June 2, 2011
JOEY WELZ BEGAN HIS CAREER AS A SINGING PIANO MAN IN THE MIDDLE 50S WITH « ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK ”. AS FEATURED PIANIST WITH BILL HALEY AND THE COMETS. HE IS ONE OF THE FOUNDING FATHERS OF ROCK AND ROLL AND ONE OF THE WORLD’S FIRST SINGING PIANISTS. HE BEGAN RECORDING IN 1955 BEFORE LITTLE RICHARD AND JERRY LEE LEWIS, MAKING HIS FIRST ROCK AND ROLL RECORDS IN HIS HOME TOWN OF BALTIMORE WITH HIS BAND THE JAYROCKERS. IT WAS IN THIS YEAR THAT JOEY BEGAN WORKING WITH BILL HALEY AND THE COMETS, FIRST AS A BAND BOY AND THEN AS THE OPENING ACT FOR THE COMETS. INFLUENCED BY THE RHYTHM AND BLUES OF FATS DOMINO, JOEY WAS ONE OF THE FIRST PIANISTS TO COMBINE BOOGIE WOOGIE PIANO WITH ROCK AND ROLL AND CREATED IN PART, THE BASIC PIANO LICKS HEARD IN MANY OF THE EARLY ROCK AND ROLL RECORDS. WITH BILL HALEY SINGING COUNTRY SWING, THE COMETS ADDED A BACK BEAT AND SAXAPHONE TO THE MIX, ACCENTED BY BIG BAND LICKS AND A BOOGIE WOOGIE RHYTHM; THIS ROCK AND ROLL WAS BORN. IT WAS NAMED BY ALAN FREED FROM THE LYRICS OF ONE OF HALEY’S FIRST SONGS…. »THE ROCK-A-BEATIN’BOOGIE
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AFTER THE GREAT SUCCESS OF » ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK » JOEY CO-WROTE SEVERAL REVISED VERSIONS OF THE SONG WITH THE ORIGINAL WRITER JIMMY DeKNIGHT (A.K.A.JAMES E.MYERS). HIS HEAVY METAL VERSION HIT THE CHARTS ALL OVER THE WORLD IN THE 80S AND HIS ROCKABILLY VERSION WENT TOP 10 IN THE 90S ON THE WORLD WIDE INDEPENDENT COUNTRY CHARTS…. NOW IN 2004, JOEY UPDATED THE SONG IN A MODERN NEW ARRANGEMENT AIMED DIRECTLY AT THE YOUTH OF THE 21ST CENTURY. »ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK FOREVER »COMBINES ROCK AND ROLL WITH HIP HOP. IT IS GAINING A WHOLE NEW WORLDWIDE AUDIENCE WITH HEAVY EUROPEAN RADIO AIRPLAY. NOW JOEY WELZ HAS REINVENTED HIMSELF AS THE COMET M.C., TRULLY THE INOVATOR OF ROCK ON CAPRICE INTERNTIONAL RECORDS, U.S.A.
DURING THE PAST 5 DECADES, JOEY HAS WRITTEN OVER IOOO RECORDED SONGS AND AS A RECORDING ARTIST, HAS MADE 75 SINGLES, 35 VYNAL ALBUMS AND 60 CD ALBUMS. HE HAS TWO GOLD RECORDS EACH FOR A MILLION RADIO SPINS WITH SUCH ORIGINAL HITS AS: »BOPPIN’ THE STROLL » »HEY LITTLE MOONBEAM » »HEY BABY/DO YOU WANNA DANCE » »IN MY CAR » »ROCKIN’IN AMERICA » »ROCKABILLY » »THE NASHVILLE BOOGIE »SHAKE, RATTLE AND ROLL »PEOPLE ARE THE SAME ALL OVER THE WORLD »AND «I AM AN AMERICAN » »HIS LATEST ALBUM ON CANADIAN AMERICAN RECORDS »FOREVER MORE », FEATURES SONGS FROM THE SPOLAR MOTION PICTURE « ANGEL MADE OF GLASS » »JOEY ALSO ACTS IN THE FILM PLAYING HIMSELF AS THE COMET M.C.,PERFORMING THE NEW »ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK FOREVER »
AS A SESSION MUSICIAN AND PERFORMING PIANIST/ORGANISTS, JOEY HAS RECORDED OR PLAYED WITH SOME OF THE GREATEST NAMES IN ROCK AND ROLL HISTORY »LINK WRAY AND THE RAYMEN »ROY BUCHANNAN »FREDDIE CANNON »DANNY AND THE JUNIORS »SAM THE SHAM AND THE PHAROES »JIMMY JONES »TOMMY JAMES AND THE SHONDELLS »RARE EARTH »THE BILL BLACK COMBO »AND THE LEGENDARY STEPPENWOLF ». IN 1962 JOEY PLAYEDWITH THE BEATLES AT THE STARCLUB IN HAMBURG GERMANY WHEN THEY WERE THE OPENING ACT FOR BILL HALEY AND THE COMETS. HE IS ONE ON THE ONLY ARTISTS IN THE WORLD TODAY WHO HAS RECORDED NEW MUSIC IN EVERY DECADE »THE 50S »60S »70S »80S »90S AND NOW THE 21ST CENTURY. HE HAS PLACED 7 YEARS IN A ROW ON THE KEYBOARD MAGAZINE’S TOP TWENTY READER’S POLL. HE HAS BEEN INDUCTED INTO THE HARD ROCK CAFE AND THE ROCKABILLY HALL OF FAME AND AS ONE OF THE COMETS; HE IS A GOLD CHARTER MEMBER OF THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME. JOEY WELZ IS ROCK AND ROLL HISTORY AND ONE OF THE FEW ORIGINAL ROCK AND ROLL PIANO MEN PERFORMING LIVE TODAY. HE HAS RIGHTFULLY TAKEN HIS PLACE ALONG SIDE OF « JERRY LEE LEWIS » FATS DOMINO AND « LITTLE RICHARD » AS THE BOOGIE WOOGIE KING OF ROCK AND ROLL HEARD AROUND THE WORLD AND STILL ROCKIN’AROUND THE CLOCK ON CAPRICE INTERNATIONAL…
Recent Years 2008-2009
Joey was recently inducted into the ROCKABILLY HALL OF FAME with BILL BLACK and CHARLIE RICH. In 2008 he was inducted into the MEMPHIS HERITAGE MUSIC HALL OF FAME with JOHNNY NASH, WILLIE MITCHELL and the BARKEYS. His bio was featured in the INTERNATIONAL MUSICIAN MAGAZINE of the A. F. of M. and ROLLING STONE named him one of the top 100 IMORTALS OF ROCK & ROLL. Joey tours France every year with the CAPTAIN JOE COMBO and has released 2 new albums with his French Band; REWIND MY ROCK AND ROLL and ROCK AND ROLL YEARS. He will tour France with the CAPTAIN JOE COMBO this summer, opening for Phil Collins and again in January of 2010. He also reunited with his old friend AL RAPPA and is playing selected dates with BIL HALEY’S COMETS. He has recently opened his HOME OF A COMET as the ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK MUSEUM, which he started with JIMMY De KNIGHT, the original writer of ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK. To celebrate Joey’s 50th Anniversary, CANADIAN AMERICAN has released 2 new versions of the song by Joey. One is COUNYRY and the other is HIP-HOP. Both songs feature Joey as a co-writer with the songs originator, JIMMYDeKNIGHT. New cds are: THE STORY OF AN AMERICANIDOL and THE COMET MC’S GREATEST HITS….Rock & Roll is here to stay and so is WELZ who just keeps ROCKIN’AROUND THE CLOCK…..
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