Rock with Bill Haley and the Comets

Infobox Album |
Name = Rock with Bill Haley and the Comets
Type = Compilation album
Artist = Bill Haley & His Comets


Released = 1954
Recorded = Coastal Studios, New York City, 1952-53
Genre = Rock and roll
Length =
Label = Essex Records; reissued on many other labels
Producer = Dave Miller
Reviews =
Last album =
This album = "Rock with Bill Haley and the Comets"
(1954)
Next album = "Shake, Rattle and Roll"
(1965)

"Rock wth Bill Haley and the Comets" is the title of an early rock and roll music compilation album issued by Essex Records (ESLP 202) in 1954, and featuring music by the titular group, Bill Haley & His Comets. The album features recordings made by Haley in 1952 and 1953, including his hits, "Rock the Joint" and "Crazy Man Crazy". The album is one of the earliest known LP releases of the rock and roll genre, predating similar releases by Elvis Presley and by Haley himself, as he and his band later went on to Decca Records and recorded "Rock Around the Clock".

All the songs on this album were previously released as singles under the Essex banner, including several that were originally released when the band used the name Bill Haley and the Saddlemen. The album does not include any of the tracks Haley and the Comets recorded in 1954 before moving to Decca, nor are any of the tracks from 1951-52 included that Haley recorded for Essex's sister label, Holiday Records (although later releases of Haley's Essex label work would later include these tracks).

Essex leased this album out to numerous other labels that subsequently issued it under their own brand. This includes Somerset Records, Paragon Records, Reo Records, Transworld, and Quality Records.

Track listing

# Rock the Joint
# Rockin' Chair on the Moon
# Farewell, So Long, Goodbye
# Real Rock Drive
# Fractured
# Stop Beatin' Round the Mulberry Bush
# Crazy Man Crazy
# Pat-a-Cake
# Live it Up
# What'cha Gonna Do
# I'll Be True
# Dance with a Dolly

Personnel

* Bill Haley – rhythm guitar, vocals
* Danny Cedrone – lead guitar on 1 2 4 6 12
* Art Ryerson - lead guitar on 3 5 7 8 9 10 11
* Billy Williamson – steel guitar
* Johnny Grande – piano; organ on 11
* Marshall Lytle – bass
* Billy Gussak – drums on 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
* Cliff Leeman - drums on 11
* Dick Richards - backing vocals on 9 11
* Tony Lance baritone saxophone on 3 9 11
* Dave Miller - clapboard on 11, backing vocals on 7 [http://thegardnerfamily.org/haley/discography/recordings.html]

Note: no drums were used on tracks 1, 2, 12

External links

* [http://thegardnerfamily.org/haley/discography/products.html Bill Haley discography]