''Haley's Juke Box: Songs of the Bill Haley Generation'' (often listed in reference books as ''Bill Haley's Jukebox''), was the eleventh studio album by

Bill Haley & His Comets Bill Haley & His Comets were an American rock and roll band founded in 1947 that continued until Haley's death in 1981. The band was also known as Bill Haley and the Comets and Bill Haley's Comets. From late 1954 to late 1956, the group record ...

. Released by

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

in the summer of 1960, the album was produced by

George Avakian George Mesrop Avakian (; russian: Геворк Авакян; March 15, 1919 – November 22, 2017) was an American record producer, artist manager, writer, educator and executive. Best known for his work from 1939 to the early 1960s at Decca Re ...

. With this record, Haley attempted to return to his roots as a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer, by recording an album of classic country and western songs, one of which, "Candy Kisses", Haley had previously recorded in 1948 for his first single with the Four Aces of Western Swing. The album was also marketed as a

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

album, due to the band's reputation. "Candy Kisses" was released as a single (backed by the non-album instrumental, "Tamiami"), but it did not chart. "Tamiami", however, reached number 79 on the Cashbox pop chart. According to Haley's biographer,

John Swenson John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, Haley's career was at a low ebb at the time this album was released, and according to Swenson Haley himself ended up promoting the album on radio stations in the

Chester, Pennsylvania Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located within the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area, it is the only city in Delaware County and had a population of 32,605 as of the 2020 census. Incorporated in 1682, Chester is ...

area; after some last singles in 1961, Haley's two-year contract with Warner Bros. collapsed.John Swenson, ''Bill Haley''. (London: W.H. Allen, 1982), pp. 128-130. Afterwards, Haley began recording for a series of smaller labels in the United States, although he found some success recording for

Orfeon Records Orfeon Records was a Turkish producer of phonographs and gramophone records. The first record company in Turkey, it was founded by the Blumenthal Family in 1912. The company was based in Istanbul and was actively producing records until 1924 when i ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

beginning in 1961. His next American album of new recordings, '' Twisting Knights at the Roundtable'' on

Roulette Records Roulette Records was an American record company and label founded in 1957 by George Goldner, Joe Kolsky, Morris Levy and Phil Kahl, with creative control given to producers and songwriters Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore. Levy was appointed direc ...

, would not appear until 1962. Although Haley would continue to record country-western style tracks on occasion during the 1960s, most notably during his tenure with the

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

label,

, Haley wouldn't record another full country album until the 1971 release, '' Rock Around the Country'' for

Sonet Records Sonet Records was a jazz, pop and rock record label operating as an imprint of Universal Music Sweden. It was founded in Sweden in 1956. Sonet Records was established by Sven Lindholm and Gunnar Bergström, who managed the label into the 1980s ...

. That later album would include new versions of two tracks featured on ''Haley's Juke Box'': "No Letter Today" and "There's a New Moon Over My Shoulder". According to the recording session files compiled by music historian Chris Gardner, rehearsal recordings of most of the songs on this album exist, but have as yet not been released commercially.

Track listing

# "

Singing the Blues "Singing the Blues" is a popular song written by Melvin Endsley and published in 1956. The song was first recorded and released by Marty Robbins in 1956. It is not related to the 1920 jazz song "Singin' the Blues" recorded by Frank Trumbauer ...

" (

Melvin Endsley Melvin Endsley (January 30, 1934 – August 16, 2004) was a musician, singer, and songwriter best known for writing the song "Singing the Blues", along with over 400 songs recorded by hundreds of artists since 1956. Some of the artists ...

) # " Candy Kisses" # "No Letter Today" # "This is the Thanks I Get" # " Bouquet of Roses" # "

There's a New Moon Over My Shoulder "There's a New Moon Over My Shoulder" is a 1944 song written by Jimmie Davis, Ekko Whelan, and Lee Blastic and made popular by Tex Ritter. The song was the B-side to Tex Ritter's, "I'm Wastin' My Tears on You". "There's a New Moon Over My Shoul ...

" # "

Cold, Cold Heart "Cold, Cold Heart" is a country music and pop song written and first recorded by Hank Williams. This blues ballad is both a classic of honky-tonk and an entry in the ''Great American Songbook''. Hank Williams version Williams adapted the melody ...

" (

Hank Williams Hank Williams (born Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he reco ...

) # "

The Wild Side of Life "The Wild Side of Life" is a song made famous by country music singer Hank Thompson. Originally released in 1952, the song became one of the most popular recordings in the genre's history, spending 15 weeks at number one on the ''Billboard'' co ...

" # " Anytime" (Herbert Lawson) # "Afraid" # "

I Don't Hurt Anymore "I Don't Hurt Anymore" is a 1954 song by Hank Snow. It was written by Don Robertson and Jack Rollins. Prairie Oyster version Canadian country music group Prairie Oyster covered the song on their album '' Different Kind of Fire''. Their rendi ...

" # "

Detour __NOTOC__ A detour or (British English: diversion) is a (normally temporary) route taking traffic around an area of prohibited or reduced access, such as a construction site. Standard operating procedure for many roads departments is to route an ...

" (

Paul Westmoreland Paul "Okie Paul" Westmoreland (September 19, 1916 – June 21, 2005) was a musician, songwriter, and disc jockey in Sacramento, California. Born in Tyler Texas, he moved to California during the Okie migration.Pew, "Route 66": "From the status of ...

)

Personnel

Bill Haley William John Clifton Haley (; July 6, 1925 – February 9, 1981) was an American rock and roll musician. He is credited by many with first popularizing this form of music in the early 1950s with his group Bill Haley & His Comets and million-sel ...

– vocal,

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

Franny Beecher Francis Eugene Beecher (September 29, 1921 – February 24, 2014) was the lead guitarist for Bill Haley & His Comets from 1954 to 1962, and is best remembered for his innovative guitar solos combining elements of country music and jazz. He co ...

– lead guitar * Billy Williamson –

steel guitar A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conve ...

Johnny Grande John Andrew Grande (January 14, 1930 – June 3, 2006) was a member of Bill Haley's backing band, The Comets. Life and career Born in South Philadelphia, Grande played piano and accordion with Bill Haley and the Saddlemen, later known as Bill H ...

–

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

Ralph Jones Ralph Robert "Curley" Jones (September 22, 1880 – July 26, 1951) was an American high school and college American football, football and college basketball, basketball coach. He also served as the head coach for the Chicago Bears of the Na ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Rudy Pompilli Rudolph Clement Pompilii (April 16, 1924 – February 5, 1976) was an American musician best known for playing tenor saxophone with Bill Haley and His Comets. He was usually credited under the alternate spelling Rudy Pompilli and occasionally as ...

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

* Al Rappa - bass guitar

Reissues

Several different LP versions of ''Haley's Juke Box'' were released, and the album was also issued to CD. In 1999 its contents were also incorporated into the

Bear Family Records Bear Family Records is a Germany-based independent record label, that specializes in reissues of archival material, ranging from country music to 1950s rock and roll to old German movie soundtracks. History The label has been in existence since ...

box set, ''The Warner Brothers Years and More''.

References

External links

Bill Haley discography
{{Authority control 1960 albums Bill Haley & His Comets albums Albums produced by George Avakian Warner Records albums