| "Crazy Man, Crazy" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Bill Haley and His Comets | ||||
| B-side | "Whatcha Gonna Do" | |||
| Released | April 25, 1953 | |||
| Recorded | April 1953 | |||
| Genre | Rock and roll | |||
| Length | 2:07 | |||
| Label | Essex Records, Essex 321 | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Bill Haley Marshall Lytle (uncredited) | |||
| Producer(s) | Dave Miller | |||
| Bill Haley and His Comets singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Crazy Man, Crazy" was the title of an early rock and roll song written by, and first recorded by Bill Haley & His Comets in April 1953. It is notable as the first recognized rock and roll recording to appear on the national American musical charts, peaking at #12 on the Billboard Juke Box chart[1] for the week ending June 20, 1953, and #11 for two weeks on the Cash Box chart beginning for the week of June 13.
Some sources indicate that the recording—a blend of R&B, western and pop music—is a contender for the title of the first rock and roll record.[2] Others state that it was merely "the first rock and roll song to be a hit on the pop charts".[3] It was also said to be the first rock and roll recording to be played on national television in the United States (in an episode of Omnibus in 1953).[4] The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame considers the song "an original amalgam of country and R&B that arguably became the first rock and roll record to register on Billboard's pop chart".[5]
The appearance of a comma (or two) in the title varies from source to source. A single comma, after the word "man", is present on the title of the original single release, which is credited to "Bill Haley with Haley's Comets," an early variant of the band's name. Subsequent releases are sometimes rendered as "Crazy, Man, Crazy" with a vocative comma—which is the grammatically correct title, given the original context of the phrase from which the song originates—and sometimes there are no commas included in the song's title at all.
- ^ Page 33
- ^ "How Bill Haley changed rock and roll forever". Far Out Magazine. July 6, 2021. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
- ^ |Page 34
- ^ Kallen, Stuart (9 May 2012). The History of American Pop. Greenhaven Publishing LLC. p. 33. ISBN 978-1420506723.
- ^ Crazy Man Crazy by Bill Haley