Franny Beecher

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Franny Beecher (right) with Bill Haley (center) and Ralph Jones (background) during a concert in Essen, 1958

Franny (Frank) Beecher (born September 29, 1921 in Norristown , Pennsylvania , as Francis Eugene Beecher , † February 24, 2014 in Philadelphia ) was an American jazz , country and rock 'n' roll musician. Beecher played in the 1940s with the orchestras of Benny Goodman , Buddy Greco and Gene Krupa , but became world famous from autumn 1955 as the lead guitarist of the rock 'n' roll band Bill Haley & His Comets and through his gimmick intro - the imitation of a shrill children's voice - on Haley's hit See You Later, Alligator .

Career

Beginnings

Franny Beecher started his career in his native Pennsylvania in the early 1940s as a guitarist at various country shows. This was followed by his first permanent engagement as a country guitarist with the band Buckaroo Ramblers. Beecher played there with Brother Wayne, Jean Domerick, Sam Boccella, Joe Denick and John "Smoky" DiDomenico. After two years he switched to Slim Allsman and his Arizona Ramblers, where he met his future Comets colleagues, the steel guitarist Billy Williamson and the piano player and music arranger Johnny Grande .

From country to big band jazz

Beecher became increasingly interested in jazz, played with Gene Krupa and in 1947 joined Buddy Greco and his band. He was based on the techniques of jazz guitarist Charlie Christian and thus perfected his skills for all types of guitar playing. His guitar solos on the Buddy Greco single from 1947 Baby I'm True to You and from 1948 Lillette offer a sample . A short time later, Benny Goodman noticed him and hired him for his big band. Then Beecher's climax followed during his Goodman engagement; he played at the inauguration ceremony of US President Harry S. Truman in the spring of 1949 in Washington . Beecher's musical collaboration with Benny Goodman is documented on the Capitol LPs, Modern Benny and Benny Goodman at the Hollywood Palladium .

Rock 'n' Roll and Bill Haley

When Bill Haley's friend and studio guitarist Danny Cedrone tragically died on July 17, 1954, ten days after the recording of Shake, Rattle and Roll , the event had an immediate impact on Franny Beecher's further musical career. Haley's third recording session at Decca Records was already scheduled for September 1954 and so the Haley management was looking for a new guitarist who could take Cedrones place. The contact with Haley came about through Billy Williamson, Beecher's old friend and partner from their joint Slim Allsman time, and Beecher quickly recognized the opportunities that a collaboration with Bill Haley and his band opened up for him. On September 21, 1954, he recorded the Pingatore song Happy Baby in New York City with Bill Haley and the Comets in addition to Dim Dim the Lights , which was not only due to the drive but also to Beecher's solos and his soulful and fast guitar riffs Music scene impressed. "Bill Haley had definite ideas of how his music was to sound and how his sidemen were to play ... Once I learned rock and roll music, I just played what I felt," Beecher said in an interview about his first impressions during the joint studio work with Bill Haley.

The good interplay between Haley, the Comets and Franny Beecher continued with the Decca studio recordings at the Pythian Temple in New York on January 5, 1955 with Birth of the Boogie and Mambo Rock and on May 10, 1955 with Two Hound Dogs and Razzle Dazzle , which was decisively influenced by Beecher's guitar riffs.

Career as a comet

Bill Haley's popularity rose steadily in 1955, his Rock Around The Clock just conquered No. 1 in the US charts in June 1955. The prospect of being able to act live on stage with Haley and the Comets had become so appealing to Beecher that at that point he decided to establish a solid relationship with Bill Haley & His Comets. As a comet of the Haley band, Beecher advanced to become one of the first lead guitarists of a new sound, which a little later was to cause a sensation worldwide as "Rock 'n' Roll".

