[ARSCLIST] Fwd: [ARSCLIST] Fwd: [ARSCLIST] Period Records

[Don Tait <Dontaitchicago@xxxxxxx>]

For Steve Smolian (I hope this is posted correctly) --

  Hi, Steve,

  If she signed her correspondence to you "Ellen," then that certainly was 
her name and I was wrong. 

  In fact as I think back, I was wrong and you are correct! She was 
undubitably "Ellen Lebow." Groan, gulp. Apologies to you and everyone for an ageing 
memory.

  Don Tait

  

  

  
Hi, Don,

Thanks for the info.

The lady signed herself Ellen on her various translations.

David Lennick found Wiliam Avar as President in Gart's Americal Record Label 
Directory (I'm looking for a copy, incidentally.)  Though it was just before 
my active years as a record critic in NY, I suspect I should have met Mr. 
Avar.  Yet I have no recollection of him.  Has anyone?

Steve Smolian
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Don Tait" <Dontaitchicago@xxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2007 7:55 PM
Subject: [ARSCLIST] Fwd: [ARSCLIST] Period Records


>  I hope this is properly forwarded -- Steve's inquiry about Period Records
> and Ben and Helen Lebow's role in it, and David's response. I am remain a
> computer idiot.
>
>  I don't know about Period and David does better than I, but I do know 
> about
> the Lebows. I knew Helen Lebow fairly well. (Her name was indeed Helen.) 
> When
> I met her, in the early '70s, she was a widow living by herself in a part 
> of
> New York City;  we had to cross a bridge to drive to her place -- sorry, 
> I'm
> not a NYCer! She said Ben had died suddenly and fairly young, perhaps in 
> the
> '50s. She told us (Andy Karzas and me) that Ben had been blacklisted 
> during the
> McCarthy years, after 1951 or so (I don't know why except that he was a
> liberal), but he was out of work, they were about to starve, and Ben 
> approached
> Period with the idea of doing the various "appreciations" or 
> "understandings" of
> great music and its composers. That's how it happened.
>
>  If Helen told us what Ben had been doing before everything collapsed on
> them, I don't remember. But he was probably involved with records somehow, 
> which
> might be why he pursued Period. She did say that she thought Ben had died
> partly from the effects of the stress of the McCarthyite persecution.
>
>  At the time I met and got to know her, Helen Lebow was running Club 99 LP
> historical vocal reissues. She was very conscientious about transfers and
> proper reproduction, as I recall. It had been Ben's pet project and she 
> still had
> his impressive collection of shellac vocal records.
>
>  Don Tait


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> Steven Smolian wrote:
> > Can anyone supply the names of the original owners of the Period 1950's 
> > label family?  Ben and Ellen Lebow, now deceased, wrote notes and did 
> > translations for them and Ben put the Scala LPs together for them from 
> > his extensive 78 collection.   I assume they had an interest in it.  I'm 
> > sure there was am executive who owned and ran the company but can't 
> > recall his name.
> >
> > The company subsequently became part of the Everest group.
> >
> > Perhaps Peter Bartok or Pete Frisch (Lyrichord and Eterna) might 
> > remember.  Has anyone contact info for them?
> >
> > Steve Smolian
> Steven Smolian wrote:
> > Can anyone supply the names of the original owners of the Period 1950's
> label family?  Ben and Ellen Lebow, now deceased, wrote notes and did
> translations for them and Ben put the Scala LPs together for them from his
> extensive 78 collection.   I assume they had an interest in it.  I'm sure 
> there
> was am executive who owned and ran the company but can't recall his name.
> > The company subsequently became part of the Everest group.
> >
> > Perhaps Peter Bartok or Pete Frisch (Lyrichord and Eterna) might 
> > remember.
> Has anyone contact info for them?
> >
> > Steve Smolian
>
> According to Gart (ARLD), the President was William Avar, Frank Stevens 
> was
> "executive", Leonard Feather was A&R (presume that was just for jazz). 
> Robert
> Angus will probably chime in with chapter and verse, since he knows where 
> the
> bodies were buried at every New York label in the 50s.
>
> Peter Bartok is still around, in Florida..has ads in CRC.
>
> dl


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