William John Clifton Haley
William John Clifton Haley
was born 6th July 1925 at Highland Park, Michigan. His father, William
Albert Haley
was from Firebrick, Kentucky.
His mother, Maude Green was English, she came from Ulverston in Lancashire
and emigrated to the States during her teens. Later the family moved to
Boothwyn, near the town of Chester,
Pennsylvania. At home,
Bill was surrounded by music, his father played Banjo, his mother who had
been classically trained, taught piano. His first performances date from
about 1938, when as a child he sang and played guitar at
variety shows, put on
by local children to raise money for local causes. Haley was a shy child,
perhaps due to
the fact that he had
been blind in his left eye since infancy. This made him extremely
self conscious about his appearance. In his late teens, Bill found work
playing the local amusement parks, which featured live entertainment.
His first break came
when he signed on with 'Cousin Lee's Band' who had a popular radio show.
Haley sang,
played his guitar and
yodelled. Because of his disability, he avoided being called into the armed
forces in WWII.
At this time a group
called the 'Downhomers' were looking for a singing yodeller to replace
their lead singer, who
had been drafted in 1944.
Haley joined the group and even at this early stage was talking about combining
country
and pop music. At the
age of 22, Bill left the 'Downhomers', and returned to Chester to host
a local radio
programme. At this time
he also married his childhood sweetheart Dorothy Crowe a beautiful part
American
Indian girl.
the Four Aces of Western
Swing
In 1948, Bill released
his first records on the 'Cowboy' label with his backing group the
'Four Aces of Western
Swing', made up of Al Constantine (Accordian), Barney Barnard (bass)
and Tex King (guitar).
'Within This Broken Heart Of Mine' - Click here to listen.
the Saddlemen
The 'Four Aces' disbanded
in mid '49 and Haley formed a new band, 'The Saddlemen' which in turn was
ultimately to become
the very first rock and roll band in history, the 'Comets'. Al Rex on bass,
Billy Williamson
on steel guitar and
John Grande played piano and accordian. Haley fronted this group wearing
a ten-gallon
stetson covering his
trademark kiss-curl, a hair style he developed to take attention away from
his blind eye.
Bill
Haley & Elvis Presley
Bill
Haley Lyrics
Midi
Collection