Customer Reviews

Encore Series: Bill Haley and His Comets

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Called his "Final Tour", you'd be surprised that it is presumeably from the late 1970s, as Bill rocks and rolls with nearly all the intensity he showed way back when in the Alan Freed films.
Earlier B. H. movie appearances were from the early '70s, festival excerpts in Let The Good Times Roll and The London Rock And Roll Show - fun to watch but nothing to revisit too often. The later video appearance, though technically substandard, is a full performance with alot of pop.
The serious fan might be disheartened to see no original back-up players, possibly save one, but these cats cook up a storm! "Rudy's Rock" is a great rendition and tribute to the legendary sax man.
You really get a sense of what thrilled the fans back in the '50s when you watch Bill in a complete set (Though I didn't care for the reprise of the segment of "When The Saints Go Rockin' In". If they wanted to expand the set with another recorded track from the show, I think "Rock Around The Clock" was the one). "Me And Bobby McGee" is a nice addition to a very satisfying (and low-priced!) program.

Bill Haley & His Comets was one of the first Rock & Roll bands. Was really great to see them perform on DVD. Wish they had more of these DVD's by him.

The quality of the DVD is great & as for the show, Bill was very enjoyable to watch. Usually he would only sing a few songs & would let his band and other local people preform most of the show, but, this time, he sang most of the songs. The Comets were young (except for two of them), but they did a great job backing Bill. When Bill was on the road, he had his own Comets with him & he would hire others to be on stage with him. For a while, he would also hire them to back him on his recordings. In the 50's we could only see our stars in the movies or on a rare TV show such as Bandstand or Ed Sullivan type shows, so we don't have too much footage of Bill Haley or any of the R & R artists of that time. This DVD is a must for all of you Haley fans despite the new Comets. +JMJ+

The following review of this DVD is based on a review of the CD The Best of Bill Haley and His Comets, Bill Haley and The Comets, MCA Records, 1999. Most of the points made there apply to this film except that those who like their music in video form rather than merely hearing it have choices now. The film itself is a concert, the so-called farewell concert that Bill performed in England. Watch it for old time's sake.

*******

I want to take you to back to the Stone Age of communications in the 1950's. In those days there was a thing called a transistor radio. For those who do not know what this is it was a small battery-powered radio that you could fit in your shirt or pants pocket or for girls- a purse or some such bag. No, no downloading then, sorry. Why do I need to mention this as a prelude to discussing Bill Haley? Well, let us keep this quiet, okay. Bill and his Comets could be listened to on that little radio. No big deal, you say. Fair enough.

But what if I told you that he played Rock and Roll music and that such music was the `devils work' in many households. And what if I told you that this `devil's work' was much easier to listen too if you had one of those little transistors that could be hidden away from snooping parents. And this was not in some "Iron Curtain" country but right here in America. Now you get the drift. Some, including this writer, may say that America has since gone to the dogs but, hell; it was great music to listen to after hearing the likes of Patti Page singing about How Much Was That Doggie In The Window.

Bill Haley actually represented something of a transition into Rock and Roll. He had a regular standard band of the day with a big `sax' sound and all. He and his Comets were all dressed up for the country club youth dance or school dance so mother and father would certainly have approved of such nice young men. Then they came out with the jump Rock Around The Clock at you. Then covered Big Joe Turner's classic Shake, Rattle and Roll (better than Elvis, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee by the way). Take a breather with a little Mambo-type ditty to take advantage of the then current craze. Then back to the sneakily sensuous Skinny Minnie. And close out with a rock classic like See You Later, Alligator. Yes, this was maybe not the very best that Rock and Roll had to offer but these guys were serious. Just make sure to get some batteries for those little radios and things will be fine.