Camel Rock And Roll Dance Party (Alan Freed) 1956 *Transcriptions

 

These broadcasts are among the last regularly-scheduled live performances of popular music on radio. Featuring Count Basie & his orchestra in the earlier broadcasts. Later broadcasts featured Sam "The Man" Taylor & his orchestra with Big Al Sears. Sponsored by Camel cigarettes.

April 7, 1956 - Was the first ever regularly scheduled network rock 'n' roll broadcast - Rock 'N' Roll Dance Party - with Alan Freed premiered on CBS Radio.

 the only available copies were the AFRS transcriptions which had been very crudely edited to remove all mentions of Camel and so they ran 5 minutes short. These ones appear to be the CBS transcriptions and they're complete with nothing cut out!

Camel Rock & Roll Dance Party

1 Camel Rock & Roll Dance Party 03-31-56 - 29:58

2 Camel Rock & Roll Dance Party 04-07-56 - 28:57

3 Camel Rock & Roll Dance Party 04-14-56 - 28:55

4 Camel Rock & Roll Dance Party 04-21-56 - 28:57

5 Camel Rock & Roll Dance Party 04-28-56 - 28:57

6 Camel Rock & Roll Dance Party 05-05-56 - 29:59

7 Camel Rock & Roll Dance Party 05-12-56 - 30:01

8 Camel Rock & Roll Dance Party 05-19-56 - 28:53

9 Camel Rock & Roll Dance Party 05-26-56 - 29:56

10 Camel Rock & Roll Dance Party 06-02-56 - 28:55

11 Camel Rock & Roll Dance Party 06-09-56 - 28:51

12 Camel Rock & Roll Dance Party 06-16-56 - 28:59

13 Camel Rock & Roll Dance Party 06-23-56 - 28:50

14 Camel Rock & Roll Dance Party 06-30-56 - 28:46

15 Camel Rock & Roll Dance Party 07-10-56 - 28:46

16 Camel Rock & Roll Dance Party 07-17-56 - 28:54

17 Camel Rock & Roll Dance Party 07-24-56 - 29:09

18 Camel Rock & Roll Dance Party 07-31-56 - 28:56

19 Camel Rock & Roll Dance Party 08-07-56 - 28:58

20 Camel Rock & Roll Dance Party 08-14-56 - 28:52

21 Camel Rock & Roll Dance Party 08-28-56 - 28:56

22 Camel Rock & Roll Dance Party 09-04-56 - 28:52

23 Camel Rock & Roll Dance Party 09-11-56 - 28:52

24 Camel Rock & Roll Dance Party (rehearsal) - 21:38

Topics Alan Freed, Count Basie, Joe Williams, Sunny Gale, The Rover Boys, The Chordettes, Tony Bennett, Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers, LaVerne Baker, Faye Adams, The Robins, The Jacks, The Nilsson Twins, The Flairs, The Treniers, Al Sears, Dorrie Ann Grey, The Penguins, Etta James, The Clovers, The Cadillacs, Clyde McPhatter, Della Reese, Sugar & Spice, The Platters, The Drifters, The Moonglows, The Valentines, Chuck Willis, Ivory Joe Hunter, The Five Keys, Gloria Mann, The Three Chuckles, Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps, Johnny Burnette Trio, Otis Williams & The Charms, The Cleftones, The Four Fellows, Chuck Berry, Flamingos, Big Maybelle, Jimmy Cavallo & The House Rockers, Bill Haley & His Comets, Mabel King

In 1956, Alan Freed was pretty much on top of the world. The so-called "father of rock'n'roll" was living in New York City, broadcasting primarily from WINS (1010 AM), and enjoying the fame (or notoriety) he had gained by organizing the "Moondog Coronation Ball" a few years earlier in Cleveland. He would also appear in two films that year, Rock Around the Clock and Rock, Rock, Rock, which would help to popularize the music that was making Freed so famous.

Alan Freed Camel Rock and Roll Dance Party1952's Coronation Ball is widely remembered as "the first Rock and Roll concert", and it was also the event which helped to establish Freed's reputation as a trouble maker. Freed was credited with coining the term "rock and roll" for the new type of music while broadcasting his "Moondog House" DJ show on WJW. Although Rock and Roll musicians were relatively clean cut by today's standards, a riot nearly broke out at the sold-out event because more tickets were printed than there were seats in the Cleveland Arena.

One of Freed's few low points during 1956 was a suit brought against him by New York street musician, Lois T. Hardin over the name Moondog. Hardin, who was blinded in a farming accident in the early 1930's at the age of 16, was a composer, musician, and beat poet. He had adopted the pen name Moondog in 1947 and composed an instrumental recording called "The Moondog Symphony" which Freed took as inspiration when naming his show. The New York Supreme Court found in favor of Hardin who had been using the name longer, and Freed had to pay damages.

However, he could afford to pay because he had been tapped to host The Camel Rock and Roll Dance Party over WCBS. The music may be hard to recognize as rock and roll by modern youth, but there is no denying its appeal. The featured band for many of the broadcasts is the Count Basie Orchestra. Although Basie is usually associated with Big Band and Jazz music, he helps to underscore the fusion of elements that went into the early rock and roll sound.

These recordings have been available to OTR collectors for some time as AFRTS rebroadcasts with the commercials removed. This collection prominently features Freed reminding us of the smooth pleasure of smoking great tasting Camel Cigarettes. Although we do not condone smoking and remind our listeners of the well-known health dangers of cigarettes, we do appreciate the significant contribution that tobacco company sponsorship had on commercial radio.

24 old time radio show recordings

(total playtime 11 hours, 30 min)

Enjoy

Ty To Original Sharer

1. "In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." -Abraham Lincoln
2. 
   
   
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