Marshall Lytle, 'Rock Around the Clock' Bassist, Dead at 79 Musician recorded influential Fifties track with Bill Haley and the Comets
Marshall Lytle, whose snappy bass work anchored Bill Haley and the Comets' "Rock Around the Clock," died Saturday at his home in New Port Richie, Florida. He was 79. According to The New York Times, Lytle died of lung cancer.
Lytle was a teenage guitar player working at a Chester, Pennsylvania, radio station when Haley, who worked at another station, recruited him to play bass. Lytle notably didn't play the instrument, but Haley taught him the rudiments of slap-bass in a 30-minute session. The technique was key for country music, which was the focus of Haley's band – then known as Bill Haley and His Saddlemen.
Marshall Lytle (pictured far right) of Bill Haley and the Comet
