Record #0721: Razzle Dazzle / Two Houd Dogs – BILL HALEY AND HIS COMETS

 

Decca 9-29552 (original) USA, June 1955
Words & Music by:  Side A – Charles E. Calhoun (= Jesse Stone); Side B – Bill Haley, Frank Pingatore
Musicians: Bill Haley (vocals and rhythm guitar), Franny Beecher (lead guitar), Marshall Lytle (upright bass), Billy Williamson (steel guitar), Joey Ambrose (tenor sax), Johnny Grande (piano), Billy Gussak (drums)
Recording sessions: Produced by Milt Gabler at Decca Studios, Pythian Temple, New York, NY on 10. January 1955
Highest chart positions:  US #15, UK #13 (the single entered the UK chart on 15. September 1956)

By this time the band had just had their only US #1 hit with “Rock Around the Clock” and they were on a roll. Haley and his Comets had eight consecutive singles in US Top 20 (and after that they had none).

List price:  Very Good+ is $12,50, Near Mint is $25. This is probably not the 1^st pressing, but the list prices are the same for all originals.

Record #0720: Shake Rattle and Roll / A. B. C. Boogie – BILL HALEY AND HIS COMETS

Decca 9-29204 (original, 1^st pressing) USA, 12. July 1954
Words & Music by:  Side A – Charles E. Calhoun (= Jesse Stone); Side B – Al Russell, Max Spickol
Musicians: Bill Haley (vocals and rhythm guitar), Danny Cedrone (lead guitar), Marshall Lytle (upright bass), Billy Williamson (steel guitar), Joey Ambrose (tenor sax), Johnny Grande (piano), David A. “Panama” Francis (drums)
Recording sessions: Produced by Milt Gabler at Decca Studios, Pythian Temple, New York, NY, 7. June 1954
Highest chart positions:  US #7, UK #4

Here's Haley & his Comets in their second studio session with Decca.

This was released two months after “Rock Around the Clock” but became a hit in the charts 5 months before the other.

A regular guitarist of the Comets, Franny Beecher, is not mentioned in the session details. Maybe he was sick or something.

The picture has two variants of the first pressing.

List price:  Very Good+ is $20, Near Mint is $40. The 2^nd pressing has a star under “Decca”. Those are listed half the price of the 1^st pressing.

 

Record #0719: High School Confidential / Fools Like Me – JERRY LEE LEWIS

Sun 296 (original) USA, 20. May 1958
Words & Music by:  Side A – Ron Hargrave; Side B – Jack Clement, Murphy Maddux
Musicians: Jerry Lee Lewis (piano and vocals), Roland Janes (guitar, backing vocals on side B), Billy Lee Riley or Jay W. Brown (bass), James Van Eaton (drums), Roy Orbison, Jack Clement (backing vocals on side B)
Recording sessions: Produced by Sam Phillips and Jack Clement at the Sun Studio, Memphis, TN; Side A on 21./23. April 1958; Side B on 20. April 1958
Highest chart positions:  US #21, US Country #9, US R&B #5, Canada #13, UK #12

Some sources claim that side A was recorded on 14. February 1958. They are partially right as the version for the movie “High School Confidential” was recorded on that day. The record version was done in April, though.

Roy Orbison joined the flip side to sing backing vocals.

Sun records wasn’t big on making picture sleeves for 7” records. They made those only for three releases, this being the last one. The other two were Jerry Lee’s “Great Balls of Fire” and Johnny Cash’s “Guess Things Happen That Way”.

List price:  Very Good+ is $15, Near Mint is $30; picture sleeve VG+ is $40, NM is $80