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Franny Beecher, guitarist for Bill Haley & His Comets, died on Monday morning (February 24) at a nursing home in Philadelphia, aged 92.

Born Francis Beecher on September 29, 1921 in Norristown, Pennsylvania, he began playing guitar professionally aged 17 and would go on to play with the likes of Buddy Greco and His Three Sharps, and the Benny Goodman Orchestra, before joining Bill Haley & His Comets at the end of 1954.

His work with Buddy Greco and His Three Sharps included the singles “Baby I’m True to You,” “Lillette” and “Ooh! Look-A There, Ain’t She Pretty”.

“Ooh! Look-A There, Ain’t She Pretty” – Buddy Greco and His Three Sharps

Beecher went on to appear with the Benny Goodman Orchestra on the albums “Modern Benny” and “Benny Goodman at the Hollywood Palladium,” and also performed with the Orchestra on Ed Sullivan’s “The Toast of the Town” in 1948.

The guitarist began working with Bill Haley and His Comets before the band took the world by storm with hits such as “Rock Around the Clock,” “Don’t Knock the Rock” and “See You Later Alligator”. The first recording he appeared on was the single “Dim, Dim the Lights”.

“Dim Dim the Lights” – Bill Haley & The Comets

Beecher had joined the band following the death of Danny Cedrone, who had played the great guitar solo on “Rock Around the Rock.” It was a solo that Beecher would master and play hundreds of times live, including this live performance of the song on the Ed Sullivan Show in August 1955.

“Rock Around the Clock” (Live) – Bill Haley & The Comets

Another of Beecher’s memorable contributions to the band was his cool guitar work on their instrumental “Goofin’ Around,” which he composed.

“Goofin’ Around” – Bill Haley & The Comets

Other Franny Beecher compositions included “Blue Comet Blues,” “Shaky,” “Tampico Twist,” “The Beak Speaks,” “Hot to Trot,” “Beecher Boogie Woogie,” “Whistlin’ and Walkin’ Twist,” “The Catwalk,” and “Week End”. The latter, co-written with Rudy Pompilli and Billy Williamson, was a top forty hit for The Kingsmen, which was the name that the Comets recorded under without Bill Haley in 1958.

“Week End” – The Kingsmen

As a member of Bill Haley & His Comets, Beecham also appeared in the Hollywood movies “Rock Around the Clock” (1956) and “Don’t Knock the Rock” (1956), with the band miming to their records on both occasions.

Beecher would leave Bill Haley and His Comets in 1962, after their popularity had waned, but would reunite to play with them in 1987 (without Haley, who died in 1981) and continued to perform shows until he retired in 2006 at the age of 85.

The Comets, including Beecher, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, which corrected the earlier mistake of inducting Bill Haley without his backing group.

Franny Beecher will be remembered as an important early rock ‘n’ roll guitarist who entertained and inspired fans and guitarists around the world, including some of the leading lights of the next generation of rock musicians.

He is survived by two sons, one daughter and six grandchildren.