
Midnight,
One more night without sleepin'
Watchin'
Till that mornin' comes creepin'
Green door,
What's that secret you're keepin'?
There's an old piano and they play it hot
Behind the Green Door. (Green Door)
Don't know what they're doin' but they laugh a lot
Behind the gren door! (Green Door)
Wish they'd let me in so I could find out
What's behind the Green Door! (Green Door)
Saw an eyeball peepin' through a smoky cloud
Behind the green door. (Green Door)
When I said 'Joe sent me' someone laughed out loud
Behind the green door. (ha, ha ha, oh)
All I want to do is join the happy crowd
Behind the green door! (Green Door)
Wish they'd let me in so I could find out
What's behind the Green Door! (Green Door)
The song "Green Door" by Bill Haley is a mysterious and catchy tune that tells the story of a curious man trying to gain access to a secret event behind a green door. The song's lyrics suggest that the event behind the green door is something exciting and enjoyable, but it remains unclear what exactly is going on inside. The song opens with the singer anxiously waiting for the morning to arrive, suggesting that he has been watching the door from afar all night. As the singer knocks on the door and tries to gain entry, he is met with laughter and rejection, adding to the air of mystery surrounding the event.
The song mentions an old piano playing hot behind the green door and laughter emanating from inside. The singer of the song expresses his desire to join the happy crowd behind the door and his frustration at being rejected. The reference to an eyeball peeping through a smoky cloud adds to the ominous and secretive atmosphere that the song creates.
Overall, "Green Door" is a fun and intriguing song that captures the listener's imagination and invites them to wonder what is going on behind that elusive green door.
Line by Line Meaning
Midnight
It's the wee hours of the night
One more night without sleepin'
The singer hasn't slept all night
Uuh, Watchin'
The singer is waiting and observing
Till that mornin' comes creepin'
Waiting until morning arrives
Green door
A mysterious door that's green in color
What's that secret you're keepin'?
The singer wonders what's behind the door
There's an old piano and they play it hot
Behind the green door, there's a piano that's played with energy
Behind the Green Door. (Green Door)
The song's title is repeated, emphasizing the door's importance
Don't know what they're doin' but they laugh a lot
The people behind the door are having a great time, but the singer isn't part of it
Wish they'd let me in so I could find out
The singer wants to join the party behind the green door
Knocked once
The singer has tried to get inside the room
Tried to tell them I'd been there
The singer has informed the people behind the door that they've met before
Door slammed!
The people behind the door didn't want the singer there
Hospitality's thin there
The people behind the door don't welcome strangers
Wonder,
The singer is curious
Just what's going on in there.
The singer wants to know what's happening behind the green door
Saw an eyeball peepin' through a smoky cloud
The singer caught a glimpse of someone behind the green door
When I said 'Joe sent me' someone laughed out loud
The people behind the door weren't impressed by the singer's name-dropping
All I want to do is join the happy crowd
The singer just wants to be part of the fun
Green door,
The song's title is repeated once more
What's that secret you're keepin'?
The singer still wonders what's behind the green door
Wish they'd let me in so I could find out
The singer's desire to enter the room is reiterated
What's behind the Green Door! (Green Door)
The song ends with the title and the singer's unanswered question
Lyrics © CARLIN AMERICA INC, BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: BOB DAVIE, MARVIN MOORE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@stefanlangle6939
Best Version! Bill Haley and his Comets.
@ginger1959able
Classic 64 track!
@CesareVesdani
Green door. Where is that green door.
@john111257
Jim Lowe smashed it, Frankie Vaughan wrecked it, Shakin Stevens moved it up to the 80s..and poor Bill missed out in the beat boom
@judystock3401
The best version of this song is by Bill Haley.
@bruceledger8647
He was the first to make it a hit song in 1956. I was there. I've moved on since then to newer genre's like Psytrance with Infected Mushroom. I love the new music just as much as the old. Keep on moving with the times.