Myers, James

▪ 2002

Jimmy DeKnight 

      American songwriter (b. Oct. 26, 1919, Philadelphia, Pa.—d. May 9, 2001, Fort Myers, Fla.), co-wrote, with Max Freedman, the legendary rock-and-roll song “Rock Around the Clock,” which became a chart-topping hit in 1955 after Bill Haley and His Comets recorded it. The song was also later recorded by a wide variety of artists, including Mae West, Chubby Checker, and the Sex Pistols. Myers wrote more than 1,000 songs and for a while led his own band, Jimmy DeKnight and His Knights of Rhythm. He left the music business in the 1960s and in the following years had small parts in a number of films.

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