JOHNNY GRANDE, gone but not forgotten

What a sad week it has been since my last post here. Not only did we lose Vince Welnick, the keyboard player from The Grateful Dead at the age of 55 on June 2nd (Although I never cared for any of their songs except "Truckin" and "Touch Of Grey", both of which Welneck did not perform on, he didn't join The Dead until 1990, but give him MAJOR props for being a member of The Tubes when they had a big hit with "She's A Beauty" in the eighties), and the great Beatles keyboard player on their last few albums, Billy Preston died on June 6th after being in a coma at the age of 59 (He had his own BIG hit songs with "Nothin' From Nothin' Leaves Nothin" and "Will It Go 'Round In Circles", as well as an instrumental called "Outta' Space"), but in my most deepest sorrow, we lost Bill Haley's original keyboard player, the always-calm and talented Johnny Grande, (Pictured in glorious black and white from his early days as an original member of Bill Haley's Comets). Three keyboard players in just a few days. Damn.
Johnny was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall Of Fame in 1997, only Bill Haley has been inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, The Comets have not been inducted yet. Grande also had the distinction of performing with Bill Haley through all of his bands from the 1940's up to the 1960's (The Four Aces Of Western Swing, The Saddlemen, The Comets), and he continued to perform with the original surviving Comets right up until his illness from Cancer recently.
Johnny Grande played piano on the original hit recordings of "Rock Around The Clock", "Shake Rattle & Roll", "See You Later, Alligator" and other million-selling Rock And Roll standards. My all-time accordion favorite is the Bill Haley And The Comet's single "Rockin' Little Tune" that featured Grande on lead, THAT was a really rockin' tune, especially for an accordion, and Frank Beecher's guitar solo on it was really, REALLY rockin', I have never heard an accordion played more perfectly in rhythm with a slapping bass and saxophone since, and probably never will, The Comets are not only rockers, but were innovators in the 1950's, who else would have thought of putting an accordion on lead in a rock song?
Johnny Grande, you rocked.
That's Johnny below more recently from a picture taken by fellow Comets Fan Bob McLeod at The Tennessee Club where The Comets were performing. Gone but will never be forgotten.