Profile of Rudy Pompilli on Famous Like Me

Rudy Pompilli (b. Rudolph Pompilii, Pennsylvania April 16, 1926; d. February 5, 1976) was an Italian-American musician best known for playing tenor saxophone with Bill Haley and His Comets. Haley's longest-serving musician, Pompilli began working with Haley in September 1955 and was still a member of The Comets at the time of his death more than 19 years later.

Pompilli, who was also skilled at playing the clarinet, and worked with jazz bands prior to joining Haley's group. In 1953 he was with the Ralph Marterie Orchestra, which scored a hit with a cover version of Haley's "Crazy Man, Crazy", though according to Haley (in on-stage discussion recorded for the 1969 album, Bill Haley's Scrapbook), the young horn player had a dislike for rock and roll musicians.

Pompilli was invited to join the Comets in the fall of 1955, after Haley's previous sax player, Joey Ambrose quit along with two other Comets to form the Jodimars. Ambrose gave Pompilli a crash course in the Haley style of saxophone playing, and he also learned the stage antics pioneered by Ambrose and bass player Marshall Lytle, including playing the sax while lying flat on his back and jumping all over the bass player. (Lytle also left for the Jodimars and was replaced by diminutive Al Rex.)

At Haley's request, the new musician changed the spelling of his last name from POMPILII to POMPILLI as Haley was concerned that the former looked like a typographical error.

Within a few months of joining The Comets, Pompilli had become the band's most visible member (aside from Haley himself), becoming the focus of "Rudy's Rock", a show-stopping instrumental co-written by Pompilli and Haley that debuted in the 1956 film Rock Around the Clock. When released as a single, "Rudy's Rock" became the first instrumental hit record of the rock and roll era. Other acclaimed, but less commercially successful instrumentals followed, most notably "Calling All Comets" which was performed in the band's next film, 1957's Don't Knock the Rock. Around this time, he was named Sax Player of the Year by Downbeat magazine.

In 1958, Rudy's cousin, Al Pompilli, joined the Comets for a year, playing bass after the departure of Al Rex.

Bill Haley's band would undergo many changes of personnel over the next two decades, but the one constant was Rudy Pompilli, who would become the band's road manager, taking care of paying the bills and arranging for the hiring of new musicians when required. Pompilli also did solo work, performing regularly in Philadelphia area night clubs, either by himself or with the Country Gentlemen.

Soon after a 1974 tour of Europe, Pompilli was diagnosed with lung cancer. Although not a smoker himself, it is believed he contracted the disease through second hand smoke. The ailing musician continued to tour with Haley throughout 1975, and that year also recorded his first and only solo album, Rudy's Rock, which was recorded with session musicians and members of The Comets.

Pompilli's death in February 1976 reportedly affected Haley deeply, as Rudy was his best friend. After fulfilling touring commitments for the year with a replacement sax player, at the end of 1976 Haley announced his retirement from performing and moved full-time to Mexico. Haley would return to touring and recording in 1979 and would dedicate a part of every show to Pompilli's memory with a performance of "Rudy's Rock".

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