in early 1948, he left page, formed his own small group, and was signed to mercury records where he cut his first single "fine as wine" with a b side "rock around the clock" (not the same title made famous by bill haley), co-written with sam theard. for the savoy label of newark, new jersey, he recorded the instrumental "corn bread", which made no. 1 on the r&b charts in september 1948, and gave singer a new popularity and nickname. his follow-up the following year, "beef stew", was a much smaller hit.