Marshall Lytle of Bill Haley's Comets Shawn: Hi Marshall, I've seen you play with the original Comets twice and was very impressed with both shows. I'm sure everyone is going to dig this and probably read it over and over. How did you get started playing the bass?
Marshall: Hi Shawn, and all you bass players.
I got started playing the bass way back in September 1951, I was just turning 18 years old. Bill Haley was a friend of my family because his then guitar player, Tex King, rented a room at my house from 1948-49 (his band was The 4 Aces of Western Swing). I was just starting my singing career and was influenced by Tex King. I went on to be a single guitar playing country singer. Had my own 15 minute radio show every morning on WVCH AM Radio in Chester, PA. Bill Haley had another group called The Saddlemen and they were doing a one hour live radio program on the other radio station in Chester, PA., WPWA AM.April 2005
by Shawn Burrell
One day Bill walked into the station that I was on and said that his bass player had just quit and that he wanted me to play bass for his band The Saddlemen. I said I didn't play bass that I only played the guitar. Bill said, hell I can teach you enough in 30 minutes to get you started, and you can pick up the rest on the job. The band was playing 6 nites a week doing 5 - 45 minute sets a night plus the one hour live Radio Show 6 days a week. So we went out to his Radio Station where he had a old bass and he taught me how to slap the bass and gave me a 30 minute lesson on the basic runs and how to convert from a guitar neck to a bass neck. I saw the potential of a steady job and learning more about the music world, so I went and bought a $300.00 bass on credit and went to work with the Saddlemen that nite at the Twin Bars in Glouster, New Jersey. Shawn: Your bass tone on rock around the clock is the sound many bass players look to when recording. How did you record your bass?
Marshall: The sound of my bass on Rock Around The Clock April 12, 1954 was done with 2 mic's. One on the finger board and one on the F- hole near the bridge. That way they had control over both sounds, The Decca engineer did a great job getting the rhythm section so tight. I hope it lives on and on for another 51 years. RATC has been recorded by over a hundred artist around the world but none has ever captured the sound the way we did.
Shawn: What kind of basses did you use on your recordings?
Marshall: The Bass that I owned at that time was an Epiphone B-5. It was a blonde plywood 3/4 size. It took a real beating, and held up very well with all the abuse of my stage antics and the traveling. When I auctioned it off in 1992, with Sothaby's Auction House, I put new strings on it and kept the strings that I played with on Rock Around The Clock. They were really used and frayed but I thought they were something that may become historical, so I kept them. The fingerboard had really deep grooves from slapping all those years. The auction house would never tell me who the buyer of my bass was, and I still don't know, but I may see it someday in a HardRock Cafe or somewhere around the world.
Shawn: How many basses and what kind do you own now?
Marshall: I have only one inexpensive double bass made in china and one bass guitar and several regular guitars. I do not travel with a double bass. (except around Florida where I can drive and carry my own). I recently played a new King Double Bass out in Vegas at the Viva Las Vegas #8. I really like the way it played and the sound it had. I offered to let them use my name for selling the basses, but I haven't heard back from them. I thought that The Grandaddy of the Doghouse would make a good testimonial.
Shawn: What kind of strings do you prefer?
Marshall: The strings that I prefer are gut or plastic, I call steel strings Finger Killers. I am currently experimenting with home made Weed Eater Strings. They are so easy to slap and very easy on the fingers. They are giving me the slap sound that I need.
Shawn: What kind of amp do you use?
Marshall: I still have an old Ampeg Bass amp with tubes. 1955-56. I really don't know much about amps. I just keep turning knobs until I get the sound I can use. I play so many different double bases and amps around the world, that it's hard to know which is best. I have played some of the best rigged bass's in the world and have really admired the quality of playing by so many of you younger guys. YOU MAKE ME PROUD TO BE ONE OF YOU.
Shawn: What kind of pickup do you prefer?
Marshall: Pickups are another thing that I know very little about. I am now using one on my bass that that is the under the bridge type. I bought it on Ebay for $27.00. It really seems to do the job.
I had no amplifier, on my bass, our live sound in those days was pretty crappy, Johnny Grande, our keyboard player played Accordian and we had a steel guitar player. when I played a bass solo I would move into the microphone used for the accordian, and Bill would yell, "play it louder Marshall!" As you are probably aware our shows today have much better sound. We have to thank God for pickups and amps.
Shawn: Was there ever a period of time that you didn't play upright bass, or switched to bass guitar?
