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The Real Birth of Rock N Roll Arrives: 1946-1954

Bill Haley
5 discs

0. DISC 1: THE COWBOY, CENTER, KEYSTONE AND ATLANTIC RECORDINGS:
1. Too Many Parties, Too Many Pals
2. Four Leaf Clover Blues
3. Candy Kisses
4. Tennessee Border
5. Covered Wagon, The
6. Rolled Right Along
7. Yodel Your Blues Away
8. Behind the Eight Ball
9. Foolish Questions
10. Loveless Blues
11. Stand up and Be Counted
12. Deal Me a Hand (I Play the Game Anyway)
13. Ten Gallon Stetson (With a Hole in the Crown)
14. Susan Van Dusan
15. I'm Gonna Dry Every Tear With a Kiss
16. Why Do I Cry Over You?
17. Teardrops From My Eyes
18. Loveless Blues
19. My Sweet Little Girl From Nevada
20. My Palomino and I
0. DISC 2: THE HOLIDAY, ABBEY, GOTHAM AND VOGUE PICTURE DISC RECORDINGS:
1. Rocket '88'
2. Tearstains on My Heart
3. Green Tree Boogie
4. Down Deep in My Heart
5. I'm Crying
6. Pretty Baby
7. Year Ago This Christmas, A
8. I Don't Want to Be Alone This Christmas
9. Jukebox Cannonball
10. Sundown Boogie
11. Barnyard Special
12. Rose of My Heart
13. Two Timin' Blues
14. Long Gone Daddy
15. I'm Lonesome
16. Sweet Bunch of Roses, A
17. Please Make up Your Fickle Mind
18. My Heart Tells Me (I'm Still in Love With You)
19. I'm Lonesome
20. Sweet Bunch of Roses, A
21. Please Make up Your Fickle Mind
22. My Heart Tells Me (I'm Still in Love With You)
23. Out Where the Westwind Blows
24. Who's Gonna Kiss You When I'm Gone
25. Boogie Woogie Yodel
26. Baby, Found Out All About You
0. DISC 3: ESSEX RECORDS:
1. Rock the Joint
2. Icy Heart
3. Dance With a Dolly (With a Hole in Her Stocking)
4. Rockin' Chair on the Moon
5. Stop Beatin' Around the Mulberry Bush
6. Real Rock Drive
7. Crazy Man, Crazy
8. What'cha Gonna Do ?
9. Pat - A - Cake
10. Fractured
11. Live It Up
12. Farewell, So Long, Goodbye
13. I'll Be True
14. Ten Little Indians
15. Yes Indeed! Part 1
16. Yes Indeed! Part 2
17. Chattanooga Choo Choo
18. Straightjacket
0. DISC 4: ACETATES & RADIOSHOW, ADVERTISING SPOTS:
1. Rovin' Eyes
2. Candy and Women
3. My Mom Heard Me Cry Over You
4. Cotton Haired Girl
5. Wreck on the Highway, The
6. Yodeller's Lullaby, A
7. All I Need Is Some More Lovin'
8. Candy and Women
9. Yodel Your Blues Away
10. Red River Valley
11. Behind the Eight Ball
12. Candy and Women
13. Behind the Eight Ball
14. I Wasted a Nickel Last Night
15. My Bucket's Got a Hole in It
16. Rose of My Heart
17. Within This Broken Heart of Mine
18. Down Home
19. Following the Sun
20. She Taught Me How to Yodel
21. Cool Water
22. Baby, I Found Out All About You
23. Open up Them Pearly Gates For Me
24. Who's Gonna Kiss You When I'm Gone ?
25. Arizona Cowboy Advert
26. Westinghouse and Twin Bars Advert
0. DISC 5: ACETATES:
1. Candy and Women
2. Foolish Questions
3. Behind the Eight Ball
4. Teardrops From My Eyes
5. Rose of My Heart
6. Rose of My Heart
7. Cherry Tree Lane
8. Cute Little Brown-Eyed Gal
9. Sweet Bunch of Roses, A
10. Yodel Your Blues Away
11. Easy Rocking Chair
12. Ages and Ages Ago
13. Honestly
14. I Dreamed of an Old Love Affair
15. Whispering
16. I Love You So Much It Hurts
17. Little Rock, Arkansas
18. Bundle of Kisses, A
19. Are You Teasing Me ?
20. I Want You
21. Sunday Down in Tennessee
22. Gotta Have My Baby Back
23. Take Me in Your Arms
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Additional Info

Manufacturer Part Number (MPN): 16509
Credits

Producer
Engineer
It seems amazing that, at some time between 1955 and 2006, no one has ever attempted to do what this five-CD set does -- assemble all of the early Bill Haley sides together in one place. Oh, to be sure, Haley wasn't necessarily the most consistent performer, even at the peak of his career, but he had amassed an astonishing amount of material in the eight years before "Rock Around the Clock" secured his place in history, and while a lot of it was more country than rock & roll, most of it is not bad and a lot of it is amazingly good, as you will discover here. Back in 1948, when he was fronting Bill Haley & the Four Aces of Western Swing, he was making good records -- and when they weren't quite great records, they were never dull. And what you hear, even on relatively derivative numbers like "Tennessee Border," is a tendency to push the beat a little bit, even in the context of Western swing. As far back as that, Haley was showing not only an appreciation of elements of jazz -- as all Western swing did -- but also of boogie-woogie. And every so often in between a ballad he'd slip in an offbeat A-side like "Loveless Blues." This box traces the threads of Haley's development as a musician and stylist across his earliest released sides, mostly for tiny regional labels and by way of acetates unearthed across the decades -- so one can see how he put together the sound that eventually made him famous, piece by piece, as a combination of the quirks of his own taste. Haley may have had a host of personal problems and never fully comprehended everything he'd latched onto as a musician, but he was remarkably consistent as a performer, as revealed here. Going song by song and watching him form new bands with new personnel and new sounds -- the biggest development was getting Billy Williamson on steel guitar for the early Saddlemen -- it doesn't seem like such a jump from "Candy and Woman" to "Rocket 88." In addition to all of Haley's commercial recordings across this eight-year span and the acetates that were intended as demos, listeners also get transcription discs by the various outfits of which he was a member, starting with the Downhomers. The result, when coupled with the extensive essays and annotation in the 100-page hardcover book that comes with this set, is the fullest picture ever presented of the man who was as truly the father of rock & roll as anyone who could ever have claimed the title. ~ Bruce Eder
Critic Reviews

Dirty Linen (p.87) - "Turning to swing, boogie-woogie, and R&B for inspiration, Haley began writing his own songs....This is a real collector's item for rock and roll fans..."
No Depression (pp.113-114) - "[T]\he remastered sound is breathtaking....This collection reveals his full journey."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.114) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "The recordings, including some radio shots, are immaculately mastered..."