From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Sun Dec 15, 2002  7:14 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Alan Freed
 
ALAN FREED

Born Albert James Freed, 15 December 1921, Johnstown, Pennsylvania
(Some sources say 21 December 1921, or 1922)
Died 20 January 1965, Palm Springs, California

Alan Freed is probably the most famous disc jockey in rock and roll
history, and the man who is credited with giving rock and roll its name.
Born in Pennsylvania, Freed attended high school in Salem, Ohio, where
he was the leader of a jazz band called The Sultans Of Swing. In college,
he developed an interest in radio, and following World War II he landed a
job at WKST in New Castle, Pennsylvania. He also worked for WKBN
in Youngstown, Ohio and WAKR in Akron, Ohio, before moving on to
WJW in Cleveland in 1951.
Alan Freed liked the music that was made primarily by blacks which was
known then as rhythm and blues. But in order to avoid racial prejudice
which waspredominant at that time, he called it something else -- he
dubbed it rock and roll. At WJW he began to call his show Moondog's
Rock'n'Roll Party. Playing R&B for an audience that consisted primarily
of white teenagers was a good move and it caught on. Freed started to
put on shows and his popularity increased. In March of 1952, he put on
the Moondog Coronation Ball in Cleveland. To his surprise, 25,000 fans
tried to attend it, resulting in a near riot. The majority of them were white.

In September 1954 Freed took his radio show to WINS in New York City.
He had a delivery and a selection of songs that appealed to the teenage
audiences of the 1950's. His unique style caught on and the stage shows
that he produced were to become legendary. He appeared in several films,
1956-1958, some of which were based on his style of promoting rock and
roll: Don't Knock The Rock, Rock Around The Clock, Mr. Rock'n'Roll, Rock,
Rock, Rock and others.
In the music business in the 1950's, it was a common occurrence for a white
artist to cover a song that had originally been recorded by a black artist,
and even though the cover was not as good as the original, it was the white
artist's version that would be promoted by the disc jockeys and the record
companies. Freed made enemies in the music business by refusing to play
such covers. Another common practice was for DJ's to arrange deals from
various sources in the music business in return for their promotion of certain
records. For example, Freed helped to make Chuck Berry's Maybelline a hit
record, in return for being listed as co-writer of the song, which he actually
was not.
In 1957 ABC-TV gave Freed his own nationally-televised rock & roll show,
but an episode on which Frankie Lymon danced with a white girl enraged
ABC's Southern affiliates and the show was cancelled.
Alan Freed was kind-hearted, very honest, careless, courageous and naive.
He put on a show at the Boston Arena that resulted in his being charged
with incitement to riot. His legal troubles mounted and even though the
charges were later dismissed, he went into bankruptcy. Payola charges
began to surface. In late 1959 WABC in New York asked him to sign a
statement confirming that he had never accepted payola. Freed refused
and he was fired. Charged with 26 counts of commercial bribery, he received
a suspended sentence and a fine. Although he faced no prison time, his
career was ruined. Other DJ's and promoters who had performed their jobs
in a similar manner escaped unharmed from the so-called payola scandals.
Freed held his head high, maintaining that he had never played a record that
he didn't like.
Freed left New York and faced a new round of charges of income tax evasion.
He died a penniless, broken man on January 20, 1965.

A movie based loosely on Freed's activities in the early days of R&R was
made in 1978. Titled American Hot Wax, it features Tim McIntire in a stellar
portrayal of Freed. Although the film is short on historical fact, it succeeds
admirably in capturing the mood that was created in rock 'n' roll by Alan
Freed in the 50's.
Alan Freed's name was on the list of the first inductees into the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.

Biography: John A. Jackson, Big Beat Heat : Alan Freed and the early years
of rock 'n' roll. New York : Schirmer, 1991. Paperback edition 2000.
Official website: http://www.alanfreed.com
See also: http://www.rockabillyhall.com/AlanFreed.html