Sonny Dae and His Knights was an American vocal and instrumental group in the early 1950s. The group was the first to record the hit song "

Rock Around the Clock "Rock Around the Clock" is a rock and roll song in the 12-bar blues format written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers (the latter being under the pseudonym "Jimmy De Knight") in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was record ...

". The group comprised Italian-American singer Sonny Dae (born Paschall Salvatore Vennitti, May 24, 1928 – February 1987), pianist Hal Hogan, guitarist Art Buono, and Mark Bennett, bassist, and/or drummer. It was a novelty group that billed itself as "instrumental, vocal and fun makers", and had a regular slot on the

Old Dominion Barn Dance Old Dominion Barn Dance is an American country music radio show broadcast over WRVA (AM), WRVA, Richmond, Virginia each Saturday night. Mary Workman, better known as "Sunshine Sue" was the host (1946–1957). Gregg Kimball of the Library of Virgin ...

radio show in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

. "Rock Around the Clock" was authored by

Max C. Freedman Max Charles Freedman ( Friedman; January 8, 1893 – October 8, 1962) was an American songwriter and lyricist, best remembered for co-writing the song " Rock Around the Clock" . Background Freedman was born in Philadelphia, and became a radi ...

and was performed in stage shows in 1953 by his client

Bill Haley William John Clifton Haley (; July 6, 1925 – February 9, 1981) was an American rock and roll musician. He is credited by many with first popularizing this form of music in the early 1950s with his group Bill Haley & His Comets and million-sel ...

. Freedman approached Jimmy De Knight, (born James E. Myers), a music publisher, to publish and copyright the song. Myers agreed, but only if his name was added as a co-writer, which Freedman agreed. However, Haley's record company,

Essex Records Essex Records was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1951 by David Miller primarily to record contemporary country and western, rhythm and blues as well as jazz and gospel. Jack Howard was the promotion manager. The label had little pop ...

, initially refused to allow him to record it, because the company's owner, Dave Miller, detested Myers and refused to allow his songs to be released on the label. Instead, Myers' business partner, Jack Howard, offered the song to Sonny Dae and His Knights, who recorded and released it (take 6 was the released version) in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

on 20 March 1954 (recorded, according to some other sources, late in 1953 or as late as March 1954, but the recording date is totally unknown). "(We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock To-night!" was copyrighted on 31 March 1953 in the U.S. Library Of Congress. The recording was released on Howard's Arcade label (label number 123) and reviewed by ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' in the R&B section. But the record achieved only modest local success. The B-side was an instrumental with accompanying vocals, "Moving Guitar", written by S. Dae, A. Buono and M. Bennett. Bill Haley & The Comets then recorded its version of "Rock Around the Clock" on 12 April 1954, following which the song eventually became a worldwide hit. Sonny Dae & His Knights is not known to have made any other recordings.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dae, Sonny Musicians from Philadelphia