Sonny Dae and his Knights

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Sonny Dae and his Knights
General information
Genre (s) Novelty , rock 'n' roll , country
Founding members
Hal Hogan
Sonny Dae
Art Buono
unknown
 Mark?

Sonny Dae and his Knights was an American vocal group. The band recorded the original of the world hit Rock Around the Clock , which was later made internationally known by Bill Haley .

Career

Sonny Dae was of Italian descent and was born Pascal Vennitti in 1931. In the early 1950s he performed with the Knights, who were not a rhythm and blues , country or even rock 'n' roll band, but described themselves as “instrumental, vocal and fun makers”. The group was also a regular member of the Old Dominion Barn Dance , a country show from Richmond , Virginia .

In 1953 Jimmy Myers brought a new composition called Rock Around the Clock to Sonny Dae's friend and regional musician Bill Haley, who was not allowed to record the song for his Essex Records label because label occupant and manager Dave Miller was in a dispute with Myers and refused to to enter into any cooperation with him. Since Haley and Myers wanted to have the song produced, they brokered Dae and the Knights to Arcade Records , a local country (and later rockabilly) label, which was partly owned by Haley. Sonny Dae and the Knights officially recorded the song on March 20, 1954 in Philadelphia ; however, other sources also give the end of 1953 as the date of recording. Billboard presented the single in its March 1954 issue, so 1953 seems far more likely as the recording date. Released with the B-side Movin 'Guitar , an instrumental piece, the single in Philadelphia achieved only moderate success.

Bill Haley switched to Decca Records in 1954 , where he now recorded Rock Around the Clock with the Comets. When it was used in the film Blackboard Jungle , the song became a worldwide hit and sparked the triumph of rock'n'roll. Sonny Dae and the Knights, however, did not take any more pictures and eventually disappeared from the scene.

Her version of Rock Around the Clock was released on the 1978 Rollercoaster LP Rockaphilly! re-released and is included on the double CD The Story Of Rock Around The Clock . There are also 31 different recordings of this title with Bill Haley published.

Discography

year title Record company
1954 Rock Around the Clock / Movin 'Guitar Arcade 45-AR-123

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hydra Records BCK 27128-1.5