Re: [ARSCLIST] EMI-Columbia split, was Mercury co-founder Irving Green passes

[David Lennick <dlennick@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I believe one reason for the split was US Columbia's impatience with EMI taking until 1952 to get into long play records.

A lot of HMV Beechams appeared on Capitol in the G series..I have one with a great misprint, Mozart's Overture to "The Marriage of Fagaro".

(Don..you should be able to quote the entire previous message and then highlight the portions you want to delete..just left-click the mouse, hold it down and move the cursor over the unwanted passages, and then click "delete".)

dl

Don Tait wrote:

>   May I write something about the Columbia/EMI/Philips business in response
> to Roger's message -- after I say that this software for some reason doesn't
> permit me to select portions to which to reply? Thanks for your indulgence.
>
>   Some of what I am about to write is based upon recollection, which can be
> unreliable. Corrections will be welcome. However, here is the story as I know
> it.
>
>   Columbia USA and Columbia UK had exchange agreements from the first decade
> of the twentieth century. Ownership of the two companies changed in many ways
> until the 1940s, but the exchange agreement -- the ability to release each
> others' recordings in each others' territories -- was unchanged.
>
>   The connection between the two companies was dissolved in 1952, by which
> time UK Columbia was part of EMI (as it had been for decades). Columbia USA
> signed an agreement with Philips for release of Philips recordings in the USA
> (after a year or so, primarily the Epic label) and for Philips to arrange for the
> release of USA Columbia recordings in the UK and elsewhere. Also for Philips
> to make recordings for USA Columbia in other countries.
>
>   The most important factor in this, probably, was Sir Thomas Beecham. Until
> the dissolution of the Columbia agreement he and the RPO had been recorded by
> EMI (Columbia). The end of the contract meant that Philips engineers would do
> it from then on. They did, almost always in EMI's various venues. Those
> Beecham LPs were issued by USA Columbia and UK Philips until about 1955. In that
> year, Beecham re-signed with HMV (EMI). That meant another change for him.
>
>   To back up: when UK Columbia EMI lost its USA affiliate in 1952, it
> established Angel Records in 1953. Early Angels all derive from UK Columbia. Victor
> had its exchange agreement with HMV until early 1957.
>
>   Beecham's first HMV LPs -- Schubert 6, Handel's Solomon and so on --
> appeared on Angel in the USA in 1956/7, probably because the HMV agreement with
> Victor was about to expire. There were probably complicated issues, but I don't
> know anything about them. If someone does, I hope you will write. Regardless,
> USA Columbia went on issuing Beecham titles made earlier, including some of the
> late Mozart symphonies, through 1955 or '56. Years after they were recorded
> and when Angel was releasing new Beecham recordings.
>
>   Don Tait
>
>