78 Records, Cylinders, Phonographs, and Recording Industry History - Information & Resources
 

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Free Discography Downloads: John Bolig, Brian Rust, Dick Spottswood

New on the Mainspring Press Record Collectors' Blog:

THE JAMES A. DRAKE INTERVIEWS: Previously unpublished, in-depth interviews with Ted Lewis, Nina Morgana (Mrs. Bruno Zirato), and coming soon, Milton Cross and Gus Haenschen / Starr - Gennett "Pre-Ledger" Recording Dates and Locations (1915 - 1922) / Speed Bump: LPs, 45s, and the Slow Demise of the 78-rpm (1939 - 1951) / Black Swan Carusos, and Other Pirate Tales (1898 - 1951) / Russian Interference: Boris Morros and the ARA Records Saga (1944 - 1957) / Boston Talking Machine Company and the Little Wonder Phonograph (1910 - 1913) / Princess Records and the Sapphire Record & Talking Machine Company (1910 - 1911) / Shutting Down the Recording Industry: James Caesar Petrillo and the First AFM Recording Ban (1942 - 1944) / Oddball Phonograph Patents (1904 - 1907) / "American Idol," 1916 Style / Audio Rarities: "I Can Smell It Now" (Col. Barney Oldfield & Associates in Korea, 1951) / Collector's Corner (free MP files)
 

Please note that copyright protection remains in force for all Mainspring Press publications, whether or not in print, and written permission of the copyright holder is required for any reproduction in excess of customary fair-use standards. For further information, contact us at the addresses shown on the Company Information Page.
 

American Record Companies and Producers, 1888 - 1950
An Encyclopedic History

By Allan Sutton
ARSC Lifetime Achievement Award winner

Detailed, fully documented histories of more than 1,100 American record companies and producers, and the thousands of associated labels, from the dawn of the wax-cylinder era to the advent of the LP.

All producers of records for the retail, subscription, and jukebox markets are covered, from the behemoths to the smallest and most obscure.

The work is based upon reliable primary-source materials, including corporate and legal filings, company recording and production files, newspaper and trade-press reports, and personal accounts of those involved, as well as first-hand inspection of countless original cylinders and discs.

Details and Current Completed-Entry List
 

Mainspring Press Catalog / Spring 2018

 Free standard shipping to U.S. Addresses
 Free Priority Mail upgrade (U.S Addresses) on orders of $129 or more
 Prices for orders shipping outside the U.S. include insured airmail

 
Latest Release

286 Total Pages - 280+ Illustrations
7" x 10" quality softcover

ISBN 978-0-9973333-2-9
  

 
Vintage Phonograph Advertisements,
1895–1925

From the Mainspring Press Archives
Compiled and annotated by Allan Sutton

Vintage Phonograph Advertising presents some of the most interesting phono-related ads of the acoustic era, covering products from the commonly encountered to the impossibly rare.

You’ll find the famous brands here - the Berliners, Edisons, Columbias, Victors, Zonophones, and the like - but also a fascinating array of long-forgotten (and now highly collectible) products, pictured in more than 280 professionally restored black-and-white ads, with informative captions.

Chapters include:

• Phonographs for the Home
• Phonograph-Music Box and Phonograph-Player Piano Combinations
• Import and Export Phonographs
• Coin-Operated and Other Automatic Phonographs
• Special-Use Machines
• Horns, Gadgets, and Attachments
• Phonograph and Record Cabinets
• Cylinder and Disc Records

By Allan Sutton

Edison Two-Minute and Concert Cylinders is the first study of these records to be compiled from surviving company documentation (factory plating ledgers, studio cash books, remake and deletion notices, catalogs, supplements, trade publications,etc.), along with visual and aural inspection of the original cylinders. All U.S.-series issues are covered, including Grand Opera.

This is the only guide that can help you distinguish the original Edison two-minute issues from the later remakes. Edison cylinders were often remade, sometimes with entirely different artists and accompaniments, but previously published guides list only the initial versions. This new volume shows all known versions - even indicating those initially supplied to Edison by Walcutt & Leeds - along with listing dates and distinguishing details for each iteration.

