RIP, Franny Beecher, guitarist for Bill Haley & the Comets
Norristown native also played wiht Benny Goodman and Buddy Greco.
Franny Beecher, the guitarist for 1950s rock popularizers Bill Haley & the Comets, died on Monday night in a nursing home in Norristown.
Beecher, who was 92, replaced original Comets guitarist Danny Cedrone, who played on "Rock Around The Clock," after his death on 1954. The guitarist played with Buddy Greco and Benny Goodman. When he joined the Comets, he had to make his playing less jazzy, he told John Swenson in 1982: "They wanted to play a more basic style than I was used to, more country really, they called it rockabilly."
His obituary is here. Below check out two clips from the 1956 movie "Don't Knock The Rock." That's Beecher talking to the camera at the start of the Little Richard cover "Rip It Up," and stepping out on lead guitar on "Hot Dog Buddy Buddy."
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