Rock N Roll begins here. This set includes everything that Bill Haley recorded for Decca between 1954 and 1960, and again in 1964. All the hits, all the misses, all the album tracks, even two previously unissued demos from 1958. Theres also a complete CD of out-takes. A total of 132 tracks including all the original Decca singles, all the LP tracks, and, of course, Rock Around The Clock.

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 theyd be right, as casual listeners. For the serious rock & roll enthusiast, as well as the hardcore Bill Haley fan, however, theres 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 thats a good average for an artist who is generally thought of as having generated just a handful of important records. What Haley had most of 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 Haleys 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 bands output, when they seemingly couldnt 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 fours chronology cover the groups 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disastrous idea (the Rockin Around the World album) through some good, thumping rock & roll that just happened to be out of date in 1958 (in the guise of "Skinny Minnie"), then into a movie-related musical liaison with Caterina Valente, and to their final sessions for Decca.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 Haleys overall career up through 1964. The price may be steep, but most of whats here -- and most of it isnt 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 whats 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, Cedrones successor, Frannie Beecher, and saxman Rudy Pompilli will delight those listeners who have the budget to afford it.

Tracklist:

Disc 1:
01. Rock Around The Clock
02. Thirteen Women
03. Shake, Rattle And Roll
04. A.B.C. Boogie
05. Happy Baby
06. Dim, Dim The Lights
07. Birht Of The Boogie
08. Mambo Rock
09. Two Hound Dogs
10. Razzle Dazzle
11. R-O-C-K
12. Rock-A-Beatin Boogie
13. The Saints Rock And Roll
14. Burn That Candle
15. See You Later Alligator
16. Paper Boy
17. Goofin Around
18. Rudys Rock
19. Hide The Seek
20. Hey Then, There Now
21. Tonights The Night
22. Hook, Line And Sinker
23. Blue Comet Blues
24. Calling All Comets
25. Choo Choo Ch Boogie
26. A Rockin Little Town
27. Hot Dog Buddy Buddy
28. Rockin Through The Rye

Disc 2:
01. Dont Knock The Rock (without overdub)
02. Teenagers Mother
03. Rip It Up
04. Dont Knock The Rock
05. Forty Cups Of Coffee
06. Miss You
07. (You Hit The Wrong Note) Billy Goat
08. Rockin Rollin Rover
09. Please Dont Talk About Me When Im Gone
10. You Cant Stop Me From Dreaming
11. Im Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter
12. Rock Lomond
13. Is It True What They Say About Dixie
14. Carolina In The Morning
15. The Dipsy Doodle
16. Aint Misbehavin
17. The Break Speaks
18. Moon Over Miami
19. One Sweet Ltter From You
20. (Ill Be With You In) Apple Blossom Time
21. Somebody Else Is Taking My Place
22. How Many
23. Move It On Over
24. Rock The Joint
25. Rip It Up (without handclaps)

Disc 3:
01. Me Rock-A-Hula
02. Rockin Rita
03. Jamaica D.J.
04. Piccadilly Rock
05. Pretty Alouette
06. Rockin Rollin Schnitzlebank
07. Rockin Matilda
08. Vive Le Rock And Roll
09. Its A Sin
10. Mary, Mary Lou
11. El Rocko
12. Come Rock With Me
13. Oriental Rock
14. Wooden Shoe Rock
15. The Walkin Beat
16. Skinny Minnie
17. Sway With Me
18. Lean Jean
19. Dont Nobody Move
20. Joeys Song (stereo)
21. Chiquita Linda
22. Dinah
23. Ida, Sweet As Apple Cider
24. Whoa Mabel!
25. Marie
26. Eloise
27. Corrine, Corrina (without handclaps)
28. Joeys Song (mono)

Disc 4:
01. Corrine, Corrina
02. B.B. Betty
03. Sweet Sue, Just You
04. Charmaine
05. Vive Le Rock And Roll (& Catarina Valente)
06. Hot Dog Buddy Buddy
07. The Dragon Rock
08. A.B.C. Rock
09. The Cat Walk
10. I Got A Woman
11. (Now And Then) Theres A Fool Such As I
12. Be By Me
13. Where Did You Go Last Night
14. Caldonia
15. Shaky
16. Ooh! Look-A There, Aint She Pretty
17. (Thanks For The) Summer Souvenirs
18. Puerto Rican Peddlar
19. Music, Music, Music
20. Skokiaan
21. Drowsy Waters
22. Two Shadows
23. In A Little Spanish Town
24. Strictly Instrumental
25. Mack The Knife
26. The Green Door
27. Yeah Shes Evil
28. Football Rock And Roll
29. Six Year-Old Can Rock And Roll

Disc 5:
01. Dragon Rock (1)
02. Dragon Rock (2)
03. Dragon Rock (3)
04. Dragon Rock (4)
05. ABC Rock (1)
06. ABC Rock (2)
07. The Catwalk
08. I Got A Woman (1)
09. I Got A Woman (2)
10. I Got A Woman (3)
11. I Got A Woman (4)
12. I Got A Woman (5)
13. I Got A Woman (6)
14. A Fool Such As I (1)
15. A Fool Such As I (2)
16. Be By Me (1)
17. Be By Me (2)
18. Be By Me (3)
19. Where Did You Go Last Night (1)
20. Where Did You Go Last Night (2)
21. Where Did You Go Last Night (3)
22. Where Did You Go Last Night (4)


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