Edison Two-Minute and Concert Cylinders contains a substantial amount of data that have never before been compiled in a modern work, printed or online. These include the factory plating dates for brown-wax pantograph masters and early Gold Moulded masters, which provide valuable clues to the long-lost recording dates - as do the official listing dates, which are also included.

Other features include an illustrated, footnoted history of the Edison cylinder during the National Phonograph Company period, a detailed user's guide, and artist and title indexes.  
 

By Allan Sutton, William R. Bryant,
& The Record Research Associates

The Pathe-Perfect Discography covers all recordings (including those from outside sources) that were issued jointly on American Pathe, Perfect, and related client and subsidiary labels, including the American Record Corporation and Cameo groups.

Special attention has been paid to the shared Pathe, Cameo and Plaza-American Record Corporation sessions, many details of which are badly scrambled in the well-known jazz and dance-band discographies. The Record Research group used synchronized turntables to determine identical, alternate, and unrelated takes; actual, assigned, and false master numbers; identification of artist pseudonymous, and other fine points. Their findings, which supplement or correct what appears in earlier discographies, are published here for the first time.

Every record is listed on its own line showing verbatim label credits and relevant markings in the wax from first-hand inspection of the original discs. Includes user’s guide and indexes.

Sorry, Volume I (Race, Classical, Vocal and Miscellaneous Series 1922–1930) has sold out.
 

By John R. Bolig

The Bluebird Discography covers the first five years of domestic releases in RCA’s popular budget-priced line (1932–1936).

As with all titles in Mainspring's Victor Discography Series, data in The Bluebird Discography were compiled from the original Victor Talking Machine Co., RCA Victor, and Gramophone Company recording ledgers and production files. To preserve the integrity of this original company data, no undocumented, speculative, or anecdotal material appears.

This volume also includes details for all Victor source recordings (in the case of reissued material) as well as all authorized issues on corresponding subsidiary, client, and foreign labels in 78-rpm format, including Electradisk, Montgomery Ward, Sunrise, Timely Tunes, Regal-Zonophone, and His Master's Voice, among others. Pirated reissues are not included.

Other data include recording and release dates, recording locations and studio names, master and take numbers, details of dubbed recordings, identification of pseudonymous or uncredited artists, composer and show/film credits, medley contents, and other fine details. With an illustrated history of Bluebird and the other RCA budget labels, user's guide, and artists and title indexes.

Browse other Victor Discography Series titles
 

ARSC Award
for Excellence

 
298 total pages, illustrated
7" x 10" quality softcover

ISBN 978-0-9915279-3-9
  

Eli Oberstein's United States Record Corporation: A History and Discography, 1939 - 1940

By Allan Sutton & The Record Research Associates

Although Eli Oberstein's Varsity and Royale labels were hailed as promising new entries in 1939, his United States Record Corporation collapsed into bankruptcy a year later - but not before Oberstein managed to assemble a substantial, and often intriguing, catalog.

This volume covers USRC's complete 1939–1940 output - its many original recordings as well as its sometimes-controversial reissues of material from Crown, Gennett, Paramount, Edison Bell, Ultraphone, and other labels. Listings of the reissued material include names of master suppliers, all prior releases, master numbers and takes, recording and/or release dates of the original issues and (because most were issued under some highly imaginative pseudonyms), identifications of the actual artists.

Other features include an illustrated USRC history; a balanced, objective look at Oberstein and his methods; a discussion of original-vs-dubbed masters based on selective comparative testing by the author and by the Record Research group; previously unpublished data on the European recordings used by Royale; and excerpts from original record reviews in period publications, including Jazz Information and The Steinway Review.
  

The Victor Discography: Victor Special Labels (1928 - 1941)

By John R. Bolig
ARSC Lifetime Achievement Award Winner

This fascinating new discography covers some of the scarcest and most collectible RCA and Victor products, compiled on-site from the original company recording and production files in the Sony archives (New York). Much of the data is published here for the first time and is not attainable from other print or online sources.

