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Re: [ARSCLIST] Harmony label (and other things)




EMOR shows 1934 OKehs in the 16800 (Mex-Tex) and 90000 (Cajun) series.  Best was the revived Irish 21000 series, recycling 1920s Columbia mxs on green shellac.  Saints preserve us.  

Incidentally, if anyone wants EMOR at half price, it's on offer at the moment from U of IL--call 800 537 5487, and mention code B47S. Don't tell them I sent you!

Dick



"Steven C. Barr" <stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent by: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxx>

03/23/2004 07:15 PM
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        Subject:        Re: [ARSCLIST] Harmony label (and other things)



----- Original Message -----
From: Dick Spottswood
>>>>>>>
       Columbia's early '30s varied matrix designations are complicated &
often unclear. The 350000s seem to be renumbered from OKeh & Col mxs.  In
1931, OKeh seems to have been beccome a budget label, sharing new releases
with Clarion, Velvet Tone & Harmony.  OKeh used fictitious bandleader names
like Buddy Campbell & Ed Parker, Cloverdale Country Club Orch. etc. on these
releases.  Louis Armstrong's records weren't disguised, nor were new
hillbilly & race releases, all of which kept using conventional OKeh W
400000 matrix numbers.  The highest OKeh matrix (made 21 March 32 in
Chicago) is:

W 405189-?        Kepin' Out of Mischief Now        Clarion 5470-C, Harmony
1423-H, OKeh 41564, VT 2530-V

by Paul Specht's orchestra, OKeh as Cloverdale CC (accoring to files) or
Buddy Campbell (according to Rust).  Non-OKeh issues give matrix as W
351163.  The session included 3 more titles with mx #s W 405186-89 and W
351161-65--no W 351164 according to my notes, which could be wrong!).  At
any rate,  it looks as though OKeh ceased to be active in 3/32, along with
the other labels,  The Okeh name was used again in 1934, 1940, and in the
1950s & 1960s.  Harmony reappeared a couple of times later on, but it was
sayonara for the others, and the W 350000 matrix series too.

On April 11, 1933, mxs W 405190-97 were created for mxs by Freddy Martin's
orch and Frances Langford.  The Langfords weren't published;  the Martin
sides were renumbered (W 152387-92) and issued on Columbia. The OKeh matrix
series then expired permanently.

Columbia's 2000 matrices were made in Tokyo, 1903.  The W 110000 series
(1929) was part of the general foreign language group W100000-W 114014, see
my Ethnic Music on Records (Univ of IL, 1990) for details.
<<<<<<<
It's worth noting that Okeh seems to take a hiatus, and then reappear
sporadically!  The records
from 41565 through 41568 are all recorded in the latter part of 1933 (though
they could have been
held for 1934 issue, one supposes)...and the use of the 400000 matrix series
in early 1933 suggest
the label was more dormant than dead. 41569-70 were issued after the ARC
takeover; 41571 through
41588 look to be a mixture of reissued Columbia sides with UK material until
the end of that
incarnation of Okeh at 41588. I'm sure that ledgers must exist detailing the
issue dates of
these final Okehs, but I've never seen them or copies of them. I'd like to,
though...I first
tried to figure this out back in 1979 when I compiled the first version of
the DG!
Steven C. Barr


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