Franny Beecher

Franny Beecher
Bill Haley and Franny Beecher (right), 1958
Background information
Birth name	Francis Beecher
Also known as	Frank Beecher
Born	September 29, 1921 Norristown, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	February 24, 2014(2014-02-24) (aged 92) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genres	Jazz, country
Instruments	guitar
Years active	1940s–2014 (his death)
Associated acts	Benny Goodman Orchestra, Bill Haley & His Comets

Francis "Franny" Beecher (September 29, 1921 – February 24, 2014), also known as Frank Beecher, was the lead guitarist for Bill Haley & His Comets from 1954 to 1962, and is best remembered for his innovative guitar solos combining elements of country music and jazz. He composed the classics "Blue Comet Blues", "Goofin' Around", "Week End", and "Shaky" when he was the lead guitarist for Bill Haley and the Comets. He continued to perform with surviving members of the Comets into 2006. In 2012, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted Beecher as a member of the Comets by a special committee, aimed at correcting the previous mistake of not inducting the Comets with Bill Haley.

By the time Beecher became associated with Bill Haley, he had already had a lengthy career as a guitarist, having performed and recorded with the Benny Goodman Orchestra, which he joined in 1948, at a time Goodman was experimenting with music in the bebop idiom. He also worked with other big bands, with singer and former Goodman "bop band" pianist Buddy Greco and the Sharps, as well as with several country western groups. He played guitar on the 1947 single by Buddy Greco "Baby I'm True to You" backed with "How Many Times", released as Musicraft 569, and the 1948 single "Lillette" backed with "A Stranger in Town", as Musicraft 588. His guitar work influenced young musicians playing the same venues in the Philadelphia/Reading area where the Comets were based, among them the guitarist and future legendary comic-book writer-artist Jim Steranko.

Beecher first worked with the Comets in fall 1954 as a session musician, replacing the recently deceased guitarist Danny Cedrone. Beecher's first work with Haley was the single "Dim, Dim the Lights". Beecher had to be instructed to make his guitar solos less jazzy. "They wanted to play a more basic style than I was used to, more country really, they called it rockabilly."