However, for the big band musician Beecher, the reaction of the Haley audience to live performances took some getting used to. Like the other comets, he was initially visibly shocked by the hysteria of the young audience. Turning to David Hirschberg, he commented on the new situation for him as follows: “The big bands like Goodman were very popular, but they didn't produce the kind of hysteria we saw from the Haley fans, the screaming and the crying! We were playing and some girls in the front row fainted, can you believe that? "

In the following years, Franny Beecher also became the invigorating element of the Comets outside of the stage. During the hour-long bus tours in the early years, he repeatedly caused amusement with his wit and talent for Walt Disney's Duck and Mickey Mouse imitations. This finally gave Haley and the producer Milt Gabler the idea in December 1955 to use Beecher with such a gimmick as an intro for the song See You Later Alligator . In addition to his musical solo, Beecher gave the rock 'n' roll classic his personal touch with this gag. He played a key role in ensuring that the phrase "See you later ...." became so popular in the years that followed that it has since become part of common usage worldwide.

Movies, television and tours

When Columbia Pictures decided to make a film about the band and the triumph of rock 'n' roll in early 1956, due to the increasing enthusiasm of teenage fans for Haley's music, it also had an impact on the Comets, which previously nobody outside of Pennsylvania knew. Besides Haley saxophonist Rudy Pompilli it was especially Franny Beecher, which extends through the film Rock Around the Clock ( except edge and volume ) created a fan base worldwide. At that time, his solos and stage appearances inspired countless young people who were soon on stage in the upcoming beat era. Best known in Germany and still active today is Ralf Hartmann, who, following his idol Franny Beecher as "Franny", together with his brother Knut since 1973 as Franny and the Fireballs in Hamburg and the surrounding area, played the rock 'n' roll of the 1950s. Years of playing in the style of Bill Haleys Comets.

Beecher's popularity led to the end of 1956 that Haley and the Director of the second rock 'n' roll film Do not Knock the Rock (Except of hand, Part II) , Fred F. Sears, Beecher in this strip Presentation of his instrumental hit Goffin 'Around in the presence of the famous DJ Alan Freed . In addition, Beecher was shown in this film with a new Duck imitation in the intro of the song Rip It Up . Other joint film appearances with Bill Haley followed, first in 1958 in Berlin in the German entertainment film Hier bin ich - hier ich ich wir mit Caterina Valente and in Mexico in the spring of 1961 in the films Jóvenes y rebeldes and Besito a Papa .

The first major nationwide US television program that also Franny Beecher brought closer next to Bill Haley to the American television audience, was the 1955 broadcast Ed Sullivan telecast The Toast of the Town . In the next two years Beecher was involved in numerous US live appearances by the popular band on the great Haley tours in early 1957 to Australia and England and in 1958 on the European tour overshadowed by rioting youths.

A very special event happened to Beecher during a live concert in Buenos Aires in the spring of 1958. Subsequently, not Bill Haley but Franny Beecher was invited to dinner by the then President of Argentina Arturo Frondizi and picked up from the hotel in a state car. Only later did they find out the reason - Frondizi's daughter was so enthusiastic about Beecher that she wanted to get to know him personally.

Studio work with Bill Haley

Franny Beecher produced a total of 96 songs with Bill Haley at the Pythian Temple for Decca from September 1954 to September 1959 in 31 recording sessions. He composed the instrumental songs Blue Comet Blues , Goofin 'Around , Week End and Shaky . On the record ABC Rock , produced in January 1959, you can hear the vocal duet Williamson / Beecher, two of which are verses with Beecher's famous gimmick voice. His biggest hit with Haley was See You Later Aligator , his last big hit in February 1958 was Skinny Minnie , a top 25 hit, not least because of Beecher's striking guitar solo. When Haley switched to Warner Brothers in late 1959 , Beecher was also involved in a total of 69 pieces in 13 recording sessions at Bell Sound Studio, New York. He accompanied Haley to Mexico in 1961, where he recorded various twist songs for the Orfeon Records label . In the spring of 1962, however, the final recording session with Haley took place in the Round Table Club, New York.

In the summer of 1962 Beecher ended his collaboration with Bill Haley & His Comets and initially retired into private life, later working alongside his music engagements as superintendent at a Halloween mask factory in Pennsylvania.

Solo career

As early as 1958 he released several singles for East West Records with other comets under the pseudonym The Kingsmen . The single Week End reached number 35 on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart in November 1958. The second single was Conga Rock / The Catwalk . Three years later, Beecher and his Comets colleagues Rudy Pompilli (saxophone) and Ralph Jones (drums) produced the single Big Daddy / St. Louis Blues under the pseudonym "Merri Men" on the Apt Records label .

