If you review the list of recordings which have survived from Alan Freed's (Camel) Rock 'N' Roll Dance Party, you will find two tracks by Tony Bennett - probably the least likely artist to ever appear on a Freed show.

From today's perspective, it certainly seems incongruous that the "founder" of rock 'n' roll would feature someone as "mainstream pop" as Tony Bennett (recent MTV appearances by Bennett notwithstanding). But let's look at the situation in its own time and perspective:

"As 1955 began, the major labels tried desperately to cash in on rock 'n' roll. Since they really did not understand what rock 'n' roll was, the maladroit rushing of their greed was ridiculous to behold. Columbia decided that Tony Bennett would be it's rock 'n' roll star.

Freed's live "Camel Rock 'N' Roll Dance Party" was broadcast from WCBS-AM, the Columbia Broadcasting System's flagship radio station in New York. Columbia Records was another part of the Columbia conglomerate, so Freed probably had no choice but to book the Columbia artist, and Freed most certainly knew who signed his paycheck.

However, it must also be remembered that in 1955-56 "rock 'n' roll" was still in its formative stages. Freed played records on his WINS program by any number of artists who would NOT be considered "rock 'n' roll" artists by today's hindsight definitions - the Three Chuckles, Mindy Carson, and Cirino & the Bowties come to mind, and jazz singers such as Joe Williams also performed on the CBS "live" show.

For those who may not be familiar with the Chuckles or the Bowties, their style was more akin to that of the Ames Brothers or the Four Lads than to groups which are today considered "classic" rock 'n' roll artists - Cleftones, Clovers, Penguins, etc. [The fact that the Bowties' and the Chuckles' records are listed in The Complete Book of Doo-Wop by Gribin & Schiff (Krause Publications, Iola WI, 2000, pages 295-6 and 469) means nothing; it only calls into question the "authority" of the authors, and their comprehension of exactly what "doo-wop" - a term never used in the '50s and early '60s - means today.]

Perhaps, if things had "spun" a bit differently Bennett just might have been a "real" rock 'n' roll star...
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