J. Myers; Co-Wrote 'Rock Around the Clock'

By RICHARD CROMELIN

May 12, 2001 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

James E. Myers, whose obscure career as a musician, record promoter, songwriter and music publisher yielded one of the seminal recordings in pop music history, has died. He was 81.

Myers died Wednesday of leukemia in Florida, where he had lived for several years.

Myers’ indelible contribution was “Rock Around the Clock,” which he co-wrote in 1952. The song was recorded first by a Pennsylvania group, Sunny Dae & His Knights, and then by Bill Haley & the Comets in 1954.

Haley’s record was only a minor hit when it came out in 1954, but when the song blasted out of movie theater speakers over the opening credits of the 1955 juvenile-delinquent drama “Blackboard Jungle,” pop music would never be the same.

While the record is mild by today’s standards, Haley’s rousing countdown--”one, two, three o’clock, four o’clock rock, five, six, seven o’clock, eight o’clock rock . . . “ and the music’s rhythm and blues swing sent teenagers dancing in the aisles.

The phenomenon made headlines, the first time the emerging rock ‘n’ roll sound became linked to a youth culture and rebellious behavior on a large scale. Riding the notoriety, the single became the first rock ‘n’ roll record to reach No. 1 on the national pop chart.

It held that spot for eight weeks and went on to become one of the biggest-selling records--100 million by Myers’ estimate--and most widely recorded songs in pop music. Performers such as John Lennon and Elton John would cite “Rock Around the Clock” as their inspiration for becoming musicians.

Teenage rebellion was the last thing intended by Myers, a product of the pre-rock era who never lost his taste for the big bands. “I wanted a happy sound,” he said in an interview last year. “I wanted it going in and we got it coming out.”

Myers was born in Philadelphia and took up drums as a child, learning from his father. As a teenager, he formed a dance band that worked regularly in the area, and along the way he adopted the stage name Jimmy DeKnight, which is the credit on “Rock Around the Clock.”

Returning to Philadelphia in 1946 after serving in the Army in the South Pacific, Myers worked as a small-time music publisher, record promoter, booking agent and songwriter. He began the music and lyrics of “Rock Around the Clock” in 1952 and finished it with the help of his occasional collaborator, Max Freedman.

“Everything was ballads in those days,” Myers told The Times in a 1978 interview. “I tried to do something different. . . . I wanted something upbeat, something to bring dancing back.”

Myers brought the song to Pennsylvania-based Haley, who had scored a national hit with “Crazy, Man, Crazy.” Haley’s label didn’t want him to record it, but when he was free of that contract, the singer and Myers headed to New York and cut a deal with Decca Records.

Decca put “Rock Around the Clock” on the B-side of a song called “Thirteen Women,” which flopped. Myers promoted his song in the area and found some success, but it was his mailings to Hollywood studios that ultimately paid dividends when the song was picked up by the makers of “Blackboard Jungle.”

Myers left the music industry in the late ‘50s because of bleeding ulcers. He spent 20 years in Hollywood as a bit player in movies and television. He settled in Florida, where his home in Bonita Springs houses a “Rock Around the Clock” museum.

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Here are the lyrics to “Rock Around the Clock,” by Max C. Freedman and Jimmy DeKnight, 1953, Myers Music USA.

One, two, three o’clock, four o’clock, rock,

Five, six, seven o’clock, eight o’clock, rock,

Nine, ten, eleven o’clock, twelve o’clock, rock,

We’re gonna rock around the clock tonight.

Put your glad rags on and join me, hon,

We’ll have some fun when the clock strikes one,

We’re gonna rock around the clock tonight,

We’re gonna rock, rock, rock, ‘til broad daylight.

We’re gonna rock, gonna rock, around the clock tonight.

When the clock strikes two, three and four,