Jimmy Cavallo - Alan Freed and Rock, Rock, Rock

Alan Freed and Rock, Rock, Rock

In August 1956, they played the Brooklyn Paramount with Fats Domino and Big Joe Turner, after which they appeared with Freed in the Vanguard movie Rock, Rock, Rock, in which they played the title song, and another tune called "The Big Beat," (that's Joe Marillo in the movie on second sax). The movie was released December 5, 1956, and the House Rockers played Harlem's Apollo Theater at the same time to promote the movie's release. In the 10-day extended gig, the House Rockers were augmented by a big band of veterans of the Duke Ellington and Count Basie orchestras, led by Sam The Man Taylor. Playing the Apollo in December 1956 was special, because it put the House Rockers in the books as being the first white rock 'n' roll act to play the celebrated Apollo Theater (Buddy Holly would play there in 1957). In 1957, they did a summer-long residence in Wildwood, New Jersey at a club called Harry Roeshe's Beachcomber, and the headliners of this bill were the Treniers. After that, Freed put them in another movie, Go, Johnny, Go, in 1959. After cutting 12 tracks for Coral, they waxed for the Sunnyside and Hand labels in 1959, the Darcy label in 1963, and the Romar label in 1965.