The Jodimars

The Jodimars
Origin	Chester, Pennsylvania
Genres	Rock and roll
Years active	1955–1958; late 1980s
Labels	Capitol, President, Milestone
Associated acts	Bill Haley & His Comets
Past members	Marshall Lytle, Joey Ambrose, Dick Richards, Chuck Hess, Max Daffner, Jim Buffington. (As of 2014, Ambrose and Richards perform as The Comets)

The Jodimars was an American rock and roll band that was formed in the summer of 1955 and remained active until 1958. The band was created by former members of Bill Haley & His Comets who had quit that group in a salary dispute. The name of the group was derived from the first letters of the first names of the founding members: Joey Ambrose (real name Joey d'Ambrosio) (saxophone), Dick Boccelli (under the name "Dick Richards") (vocals and drums), and Marshall Lytle (string bass). Other members included Chuck Hess (guitar), Jim Buffington (piano) and Max Daffner (drums).

During the summer of 1955, Lytle, Ambrose and Richards, who were paid on a set salary (as opposed to the other two Comets, pianist Johnny Grande and steel guitar player Billy Williamson, who were considered partners with Haley), requested a pay raise. According to the books Bill Haley by John Swenson and Sound and Glory by John W. Haley and John von Hoelle, their request was denied by either Haley's management or by Haley himself (accounts vary). During that summer, unknown to Haley, the trio recruited a couple of other musicians and recorded a few demo tapes - including a version of a Haley composition, "Rock-a-Beatin' Boogie". This won the group a recording contract with Capitol Records and the group subsequently resigned from the Comets, although according to Swenson they agreed to help train the replacement musicians.

The group's first recordings on Capitol came out in late 1955, and the band scored a few minor hits such as "Well Now Dig This" and "Let's All Rock Together." In 1956, the Jodimars became one of the first rock and roll acts to take up residence in Las Vegas showrooms. Soon after, they left Capitol and recorded for several smaller labels with no success. By 1958, the band had virtually broken up, though Lytle attempted to revive the group with a series of demo recordings later that year, though he was the only member of the core band to actually take part in the recordings (members of Ricky Nelson's band worked on the recording session instead) and they sat unreleased until 1994.

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