Joseph W. Welz (born Welzant, March 17, 1940) is an American musician best known for his tenure as pianist with Bill Haley & His Comets.
Welz was born in Baltimore to Melba Welzant, a teacher and concert pianist, and Joseph Welzant, a Baltimore city police officer. Welz first became interested in music via R&B and country music and began playing piano at the age of ten (learning completely by ear). He started his music career with his group the Jay Rockers in the 1950s. His slinky instrumental rocker Shore Party hit the shelves in late 1959 on the Baltimore-based Bat label when he was only 19, registered to Joey Welz and His Rock-A-Billy Piano. Its flip Boppin’ The Stroll was a storming vocal rocker, complete with a Jerry Lee-style 88s solo.
He attracted the attention of Bill Haley when The Jay Rockers opened for the Comets. While serving as a recording engineer for the Armed Forces Network in Berlin, Welz recorded and co-produced a live session for Bill Haley & His Comets for AFN Frankfurt. This was the first occasion that Welz played on a Bill Haley & His Comets record, providing backing vocals on "Shake, Rattle and Roll" and playing on "Honky Tonk". This session was released years later on Hydra Records. In 1957, Welz enjoyed the biggest hit of his career as a member of an outfit called the Rock-A-Billies "Boppin' the Stroll Again" before enlisting in the U.S. military service.
While in the Army in Germany in the early 1960s, Joey became a recording engineer for the Armed Forces Radio (AFN) which lead him to meeting the Silver Beatles. Upon exiting the military in 1963, Welz joined the Comets as pianist following the departure of Johnny Grande. It was also during this time that Welz signed a record deal with Canadian-American Records and released the single "Hey Little Moonbeam" which he co-wrote with Steve Lawrence. He would continue to play with The Comets until 1966.
In 1969, Welz recorded an album entitled "Listen To The Voices" with Link Wray which was released on Music City Records. Welz also recorded an album called "Revival Fires" with Roy Buchanan in the late 1960s. After Haley's death in 1981 Welz organized a Comets reunion which performed on The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder on NBC. This was followed by a tour of America and a single penned by Welz, Al Rappa and Franny Beecher entitled "Bring Back the Music" in 1982.
He is the owner and CEO of Canadian-American Records and Caprice International Records. In the 1990s Welz began writing and recording country music in Nashville with the Nashville Now Band and placed several singles on the Cashbox chart including a country version of "Rock Around the Clock", "One Way Ticket", "Rockabilly", "Back to a Better Time" and the "Nashville Now Boogie".
In 1992, Welz signed with Caprice International/BMG. Since the early 2000s Welz has annually toured in France with the Captain Joe Combo. As an Artist; He received a Lifetime Achievement Award for being the only artist in the history of Recorded Music, to have written, produced and released new music every year consecutively from 1955 to 2017…62 years of music resulting in 105 Albums, 150 Singles and over 2500 Songs. He continues to write and produce new albums up to the present day.
Welz currently resides in Lititz, Pennsylvania, where he has converted his home into a museum known as The Rock Around The Clock Hall of Fame.
(Edited from Wikipedia, NAMM, Bear Family Records & Sync Summit)