Max Charles Freedman ( né Friedman; January 8, 1893 – October 8, 1962) ^[1] 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 radio announcer, writer and entertainer, before joining the staff of a music publishing company. Recordings of songs he wrote and co-wrote date back as early as 1919. ^[2] He joined ASCAP in 1942. One of his first successes as a writer, credited as Ray Freedman, was " Sioux City Sue", a hit record for the song's co-writer Dick Thomas in 1945, and later recorded by many others including Gene Autry, Bing Crosby, Bob Wills and Willie Nelson. ^[3] His other successful songs, several of which were written with Morty Berk and Frank Capano, included "Dreamy Old New England Moon", "Heartbreaker" (1947), and "Tea Leaves" (1948). ^{[4] [5]}

Freedman is credited as co-writer of the landmark song "Rock Around the Clock" with "Jimmy DeKnight", a pseudonym used by music publisher and promoter James E. Myers. ^[6] The song was copyrighted on March 31, 1953, although there is evidence that it was written in 1952. There are also claims that Freedman wrote the song in its entirety. ^[7] Myers himself confirmed this during a legal deposition in the late 1950s.

Although Bill Haley & His Comets were supposed to be the first to record it, a dispute between Myers and Dave Miller, the owner of Essex Records, prevented Haley from doing so. The first recording of the song was made by an Italian-American novelty group, Sonny Dae & His Knights, on March 20, 1954 only a few weeks before Haley finally recorded it on April 12, 1954 for Decca Records and in 1955, the song became a no. 1 record, one of the first of the rock and roll era. ^[7]

Freedman died in 1962 at the age of 69. ^[7]

References

Sources

• Dawson, Jim. Rock Around the Clock: The Record that Started the Rock Revolution. Backbeat Books, 2005. ISBN  978-0879308292
• John Swenson. Bill Haley. London: W.H. Allen, 1982. ISBN  978-0491029476
• Haley, John W. and John von Hoelle. Sound and Glory. Dyne-American, 1990. ISBN  978-1878970015