Local Musicians To Be Inducted Into Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame

By Molly Daly

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS) - Two Norristown men are being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Saturday. Franny Beecher and Al Rex of Bill Haley and the Comets are among those being honored.

Bill Haley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 - but his backing band, the Comets, are only now being enshrined.

"It's a wrong doing right. It's about time."

That's Bobby Joe Beecher, whose dad, Franny, joined the Comets in 1954. Before that, he was a member of Benny Goodman's orchestra. But it's as a pioneering rock guitarist that Beecher became known. He left the band in 1963. But in 1988, after Haley's death, he got a call from some of the other Comets:

"In 1989, they started touring in England, and Europe. They did that for almost 15 years. My dad retired from the group in 2006."

The 91 year-old Beecher's traveling days are over, so his two oldest nieces are in Cleveland to accept the honor on his behalf.