The Hassles were a rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 group in the 1960s, most notable for recording the first releases to feature Billy Joel

Billy Joel

William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...

. The group released two full-length albums and a number of singles.

The original line-up of the group was John Dizek (vocals), Billy Joel (Keyboards), Jon Small (drums), Howie Blauvelt (bass) and Richard McKenner (guitar). Dizek left some time after their first album, at which point Joel took over on vocal duties. Joel and Small eventually formed Attila while Blauvelt later joined Ram Jam

Ram Jam

Ram Jam was an American 1970s rock band, best known for their 1977 hit single, "Black Betty".The band members were Bill Bartlett , Pete Charles , Myke Scavone , and Howie Arthur Blauvelt . Also, Jimmy Santoro, who toured with the band in support of their debut album, joined on guitar for the...

.

The Hassles

Produced by Tony Michaels and Vinnie Gorman, The Hassles' eponymous debut album was released on November 21, 1967, and featured a number of cover versions of soul

Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

 songs. The single "You've Got Me Hummin'" was number 112 for one week on the Bubbling Under the Hot 100

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles

The Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It lists the top 25 singles below number 100 that have not yet charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Sometimes, however, singles halt their progress on this chart, and never appear on the Hot 100...

 chart, their only Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

chart appearance.

Track listing

1. "Warming Up" (W. Joel) - 1:38
2. "Just Holding On" (L. Weiss) - 2:06
3. "A Taste of Honey
   A Taste of Honey (song)
   "A Taste of Honey" is a pop standard written by Bobby Scott and Ric Marlow. It was originally an instrumental track written for the 1960 Broadway version of the 1958 British play A Taste of Honey . Both the original and a cover by Herb Alpert in 1965 earned the song Grammy Awards...
   
   " (R. Marlow
   Ric Marlow
   Ric Marlow is an American songwriter and actor, best known for co-writing with Bobby Scott the song "A Taste of Honey" which won a Grammy in 1962. The song has been recorded by many artists including Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett, Herb Alpert, and The Beatles...
   
   , B. Scott
   Bobby Scott (musician)
   Bobby Scott was an American musician, record producer, and songwriter.-Biography:He was born Robert William Scott in Mount Pleasant, New York, and became a pianist, vibraphonist, and singer, and could also play the accordion, cello, clarinet, and double bass...
   
   ) - 4:17
4. "Every Step I Take (Every Move I Make)" (W. Joel, T. Michaels, V. Gorman) - 2:30
5. "Coloured Rain
   Coloured Rain
   "Coloured Rain" is a psychedelic rock/pop-song written by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi and Chris Wood and was recorded by Traffic in 1967 for their debut album Mr. Fantasy....
   
   " (S.Winwood, J. Capaldi, C. Wood) (originally by Traffic
   Traffic (band)
   Traffic were an English rock band whose members came from the West Midlands. The group formed in April 1967 by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason...
   
   ) - 3:22
6. "I Hear Voices" (G. Stashuk) - 2:53
7. "I Can Tell" (W. Joel) - 2:57
8. "Giving Up (Version #2)" (V. McCoy
   Van McCoy
   Van Allen Clinton McCoy was an accomplished musician, music producer, arranger, songwriter, and orchestra conductor. He is known best for his 1975 internationally successful song "The Hustle", which is still played in dance halls and on radio to this day more than thirty years since his death...
   
   ) - 4:16
9. "Fever
   Fever (1956 song)
   "Fever" is a song written by Eddie Cooley and Otis Blackwell, who used the pseudonym John Davenport. It was originally recorded by Little Willie John in 1956. It has been covered by numerous artists from various musical genres, notably Peggy Lee in 1958....
   
   " (J. Davenport
   Otis Blackwell
   Otis Blackwell was an American songwriter, singer, and pianist, whose work significantly influenced rock 'n' roll...
   
   , E. Cooley) - 3:19
10. "You've Got Me Hummin'
    You Got Me Hummin'
    "You Got Me Hummin" is a popular song written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter. It was first popularized by Sam & Dave, who had a Top 10 R&B hit with the song in 1966 on Stax Records. It was subsequently covered by Cold Blood who had greater success with the song on the American pop charts...
    
    " (I. Hayes
    Isaac Hayes
    Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...
    
    , D. Porter
    David Porter (musician)
    David Porter is an American soul musician. Porter is best known as the songwriting and production partner of Isaac Hayes at Stax Records during the 1960s...
    
    ) - 2:27

1992 Re-issued Bonus Tracks

1. "I'm Thinkin'"
2. "I'll Be Around"
3. "When I Get Home"
4. "It's Not Enough"
5. "Love Luck"
6. "Look And You Will Find"
7. "Blow My Mind"
8. "Giving Up (Version #1)"

Hour of the Wolf

Produced by Thomas Kay, the Hassles' second album was released on January 23, 1969.
All songs on this album were original recordings written by Billy Joel, except where noted.

Track listing

1. "Country Boy" (W. Joel, J. Small) 2:35
2. "Night After Day" - 3:11
3. "Hour Of The Wolf" (W. Joel, J. Dizek) - 11:58
4. "Four O'Clock In The Morning" - 3:12
5. "Cat" - 4:15
6. "Hotel St. George" - 5:00
7. "Land Of Despair" (W. Joel, J. Small) - 3:36
8. "Further Than Heaven" (W. Joel, J. Dizek) - 7:16

Modern day compilations

Many compilations featuring the Hassles' recordings have been released, such as:

• In 1992, the first album was released on CD, with a number of bonus tracks
• In 1999, Razor & Tie
  Razor & Tie
  Razor & Tie is a New York-based corporation founded in 1990 by Cliff Chenfeld and Craig Balsam. The company encompasses a record label with major label distribution , a home video company, a media buying company, a music publishing business, a marketing, promotion and sales team, and a direct...
  
   re-released the Hassles' two albums as a "best of" collection on a single Compact Disc
  Compact Disc
  The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
  
  with some tracks missing, but also with additional bonus tracks.
• In 2004, a low quality rerelease of Hour of the Wolf was released as Billy Joel - the Early Years