This 10-inch UK pressing features the American vocal group The Deep River Boys, demonstrating their precise close-harmony vocal arrangements. Side A presents "(We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock", a rhythmic, up-tempo vocal rendition backed by British clarinetist Sid Phillips and His Band. Side B features "Adam Never Had No Mammy" (also known as "Why Adam Sinned"), a traditional close-harmony rhythm performance handled with minimalist instrumental accompaniment. Recording Year Both tracks were recorded and issued in the autumn of 1955 under His Master's Voice (HMV) with the catalogue matrix POP. 113.
Released in late 1955, this record documents a pivotal intersection between traditional African-American spiritual/vaudeville harmony styles and the international rise of rock and roll. The Deep River Boys spent years performing for overseas military personnel, cementing a massive popularity in the United Kingdom that allowed them to secure regular work on BBC variety radio and at the London Palladium. By covering emergent American youth music for a British label alongside a well-known local jazz bandleader, they helped filter raw, transatlantic rhythm-and-blues structures into a mainstream British entertainment market that was navigating the end of post-war rationing and the birth of independent teenage identity.
While Bill Haley and His Comets recorded the definitive version of "Rock Around The Clock" that exploded globally via the 1955 film Blackboard Jungle, this release by The Deep River Boys represents one of the earliest high-profile covers produced within the United Kingdom. The flip side, "Adam Never Had No Mammy", was composed by the pioneering black theatrical writer and lyricist Alex Rogers in the early 20th century. The Deep River Boys' performance revived this vintage syncopated composition, updating its vaudeville origins for mid-1950s listeners.
Condition Report • Grade: Excellent (E) • Visual: The heavy black shellac surfaces preserve an intense factory luster, showing only a few minor, superficial paper sleeve whisps when inspected beneath strong direct light. • Audio: Strong, loud, and dynamic sound reproduction across both sides. The tracking handles the vocal peaks and dense brass instrumentation cleanly, with negligible background surface noise. • Labels: The clean, dark-plum HMV labels display sharp typography, clear gold lettering, and minimal spindle trailing around the center hole.
Postage & Packing Information Shipping fragile mid-century shellac discs demands meticulous safety procedures to prevent structural fractures. The disc will be placed securely between internal square sheets of thick card, wrapped thoroughly in multiple layers of heavy-duty bubble wrap, and isolated inside an oversized, rigid doubleskin corrugated cardboard box utilizing protective void fill to neutralise external impact vibrations during transit.
Your order will be carefully packed and promptly dispatched.