FREDDIE BELLAmerican singer and band leader Freddie Bell, who died on 11 February, 2008, was a one-hit wonder in the UK but inspired Elvis Presley and became a Las Vegas regular.The King was impressed enough by his group’s Vegas performances of Hound Dog to famously cover the song and take it to number one in the US charts. It has also been suggested that his energetic stage presence was another influence on Presley.Freddie Bell and the Bellboys were never successful in the States themselves, but their original song Giddy Up A Ding Dong reached the UK top five in 1956, leading to them being frequently cited as forerunners of rock ’n’ roll, alongside the likes of Bill Haley and Tommy Steele.Ferdinando Dominick Bello was born on 29 September, 1931, in south Philadelphia to an Italian greengrocer. He had ambitions to be an entertainer from an early age, learning to sing, play the bass and trombone and doing impressions.He joined his first band as trombonist at the age of 16, learning from leader Ernie Ventura. He tried to join the army but failed his medical. He then formed his own band which became one of the earliest white show bands to play R&B hits. They performed in the Midwest before getting a booking in Vegas at the Sands Hotel in 1953.The Bellboys were named following a suggestion in a restaurant. Another name, this time given to Mr Bell by fellow Sands residents The Treniers, was ‘Ding Dong’. This inspired the song Giddy Up A Ding Dong, co-written by Mr Bell and his friend Pep Lattanzi.Their first single was a cover of the twelve-bar blues song Hound Dog by Big Mama Thornton, given an upbeat swing treatment but with the lyrics toned down for the benefit of radio. The Bellboys were then asked to take part in a film by Sam Katzman about the new rock ’n’ roll music sweeping the country in the wake of Bill Haley and his Comets’ Rock Around the Clock.Astutely Mr Bell saw an opportunity and reworked Giddy Up A Ding Dong as a rock ’n’ roll number. Katzman’s seminal film, Rock Around the Clock, was released in January 1956 and also featured the Bellboys performing (We're Gonna) Teach You to Rock.Freddie Bell and the Bellboys were a clownish live act and their wacky stage antics were reflected in the nonsense lyrics to Giddy Up A Ding Dong, a song which centres around a horse called Ding Dong. The single never entered the Billboard top 100, but a British musical promoter saw their Las Vegas show and brought the record back to the UK.Even after it had reached number four in the charts, it took a year of contractual wrangling to get the band to the country. They toured with Britain’s own rock ’n’ roll sensation Tommy Steele in May 1957 and Freddie and Tommy formed a warm, jokey friendship. They also performed in Europe, Australia and Asia.Their follow-up single, Get the First Train Out of Town, flopped and they never charted again, but continued to perform in Vegas, Reno and New York until 1964. Their further recordings, which included a full LP release in 1957, were later compiled as the CD collection Rockin’ Is Our Business.After the Bellboys disbanded, Mr Bell continued to perform at the Sands and occasionally played in Europe, well into the 1990s. As well as Elvis and Tommy Steele, Freddie’s showbiz friends included Frank Sinatra. He died in a Las Vegas hospital from cancer complications at the age of 76. He was survived by his wife Angela and their seven children.
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