In the fall of 1975 he complied with a request from his already seriously ill Comets colleague Rudy Pompilli and played with him at some private events before he died of cancer shortly afterwards. In 1982 Beecher was again involved in a joint recording session with the Comets in New York, they produced the single Bring Back the Music / The Hawk Talks .

In the fall of 1987 there was a reunion with Johnny Grande , Marshall Lytle , Dick Richards and Joey Ambrose , all of whom were former members of the Comets. They played Bill Haley's old hits on the occasion of the “First Annual Philadelphia Music Show” so successfully that they decided to tour the world again as “Bill Haley's Original Comets”. Beecher played in this formation as lead guitarist for 20 years until he had to retire in 2007 at the age of 87 for health reasons.

Franny Beecher last lived in Pennsylvania and still played occasionally at parties and private events. Despite his old age, he gave an impression of his stage presence in November 2009 when he performed on his 88th birthday at Rip House, Bridgeport, Pennsylvania, where he played for an hour with the five-piece combo "Heart & Soul".

Reviews

“Franny Beecher has long been recognized as one of the best guitarists in the country. He joined Haley last fall, having made records before that. Beecher used to be with Benny Goodman - and other major orchestras. He's also a great impersonator. Those who haven't heard his Donald Duck imitations have missed something so far. His imitations of young children are a dream. He is extremely involved in the great Haley success See You Later, Alligator . "

- Program contribution by Konzertdirektion Kurt Collien, Hamburg, for Bill Haley & His Comets' tour of Germany in autumn 1958

Discography

Productions with Benny Goodman

Modern Benny (Capitol ECJ-40001):

  1. Ma Belle Marguerite (10-02-1949)
  2. Having a Wonderful Wish (24-03-1949)
  3. That Wonderful Girl of Mine (24-03-1949)
  4. It Isn't Fair (03/24/1949)
  5. Fresh Fish (31-03-1949)
  6. The Hucklebuck (March 31, 1949)
  7. Don't Worry About Me (31-03-1949)
  8. Little Girl Don't Cry (15-10-1949)
  9. Why Don't We Do This More Often (15-10-1949) Dolly Houston vocal
  10. Brother Bill (27-10-1949)
  11. Spin a Record (27-10-1949)
  12. I Had Someone Else Before I Had You (27-10-1949) Dolly Houston vocal
  13. You're Always There (27-10-1949)

Benny Goodman at the Hollywood Palladium , March 25, 1949:

  2. Let's Dance (25-03-1949) instrumental
  3. Undercurrent Blues (25-03-1949) instrumental
  4. Thu Thu Thu (25-03-1949)
  5. Trees (25-03-1949) instrumental
  6. There's a Small Hotel (25-03-1949) instrumental (quartet)
  7. Jersey Bounce (25-03-1949) instrumental
  8. El Greco (25-03-1949) instrumental
  9. Lover Man (25-03-1949) Terry Swope vocal
  10. King Porter Stomp (25-03-1949) instrumental
  11. Clarinade (25-03-1949) instrumental

literature

  • Rock Around the Clock by Jim Dawson, Backbeat Books, San Francisco
  • Sound And Glory by John W. Haley & John von Hoelle, Dyne American Publications
  • Scapbook from Bill Haley's Original Comets 2007

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Guitarist from Bill Haley and the Comets dead. T-Online .de from February 25, 2014 (accessed February 25, 2014).
  2. ^ Sound and Glory, Dyne-American Publishing, p. 100.
  3. ↑ Rock Around The Clock by Jim Dawson, Backbeat Books, pp. 135/136
  4. ^ Comets statement, reproduced by the promoter and agent of the Comets European tours Klaus Kettner, Hydra-Records
  5. ↑ [1] Franny Beecher in the Rockabilly Hall of Fame

Web links

Commons : Franny Beecher  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Beecher, Franny
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Beecher, Francis Eugene (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American country, rockabilly, and rock 'n' roll musician
DATE OF BIRTH September 29, 1921
PLACE OF BIRTH Norristown , Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH February 24, 2014
Place of death Philadelphia