This important new addition to the Victor Discography Series covers:

 "Program Transcription" Long-Playing Records (with complete data on masters used for dubbing); Theater Records (Pict-Ur-Music,Special Effects, Theatre Records, and more);Picture Discs; Client and Budget Labels (Aurora, Electradisk, 4-H, Fox Movietone, Sunrise, Timely Tunes, and Yorkville); Advertising Records (specials for the Sale Department, RCA Radio Advertising Spots, and more.

From complete symphonies and grand operas to Western swing, hot dance bands, and the blues, this volume has something of interest to every collector of vintage RCA and Victor recordings.

Browse other titles in the Victor Discography Series
 

Bell and Arto Records: A History and Discography,1920 - 1928

By William R. Bryant & The Record Research Associates

Edited and annotated by Allan Sutton

In the 1950s, a group affiliated with Record Research magazine began using synchronized dual turntables to determine alternate takes and suspected sources of Arto and Bell recordings. Bill Bryant later inherited and largely completed the project, which disappeared into storage following his sudden death.

Finally recovered after many years, the group's detailed findings - many of which appear in print here for the first time - have been newly updated and annotated by Allan Sutton. The result is the first authoritative discography of these often-elusive records.

The illustrated introduction traces Arto's transition from purely a piano-roll brand to a promising new record label that played a key role in the early 1920s "blues craze"; Bell's early history as an Arto client label; its takeover by composer-arranger-conductor George Beynon after Arto's collapse and subsequent operation as an independent brand; the Scranton-ERL years; and its final incarnation as a Gennett client label.

496 total pages
6" x 9" hardcover
(Cloth library binding)

ISBN 978-0-9852004-9-7

NEWEST EDITION - Unmasks more than 6,200 aliases on 17,000 cylinders, 78s, and transcriptions

Pseudonyms on American Records, 1892 - 1942 (Third Revised and Expanded Edition)

By Allan Sutton
ARSC Lifetime Achievement Award Winner

The labels sometimes lie. Since 1990, Pseudonyms on American Records has been helping dealers and advanced collectors avoid costly mistakes and spot the hidden treasures.

Now it's back, in a fully revised and substantially expanded edition that includes 62 additional pages of pseudonym listings, along with other new features. More than 6,200 aliases are unmasked on 17,000 cylinders, 78s, and transcriptions in all genres, from jazz and blues to opera - and now including American-produced ethnic and export records.

An important new feature is the addition of source citations for each entry - disclosing whether the identification was made from the original company files or other archival materials, correlation with corresponding non-pseudonymous issues, aural evidence, or reports from trusted secondary source.

Also included are a cross-reference listing by artist; recording artists’ birth, legal, or married names; historical introduction; and user’s guide.
  

ARSC Award for Excellence  

Emerson Records : A History and Discography (Complete 10" / 12" Issues), 1919 - 1928

Data compiled by William R. Bryant
Edited and annotated by Allan Sutton

Covering all 10" and 12" Emerson series (including ethnic-catalog releases), along with detailed listings for all corresponding issues on other American labels.

360 total pages - Illustrated
7" x 10" quality softcover

ISBN 978-0-9852004-5-9

Columbia Master Recording Dates:
The Electrical Era, 1925 - 1934

Number and Date Listings, Compiled from the Columbia files
 

Locations and exact recording dates for more than 15,000 master numbers, including the 140000, 150000, 980000, 990000, 236000, 250000, 255000, 265000, 351000, 365000, and 71000 series.

Note: This title is a quick-reference guide for the purpose of dating records, not a complete discography. It lists only master numbers (with take numbers for remakes), recording locations, and recording dates.

180 total pages
6" x 9" quality softcover
  

ISBN 978-0-9852004-7-3

American Record Corporation Master Recording Dates, 1929 - 1938
  
Number and Date Listings, Compiled from the ARC files
 

Locations and exact recording dates for more than 21,000 master numbers appearing on Banner, Conqueror, Oriole, Perfect, and other ARC brands, as well as ARC-produced Brunswick (1932 - 1938) and Columbia (1934 - 1938) issues.

