Billy Haley and his Comets fused elements of country music, Western swing, and black R&B to produce some of rock and roll’s earliest hits. Vintage glossy 8 x 10 photo, signed and inscribed in blue ballpoint “To Doug [Geddes], Bill Haley.” Geddes was an entertainment attorney in London, England. In the early 1950s he accepted the role as press officer for EMI Records Ltd at the company’s Abbey Road Studios in St. John’s Wood, London. Geddes left EMI just prior to The Beatles extraordinary fame. Accompanied by Geddes’ original invitation from The Decca Record Company, which reads, “The Decca Record Company, Ltd. requests the pleasure of your company at the presentation by Mr. E. R. Lewis to Bill Haley and the Comets of a Gold Record for their recording of ‘Rock Around The Clock,’ the first record to sell over one million copies in Great Britian, at the Patience Room, Savoy Hotel on Monday March 4th,” and an unsigned vintage 9 x 7 photo of Haley at the event, with Geddes standing to the right of Haley. talking to two other men. In very good condition, with light skipping to signature and inscription, with a couple letters of last name light, scattered light dings and surface marks, and some scattered edge wear. COA Roger Epperson/REAL and R&R COA.
