Johnny Grande

• Genres: Rock
• Instrument: Piano

Biography

Pianist Johnny Grande was a founding member of Bill Haley & His Comets and plays on arguably the most famous single in the history of rock & roll, the immortal "Rock Around the Clock." Following Haley's death, he continued performing with the group into the 21st century. Born in Philadelphia on January 14, 1930, Grande studied classical piano as a child, and worked at a detective agency and coal delivery service while moonlighting as a musician at the Sleepy Hollow Ranch in nearby Quakertown, PA. Among the acts he supported was Bill Haley & the Four Aces of Western Swing, often substituting on accordion for regular bandmember Al Constantine. Haley was sufficiently impressed with Grande and his steel guitarist friend Billy Williamson that in mid-1949 he dissolved his Western swing combo to launch with them a new band, Bill Haley & His Saddlemen. With Haley on double bass, the trio began a yearlong residency at the Gloucester, NJ-based Twin Bar, in the months to follow honing what it called "cowboy jive," a sound embracing elements of country, swing, and Dixieland that would give birth to the backbeat that remains the foundation of rock. In 1951, Haley & His Saddlemen cut a cover of Jackie Brenston's "Rocket 88" (widely considered the first true rock & roll disc) for the white youth market, resurfacing the following year with the seminal "Rock the Joint." With 1953's "Crazy, Man, Crazy," their credit read Bill Haley & His Comets, with Grande moving from accordion to piano to further distance their music from country traditions. "Rock Around the Clock" first appeared in 1954 as the B-side to "Thirteen Women," a novelty song inspired by nuclear warfare. The former song nevertheless caught on at radio following its appearance in the landmark film The Blackboard Jungle and topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, ultimately emerging as one of the most recognizable and best-selling songs in pop music history. Its success nevertheless caused dissension in the ranks. Bandmembers Marshall Lytle, Joey d'Ambrosio, and Dick Richards received only 40-dollar session fees for recording "Rock Around the Clock" and ultimately quit the Comets in frustration. Upon adding guitarist Franny Beecher and tenor saxophonist Rudy Pompilli, Haley & His Comets scored a series of subsequent hits including "See You Later, Alligator" and "Rockin' Through the Rye," but the group made an enormous tactical error in agreeing to co-star in the 1956 feature films Rock Around the Clock and Don't Knock the Rock. Compared to younger, more dynamic artists like Elvis Presley and Little Richard, Haley and his colleagues looked painfully old and square, and their popularity quickly plummeted. Grande-arranged albums like Bill Haley's Chicks and Strictly Instrumental strugged mightily to keep up with ever-changing trends, but by 1962 the pianist had had enough and announced his retirement from the road, settling in Florida and forming his own hotel band, the Grandes. He also taught music and operated his own restaurant. Haley died on February 9, 1981, but following their 1987 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Comets re-formed with new vocalist Jocko Buddin. Grande toured with the group until just days before his death in Clarkesville, TN, on June 2, 2006. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide

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