JAMES E. MYERS AKA JIMMY DEKNIGHT C0-WRITER OF ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK SIGNED

Description

Offered here is a 3x5 index card signed by the late James E. Myers.
I am unable to find any James E. Myers or Jimmy DeNight signatures offered on eBay or anywhere else for that matter.  Since I can’t compare it with any other Myers signature, I cannot be sure if it is genuine, nor do I know what a fair asking price would be.  I’ll let the market decide that.
I am selling my collection of autographs that I have purchased several years ago from an array of sources – from eBay sellers, from dealers with professional credentials, and from the signers themselves via the mail.  Some came with COA’s; most did not.  When I obtained these signatures, I believed them to be genuine and I believed that they were genuine when I posted them on Ebay.
I have received opinions from others, including PSA/DNA whose opinion I sought, indicating that some of the signatures that I have posted were not likely to be genuine.  I have pulled those questionable signatures, and will not post them for sale again in the future.  It is not my intention to sell autographs that are not authentic, and I will continue do my best to try to ensure that the signatures that I am offering are genuine.  As indicated below, all signatures that I sell come with a money-back guarantee if they are judged to be of doubtful authenticity.
If the signature or signatures is/are determined to be inauthentic by a well-recognized autograph expert, this item may be returned for a full refund.
For those who'd prefer a different form of shipping, please contact me so that we can discuss what your shipping charges might be.
NOTE TO INTERNATIONAL BUYERS:
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Short Bio:
James E. Myers is
forever cemented in rock history -- his influence on the music industry is undeniably massive as the co-author of "Rock Around the Clock," the song cited by John Lennon, Elton John, and many others as being the single most inspiring song for a generation.
Myers
was born on the 26th of October, 1919, in Philadelphia, and began playing his father's drum kit at a very early age, breaking out professionally at 14 years of age with his 22-piece group, Jimmy Myers & the Truckadeers Orchestra. The band gigged steadily on the weekends, catering specifically to the "trucking" dance popular at the time, but as the popularity of the dance faded, the Truckadeers Orchestra updated their image to continue working.
Agreeing they must stand out a bit from the competition,
Myers
and his band rifled through the phone directories and came up with the stage name Jimmy DeKnight & His Knights of Rhythm precisely because they could find no one named "Jimmy DeKnight" listed anywhere. Although the Knights of Rhythm weren't around long, it was because of the band that the name
Jimmy DeKnight was tagged onto many of
Myers
' songs, primarily because
Myers
was compelled to begin his songwriting career when the group's initial theme song, "Blue Prelude," was released locally as a single by a competing band. He wrote a new theme and found he quite enjoyed writing songs. From then on,
Myers
continued to write music, even while serving in the Army during World War II.
After his four-year stint in combat,
Myers
never picked the drums back up, but continued writing songs; became a producer, promoter, and booking agent; and started both Cowboy Records and (for music publishing) Myers Music Inc. It was as a booking agent and promoter that
Myers
became connected to Bill Haley. Although
Myers
was working with
Haley for some time,
Myers
' classic "Rock Around the Clock" wasn't recorded by
Haley due to contractual issues, until after Sonny Dae & His Nights recorded a version that settled on the local Philadelphia chart in 1952.
Haley, disappointed with Essex, his label at the time, asked
Myers
to help him get signed to a major, and
Myers
set up a lucrative deal with Decca. In appreciation,
Haley agreed to devote a side of each 45 to a
Myers
song.
When it came time to record, Decca devoted two and a half hours of a three-hour session to the A-side of
Haley 's first single, "Thirteen Women (And Only One Man in Town)," then handed the remaining half hour of the session over to
Myers
to produce a B-side.
Haley and band wrapped up "Rock Around the Clock" in two takes with
Myers
producing, but the song's immense success took some time to come around. The "Thirteen Women" single was released to moderate sales in 1954, but
Myers
' grassroots promotion heightened attention on the B-side.
Myers
ordered a couple of boxes of the single from Decca and drove around Philadelphia and New York dropping it off at any radio station he could find, asking that the stations check out the B-side, "Rock Around the Clock." Station by station, the single was picked up and began to become a minor hit. Shortly thereafter, the film The Blackbird Jungle took the song as its theme and "Rock Around the Clock" finally broke in 1955, staying at the number one slot for eight weeks.
Shortly after the success of "Rock Around the Clock,"
Myers
retired from the music business under doctor's orders due to the stress of having his hands in so many parts of the industry. He traveled the world for a while, wrote Hell Is a Foxhole, a book chronicling his war days, and ended up in Hollywood. Naturally, he became enamored with the film industry and worked on both sides of the camera, picking up small jobs wherever he was needed. He ended up staying for two decades. As an actor,
Myers
landed bit parts in four of the Rocky films, The China Syndrome, King Kong, and episodes of Laverne & Shirley, The Waltons, CHiPs, Sanford & Son, the Dukes of Hazzard, and others.
In the '80s,
Myers
left Hollywood and went back to Philadelphia to take care of his ailing mother. He stayed with her until her death and then decided to have another go at the music business, this time focusing on the country music market due to his brush with Dolly Parton
when the two worked on the film Nine to Five together.
Myers
didn't have much luck his second time around, but continued to collect royalties and countless awards honoring "Rock Around the Clock." He died of leukemia in May of 2001
.
by
Gregory McIntosh