Post Description

Bill Haley - The Decca Years And More  (5 cd's)



Any casual listener looking over this 132-track five-CD set would probably conclude that it was far more Bill Haley than they need bite off in one gulp -- and they'd be right, as casual listeners. For the serious rock & roll enthusiast, as well as the hardcore Bill Haley fan, however, there's a wealth of worthwhile material to be found here, some of which will amaze even those fans: a dozen great songs and 55 or so more that are good, and another 20 that are fascinating mistakes, and that's a good average for an artist who is generally thought of as having generated just a handful of important records. What Haley had mostof all was a distinctive sound -- between the backbeat, the country boogie roots, and the R&B sources -- that pretty much defined white rock & roll for almost its first two years (until Elvis Presley and Carl Perkins emerged in the spring of 1956); the first two CDs here offer that sound in abundance. They offer Haley's complete recordings from April 12, 1954 (the session that yielded "Rock Around the Clock"), until July 15, 1957, capturing an urgent, creative, and exciting era in the music and the band's output, when they seemingly couldn't help but make good records. The first 40 songs in the box are a reminder of a time when Haley and company were still very much in the game, with Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, and more in the front ranks of rock & roll (although, to be fair, the later sides on the second disc show them losing that game). Discs three and four's chronology cover the group's decline in 1958-1959, as they careened from one especially disastrous idea (the Rockin' Around the World album) through some good, thumping rock & roll that just happened to be out of date in 1958 (in the guise of "Skinny Minnie"), then into a movie-related musical liaison with Caterina Valente, and to their final sessions for Decca. That was a point where Haley and his band got back some of their vitality and creativity and cut some better-than-decent rock & roll, tagging on his good 1964 single "Green Door" and a pair of 1958 vintage demos. Disc five is a fascinating bonus, a 62-minute assembly of excerpts from two complete recording sessions in January 1959 working their way back to a body of musically (if not commercially) viable, solid rock & roll on numbers like "A Fool Such As I" and "I Got a Woman." In addition to the usual excellent Bear Family mastering job, the box offers a very nicely designed booklet by rockabilly scholar Colin Escott, and one of the better accounts of Haley's overall career up through 1964. The price may be steep, but most of what's here -- and most of it isn't easily found anywhere else, or organized as neatly where it does show up -- will appeal to anyone who ever took a closer listen on their own to "Rock Around the Clock," just to pick up on what's going on inside of it between the boogie-woogie beat and the string-bending by Danny Cedrone. The total immersion that it allows in the work of Haley, Cedrone's successor, Frannie Beecher, and saxman Rudy Pompilli will delight those listeners who have the budget to afford it.



