The Very Best Of [CD]

A good collection of hits,minor hits and instrumentals.

Forget what negative feedback jive bunny gave this cat,this collection was worth it for under a fiver.Great songs.

People will forever argue about when rock'n'roll really began and of course there is no clear answer to that question. What is not in dispute is that Bill Haley and the Comets had the first major international hit with a rock'n'roll record - the simple but immortal Rock around the clock. It wasn't actually his first big hit but its success in 1955 is generally regarded as officially marking the start of the rock'n'roll era.

Bill Haley's roots were in country music and he began his career as a country singer - however, he experimented in various ways, taking ideas from R+B music to make his music a little different. By the time he secured a recording contract, his style had evolved into what we now know as rock'n'roll. Bill was hugely popular for a brief period in 1955 and 1956, but as Elvis took over as the leading star of rock'n'roll, record buyers quickly lost interest in Bill's music.

Rock around the clock was the first record that Bill recorded but made little impact when first released. The follow-up, Shake rattle and roll, did much better (a top five UK hit in 1954). Subsequently, Rock around the clock was featured in the soundtrack of Blackboard jungle and was re-issued, this time becoming a number one hit in Britain and America. Bill had further international hits with Rock-a-beating boogie, See you later alligator, The saints rock'n'roll, Rocking through the rye, Rip it up and Don't knock the rock, though these records were generally more popular in Britain (where there was no obvious competitor) than in America (where there were plenty of other rock'n'roll acts emerging).

This compilation includes all of Bill's classic hits and the best of his other recordings.

The late Bill Haley is the forgotten man of rock'n'roll which is a shame. For a short period in `55 and `56, Bill was the epitome of the man who'd taken a staid pop industry by storm giving teenagers some real interest in popular music. He was the guy who'd ushered rock'n'roll onto the national stage with "Shake Rattle and Roll" at the tail end of 1954 to be followed by the re-released "Rock Around the Clock" which broke all records in `55. Haley had a background in country music and western swing but he'd grafted onto this a scorching sax not unlike the black jump blues bands of the late `40's and early `50's. By the time he first recorded, Haley and his band had had years of experience in dance halls so was well placed to assess what music teenagers liked. Even after his first release in 1948 (under the name of Four Aces of Western Swing) it still took several years of refinement of his sound, plus a couple of band name changes before he really broke big time.

But it wasn't to last. What Haley didn't know was that there were things happening down in Memphis in `54 and `55 which grew and grew till we had Presley's national breakthrough with "Heartbreak Hotel" in early `56 quickly followed by "Blue Suede Shoes", I want you, I need you, I love you"/"My Baby Left Me" and "Hound Dog"/"Don't be cruel". And there were others like the, even more frantic Little Richard also coming through, not to mention Chuck Berry in the wings. Haley couldn't compete. His last UK national hit was "Don't knock the Rock" in early `57. In the US interest had drained even earlier.

This album contains "Rock around the clock" and most of the singles, that's A and B sides, up to "Skinnie Minnie" in Spring `58. What comes through immediately on revisiting the album is the fact that this is real rock'n'roll - it's not just jump blues under another name. The slap bass is there as is the riffing sax (from Rudy Pompilli), the semi-shouted vocals and the call and response routines. He also had the wild (but well rehearsed) stage show to go with the music. But as one continues listening a strong element of similarity in the treatment of the numbers comes through. The rim shots start to grate a touch and the stop time elements in the songs begin to be over-familiar. There's no real change of tempo from the unrelenting medium to fast, (the slower "Skinnie Minnie" came after the hits), unlike Presley who came up with a ballad in "I want you, I need you, I love you" for his third national release.

The usual reason given for Bill Haley's rapid fall from fame is appearance and age - he was thirty in `55 - but I would say it's as much to do with his sound which record buyers tired of as it seemed to change so little. The sleeve notes on this set say that Bill was "unable to match the charisma of Presley and lyricism of Chuck Berry". You could add into that, the spontaneity of Little Richard. Haley's music sounded altogether more forced than the seeming naturalism of Elvis, Chuck and Little R, plus good old Fats of course. To use a vogue word, their music was more organic than Haley's.

Bill Haley does undoubtedly deserve a lot of credit though. Would the breakthrough have happened without him? Were his sounds a contributing factor to "That's all right", or going back earlier, had Carl Perkins introduced chunks of Haley into his nascent rockabilly? We'll never know but meanwhile, at least we have this legacy from a man who could be called the John the Baptist of Rock`n`Roll.