Bill Haley & His Comets - Greatest Hits

ONE OF MY BILL HALEY'S FAVORITE

One of the best compilations from one of the masters of Rock and Roll!! from the very famous ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK to their great numbers like SEE YOU LATER ALLIGATOR, SHAKE RATTLE AND ROLL and THIRTEEN WOMEN, many excellent numbers like SWAY WITH ME, SKINNY MINNIE, BURN THAT CANDLE, CHOO CHOO BOOGIE and an instrumental powerful number, JOEY'S SONG...THIS CD IS WONDERFUL!! August 11, 2008

When It First Came Out It Was Essential

But that was 16 years ago. Now, there are other, more comprehensive Haley compilations on the market, led by the Varese Sarabande issue "The Best Of Bill Haley And His Comets 1951 - 1954" - if you're seeking his earliest recordings.

As with all early CDs, most controlled at that time by the likes of MCA, the tracks were minimal (here they gave us an original 11-track vinyl LP with all of one bonus track - big whoop), and the liner notes skimpy (if any at all), in this case the original LP sleeve notes.

The AAD sound reproduction is adequate, but the title "Greatest Hits" was a bit of a misnomer right from the get-go, as Thirteen Women (And Only One Man In Town), and Sway With Me, were uncharted B-sides to, respectively, (We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock and Skinny Minnie. I have nothing against B-sides in a compilation as long as they advertise it when they do include them. Even the "bonus" track, Hook, Line And Sinker, was merely a "follow-along" to a pretty minor hit, Forty Cups Of Coffee (# 70 Billboard Pop Top 100 in April 1957). And the A-side was never among the original tracks!

And, finally, that cover on the CD is the same cover that appeared on Decca LP 5027, released in 1968. What a ridiculous decision to insert four 1960's Go-Go Girls on the cover of an album dealing with one of the primary originators of R&R. October 4, 2007

A reissue of the 1968 Greatest Hits LP with one bonus track

If you are enjoying "From The Original Master Tapes" and want to add these 5 essential tracks not on FTOMT: Sway With Me, Choo Choo Ch'boogie, Skinny Minnie, Joey's Song, Hook, Line And Sinker, this is the disc to get these tracks on. As the title describes, this is a reissue of the Greatest Hits LP issued by Decca in 1968 on Decca DL 5027 in the original mono and on Decca DL 75027 in rechanneled stereo, with "Hook, Line and Sinker" as the single bonus track and the sound on this CD is great (many of the tracks sound like they are on par with the more definitive "From The Original Master Tapes" collection.) and they are using the original mono masters and not the rechanneled masters as rechanneled stereo sounds terrible and not the "improvement" that the public was lead to believe at the time. November 11, 2003

More reviews at Amazon.com ...