Essex was started in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Jack Howard (3). The label design was typically orange with black print.
Essex had little national commercial success -- their one Top-10 chart record was a late-1953/early-1954 single called "Oh, Mein Papa" by British trumpeter Norrie Paramor And His Orchestra. 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 followed a suggestion that the group change their name to The Comets in reference to Halley's Comet.
After the group was signed to Decca Records, Haley sued Miller for selling the group's former hits on the Essex label without paying royalties. Miller went bankrupt.
Therefore, Miller and George Phillips launched the successor Stereo-Fidelity label for stereo releases, which also reissued much of the Essex recorded material.