Note: This title is a quick-reference guide for the purpose of dating records, not a complete discography. It lists only master numbers (with take numbers for remakes), recording locations, and recording dates.

188 total pages
6" x 9" quality softcover

ISBN 978-0-9852004-3-5

ARSC Certificate of Merit

The American Zonophone Discography:
10" / 12" General-Catalog Issues
(1904 - 1912)
  
By William R. Bryant

360 total pages - Illustrated
7" x 10" hardcover (cloth library binding)

ISBN 978-0-9852004-0-4
 
  

A Phonograph In Every Home: The Evolution of the American Recording Industry, 1900 - 1919

By Allan Sutton

328 total pages - 100 illustrations 
6" x 9" quality softcover

ISBN 978-0-9825595-2-9

 The Victor Discography Series is compiled on-site at Sony Archives (New York) from the original Victor Talking Machine Company, RCA Victor, and Gramophone Company documentation.

These volumes offer the most accurate representation available of exactly what is, and is not, contained in the original Victor recording and production files. To preserve the integrity of the original company file data, no speculative, anecdotal, or undocumented material appears in these works.

"What distinguishes this discography is that the information originates entirely from original sources... It's simply a 'must-have' reference for the collector, discographer, and institutional librarian. John Bolig continues to raise the bar, setting new standards in discographical work." - The Record Collector (UK)

"Carefully prepared work... The true enthusiast cannot manage without all the resources mentioned here." - ARSC Journal

The Victor Black Label Discography - Volume 3: 20000 & 21000 Series
 
424 total pages - Illustrated / 7" x 10" hardcover (cloth library binding) / ISBN 978-0-9825595-1-2

CLOSE-OUT SPECIAL / SAVE $20
 

 
LIMITED QUANTITIES - Order Soon

Indestructible and U-S Everlasting Cylinders: An Illustrated History and Cylinderography

By Kurt Nauck & Allan Sutton

 
288 total pages - 50 illustrations (24 pages in color)
6" x 9" hardcover with dust-jacket

ISBN 978-0-9825595-7-4

ARSC Certificate of Merit  
  
Edison Amberol Cylinders: Complete American and Foreign Issues, 1908 - 1913
  
Compiled from the Edison company files
by Allan Sutton

256 total pages - Illustrated
7" x 10" quality softcover

ISBN 978-0-9852004-4-2

Revised and Expanded Edition

Edison Blue Amberol Cylinders: Complete American, Foreign, and Special-Use Issues, 1912 - 1929

Compiled from the Edison company files
by Allan Sutton

448 total pages - Illustrated
7" x 10" hardcover (cloth library binding)

ISBN 978-0-9822595-0-5

Little Wonder Records and Bubble Books:
An Illustrated History and Discography

By Tim Brooks with Merle Sprinzen
  

232 total pages - 50 illustrations 
7" x 10" quality softcover

ISBN 978-0-9825595-9-8

FAVORITE LINKS

FREE ONLINE DISCOGRAPHIES, AUDIO FILES, AND RESEARCH:

• Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR)
• SONIC Database (Discographical Data from the Library of Congress Collections)
• CHARM Database (Detailed Classical 78 Discography from the AHRC Research Centre)
• Cylinder Audio Archive (University of California–Santa Barbara)
• The National Jukebox (Streaming Historical Recordings from the Library of Congress)
• Media History Digital Library (Free Downloads of "Talking Machine World" and Other Vintage Publications
• Phonostalgia: Researching History Through the Horn

ORGANIZATIONS:

• Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC)
• Antique Phonograph Society (APS)
• City of London Phonograph and Gramophone Society (CLPGS)
• International Association of Jazz Record Collectors (IAJRC)

RECOMMENDED RECORD DEALERS AND AUCTIONS:

• Hawthorn's Antique Audio
• Holdridge Records
• Mark Berresford Rare Records
• Nauck's Vintage Records
• Vintage Jazz Mart

 
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