Marshall: There was a period of time that I stopped playing the upright (except on recordings). In 1956 when Joe, Dick, and myself left Bill Haley's Comets,(because of a money dispute) to start THE JODIMARS and record for Capital Records. I felt that I could move around a lot better and have a bigger sound with a Fender Bass. You see, I never had an amp with Bill Haley it was just acoustic, pickups for bass fiddles were very rare then.
Shawn: Who are your greatest influences?
Marshall: Bill Haley was my hero for a number of years, because I learned so much from him. When I left with Joe and Dick to start The Jodimars, my feelings changed because I saw that I had been deceived and taken advantage of because of my young age and inexperience.
I am now influenced by many of the people that that are reading this interview. Man there are some great players out there, and many to become great players. It's like the old story (How do you get to Carnegie Hall?) Practice Man, Practice.
Shawn: You've been playing a long time. How many tour dates did you play a year in the 50's and how big were the venues?
Marshall: In the 50's we were all raising families and had to work to feed the kids and pay the bills. We worked just about every week. We tried to spend the summers at the Jersey shore so we could take our family with us. We played mostly in Wildwood, NJ. That was where we first place that we performed RATC after we recorded it on April 12th, 1954. (51 YEARS AGO) Most of our early gigs were just night clubs, that seated from 300 to 600 people. Then we started doing ballrooms after the hit records started coming, they would hold up to 3 to 6,000 then it was theatres and auditoriums and stadiums, 3000 to 40,000.(The Comets played to 300,000 people in 3 days in Australia 1957) The biggest crowd we had before I left was 20,000 in Richmond, VA. 1955. That was the 1st time I ever heard Elvis Presley's name. The promoter for Decca Records was in our dressing room, and said that a young kid named Elvis Presley was driving the young girls crazy by shaking his legs. We all looked at the promoter and said, What the hell is an Elvis Pressley...and you know the Rest of the Story.
Shawn: What was the best thing that has happened during a show?
Marshall: The best thing that happened for me was in 1953 when I created the antics with the bass that has been so popular around the world, and is still the most memorable part of our show. It all happened by accident one afternoon in Wildwood, NJ., while we were doing and afternoon matinee. Joey Ambrose our new sax player was doing a solo and honking at people and getting a lot of attention. So I though, I could get some attention also if I stood on the bass and played it. when I did the crowd went wild. I sad WOW, then I played it over my head, and then like a guitar, etc; etc; It is so neet to see and hear the audience reaction when I do that stuff.
Shawn: People do go nuts for that. What was the most embarassing?
Marshall: The most embarassing moment on stage was when I split the seam in my pants when I layed on the floor with the bass on my feet, and the audience could see my white shorts. So Bill had me sew some white material in the crouch of my pants so they saw it every time we did that number.
Shawn: Do you play any other instruments?
Marshall: The only other instrument I play is guitar.
Shawn: How many dates does your band play a year now?
Marshall: The original Comets had a reunion in 1987 and we found out that we still had the original sound from the fifties. We started touring again in 1989 and last year 2004 we did 66 concerts, with 6 tours of Europe, and 4 scheduled for 2005. We will be doing between 60 and 80 concerts this year.
Shawn: You are a great rock and roll singer and bass player.
Marshall: I had something happen in Paris France 2 years ago that brought tears to my eyes. After our show for about 3000 people we went to the autograph table to sign and meet our fans. a young man in his 20's stopped in front of me, put his hand flat on the table, and pointed to a photo of me standing on the bass, that was tatooed on his arm with my actual signature under the photo. I said wow, I know how you got the photo of me on the bass,with a camera, but how did you get my signature. He said, that last year when we played there, he came thru the autograph line and put his arm down and asked me to sign it. Then he went and had it tatooed on and when he had his pictures developed there was this great shot of me standing on the bass, so he said he had that tatooed on as well. I said, Why in the world would you do that? He said, you don't understand do you? I said, understand what? He said, You are the most copied bass player in the world, and my hero. I said, Come on man, I am not. He said, just think about that. I did, and I guess I am.
Shawn: Do you have any suggestions or times for young musicians that are just starting out?
Marshall: The best advice that I could offer any of you young players is to get all the experience you can even if it is just playing alone, or with one other person, or as many as you can get together. Have fun with what you do. Don't be afraid to try new things, like my weed eater strings.
Shawn: Thank you for your time. You are a true inspiration to the members of rockabillybass.com.
Marshall: Rock till you Drop. Love to You All, "You're The Greatest"
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