Danny Cedrone and the guitar solo that started rock ‘n’ roll
In the pantheon of rock ‘n’ roll legends, there is one unsung hero that continues to stick out. Beneath the billowy shadows of Elvis and Chuck Berry lies underdog guitarist Joseph ‘Danny’ Cedrone. Although Danny Cedrone was born on the cusp of the roaring twenties, whether you realise it or not, you’ve definitely heard his work.
Cedrone’s fiery guitar solo on Bill Haley and His Comets’ hit single ‘Rock Around the Clock’ rarely gets its dues, but it helped ignite a rock and roll revolution. Like many 20-something Italian Americans during the 1940s, Cedrone was beginning to find his place in the world; his place of choice was New York, before cutting his teeth on Philadelphia’s sticky-floored Jazz clubs. Unlike many of his contemporaries who were tethered to the tradition of the big band sound, Cedrone had a flair for innovation, daring to take his sound where no classical musician ever had before.
Recorded during the height of spring 1954, Cedrone was paid a measly $21 for his session work on ‘Rock Around The Clock’ – little did he know he was about to lay down one of the most iconic and recognisable guitar solos in musical history. Cedrone also recorded another session later that summer for Haley’s version of ‘Shake, Rattle and Roll’ although he wasn’t granted the chance for another notable guitar solo.
Raw and skittish, Cedrone’s playing on the track wasn’t known for its technical brilliance but rather its rebellious, reckless nature that resonated with teenagers wanting to break loose from the rusting chains of post-war sock-hops. Young people were ready to shake off the strict and stuffy ways they were confined to and challenge figures of authority – their parents, mainly, and Cedrone’s catchy riff granted them just that.
The distinctive sound was achieved with a 1946 Gibson ES-300 through a 1×12 Gibson BR-1 combo. Lucky for Cedrone, the golden age of Hollywood was beginning to boom, causing the film and music industries to merge beautifully together. With snappy bends, jazzy tones, and a furiously fast flurry of all six strings towards the end, Cedrone’s solo was the perfect high-stakes, theatrical blend, making it the ultimate on-screen track. ‘Rock Around the Clock’ was featured in the opening credits of Blackboard Jungle, a 1955 film that captured the thrill of teenage rebellion, catapulting the song to the very top of the Billboard Charts and making it the unofficial anthem for juvenile delinquency. This one song defined much of youth culture in the states for the next decade, and went on to sell millions of copies in the long run.
Despite this, Cedrone unfortunately never saw the impact of his work nor the launch of rock ‘n’ roll into the mainstream. Just 10 weeks after the release of ‘Rock Around the Clock’, he tragically died in a freak accident at the mere age of 33. Cedrone never knew his playing would go on to inspire an entirely new generation of musicians who became icons in their own right, from early rockers like Carl Perkins and ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ to the hall of fame legends Keith Richards and Jimmy Page. After reaching its 70th birthday in April, the track remains beloved today, featuring in a variety of earth-moving movie moments, including the 2018 Oscar-winning drama Cold War.
After years of his family requesting it, Cedrone was finally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Comets in 2012 by a special committee aiming to do right by Cedrone after mistakenly not including him in the original induction in 1987. Over the span of several decades, numerous guitar players, including Jimi Hendrix, Pete Townshend, Chris Spedding, Brian Setzer and Danny Gatton, have gone on record naming Cedrone’s solo as a major influence for their own work. For a man whose musical career was tragically cut short, his legacy lives on. A musician of his time, he was also somehow miles ahead of it.
