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to S 1007 - 1967 |
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to JEX 729 |
| David
L. Miller founded Essex Records in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1951.
The label had local popular success, being known mostly for its release of the early Bill Haley & His Comets recordings. Miller originally changed the name of the group from the "Four Aces of Western Swing" to "Bill Haley and the Saddlemen" then repeated a suggestion that the group change their name to the Comets after Halley's Comet. After the group was signed to Decca Records, Miller was sued by Haley for selling the group's former hits on his Essex label without paying royalties. Miller went bankrupt. Someset Records was launched in 1957 by Miller International Company to release new recordings, but also used the repertoire of the bankrupt Essex Records. Miller's greatest claim to fame was selling large amounts of cheaply priced albums, with Somerset claiming to have manufactured the first stereo budget albums. Miller formed Europa Records in Germany to do to European record sales what Somerset did to the American record industry. The famous "101 Strings" was in reality the NDRO of Hamburg. |
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