  Tracklisting
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   1. (00:02:14) Bill Haley - Rock Around The Clock
   2. (00:02:55) Bill Haley - Thirteen Women
   3. (00:02:32) Bill Haley - Shake, Rattle And Roll
   4. (00:02:29) Bill Haley - A.B.C. Boogie
   5. (00:02:36) Bill Haley - Happy Baby
   6. (00:02:33) Bill Haley - Dim, Dim The Lights
   7. (00:02:16) Bill Haley - Birth Of The Boogie
   8. (00:02:39) Bill Haley - Mambo Rock
   9. (00:03:01) Bill Haley - Two Hound Dogs
  10. (00:02:45) Bill Haley - Razzle Dazzle
  11. (00:02:22) Bill Haley - R-O-C-K
  12. (00:02:21) Bill Haley - Rock-A-Beatin' Boogie
  13. (00:03:28) Bill Haley - The Saints Rock And Roll
  14. (00:02:47) Bill Haley - Burn That Candle
  15. (00:02:47) Bill Haley - See You Later, Alligator
  16. (00:02:31) Bill Haley - The Paper Boy (On Main Street, U.S.A.)
  17. (00:02:41) Bill Haley - Goofin' Around
  18. (00:02:50) Bill Haley - Rudy's Rock
  19. (00:02:11) Bill Haley - Hide The Seek
  20. (00:02:26) Bill Haley - Hey Then, There Now
  21. (00:02:22) Bill Haley - Tonight's The Night
  22. (00:02:37) Bill Haley - Hook, Line And Sinker
  23. (00:02:32) Bill Haley - Blue Home Blues
  24. (00:02:33) Bill Haley - Calling All Comets
  25. (00:02:45) Bill Haley - Choo Choo Ch'Boogie
  26. (00:02:42) Bill Haley - A Rockin' Little Tune
  27. (00:02:37) Bill Haley - Hot Dog Buddy Buddy
  28. (00:02:08) Bill Haley - Rockin' Through The Rye
  29. (00:02:25) Bill Haley - Don't Knock The Rock
  30. (00:02:19) Bill Haley - Teenager's Mother
  31. (00:02:28) Bill Haley - Rip It Up
  32. (00:02:22) Bill Haley - Don't Knock The Rock
  33. (00:02:37) Bill Haley - Forty Cups Of Coffee
  34. (00:02:23) Bill Haley - Miss You
  35. (00:02:45) Bill Haley - (You Hit The Wrong Note) Billy Goat
  36. (00:02:30) Bill Haley - Rockin' Rollin' Rover
  37. (00:02:53) Bill Haley - Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone
  38. (00:02:27) Bill Haley - You Can't Stop Me From Dreaming
  39. (00:02:44) Bill Haley - I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter
  40. (00:02:49) Bill Haley - Rock Lomond
  41. (00:02:26) Bill Haley - Is It True What They Say About Dixie
  42. (00:02:25) Bill Haley - Carolina In The Morning
  43. (00:02:29) Bill Haley - The Dipsy Doodle
  44. (00:02:15) Bill Haley - Ain't Misbehavin'
  45. (00:02:55) Bill Haley - The Break Speaks
  46. (00:02:34) Bill Haley - Moon Over Miami
  47. (00:02:13) Bill Haley - One Sweet Letter From You
  48. (00:02:30) Bill Haley - (I'll Be With You In) Apple Blossom Time
  49. (00:02:16) Bill Haley - Somebody Else Is Taking My Place
  50. (00:02:26) Bill Haley - How Many
  51. (00:02:46) Bill Haley - Move It On Over
  52. (00:02:19) Bill Haley - Rock The Joint
  53. (00:02:23) Bill Haley - Rip It Up [without handclaps]
  54. (00:02:15) Bill Haley - Me Rock-A-Hula
  55. (00:02:14) Bill Haley - Rockin' Rita
  56. (00:02:39) Bill Haley - Jamaica D.J.
  57. (00:02:18) Bill Haley - Piccadilly Rock
  58. (00:02:39) Bill Haley - Pretty Alouette
  59. (00:03:00) Bill Haley - Rockin' Rollin' Schnitzlebank
  60. (00:02:40) Bill Haley - Rockin' Matilda
  61. (00:02:13) Bill Haley - Vive Le Rock And Roll
  62. (00:02:29) Bill Haley - It's A Sin
  63. (00:02:43) Bill Haley - Mary, Mary Lou
  64. (00:02:20) Bill Haley - El Rocko
  65. (00:02:41) Bill Haley - Come Rock With Me
  66. (00:02:41) Bill Haley - Oriental Rock
  67. (00:02:25) Bill Haley - Wooden Shoe Rock
  68. (00:02:21) Bill Haley - The Walkin' Beat
  69. (00:03:01) Bill Haley - Skinny Minnie
  70. (00:02:44) Bill Haley - Sway With Me
  71. (00:02:37) Bill Haley - Lean Jean
  72. (00:02:30) Bill Haley - Don't Nobody Move
  73. (00:02:57) Bill Haley - Joey's Song [stereo version]
  74. (00:02:47) Bill Haley - Chiquita Linda
  75. (00:02:28) Bill Haley - Dinah
  76. (00:02:18) Bill Haley - Ida, Sweet As Apple Cider
  77. (00:02:27) Bill Haley - Whoa Mabel!
  78. (00:02:26) Bill Haley - Marie
  79. (00:02:26) Bill Haley - Eloise
  80. (00:02:27) Bill Haley - Corrine, Corrina [without handclaps]
  81. (00:02:55) Bill Haley - Joey's Song [mono version]
  82. (00:02:28) Bill Haley - Corrine, Corrina
  83. (00:02:33) Bill Haley - B.B. Betty
  84. (00:02:15) Bill Haley - Sweet Sue, Just You
  85. (00:03:00) Bill Haley - Charmaine
  86. (00:02:35) Bill Haley & His Comets/Caterina Valente - Vive le Rock and Roll [& Catarina Valente]
  87. (00:02:34) Bill Haley - Hot Dog Buddy Buddy
  88. (00:02:05) Bill Haley - The Dragon Rock
  89. (00:02:32) Bill Haley - A.B.C. Rock
  90. (00:02:28) Bill Haley - The Cat Walk
  91. (00:02:34) Bill Haley - I Got A Woman
  92. (00:02:46) Bill Haley - ( Now And Then ) There's A Fool Such As I ( '59 )  1965
  93. (00:02:22) Bill Haley - Be By Me
  94. (00:02:45) Bill Haley - Where Did You Go Last Night
  95. (00:02:23) Bill Haley - Caldonia
  96. (00:02:05) Bill Haley - Shaky
  97. (00:02:25) Bill Haley - Ooh! Look-A There, Ain't She Pretty ( De9-30 956 )  1959
  98. (00:02:41) Bill Haley - ( Thanks For The ) Summer Souvenirs ( '59 )  1981
  99. (00:02:26) Bill Haley - Puerto Rican Peddlar
 100. (00:02:26) Bill Haley - Music, Music, Music
 101. (00:02:33) Bill Haley - Skokiaan
 102. (00:02:40) Bill Haley - Drowsy Waters
 103. (00:02:30) Bill Haley - Two Shadows
 104. (00:02:21) Bill Haley - In A Little Spanish Town
 105. (00:03:08) Bill Haley - Strictly Instrumental
 106. (00:02:17) Bill Haley - Mack The Knife
 107. (00:02:32) Bill Haley - The Green Door
 108. (00:02:07) Bill Haley - Yeah, She's Evil!
 109. (00:03:35) Bill Haley - Football Rock And Roll
 110. (00:02:00) Bill Haley - Six Year-Old Can Rock And Roll
 111. (00:02:08) Bill Haley - Dragon Rock [complete take]
 112. (00:02:16) Bill Haley - Dragon Ro