The data cards were works-in-progress — Members investigated tie-ins to other labels, noted even slight variations in labels and pressings, and checked for differing takes by a process they called “SAC-ing” (short for “simultaneous aural comparison”), using a synchronized turntable set-up.

The resulting data were of the highest quality, far more accurate than what appears in even some current jazz and dance band discographies. But managing it in the days before personal computers was a daunting task, and much of it went unpublished.

Besides supplying information for upcoming Mainspring Press discographies, this data will form the core of our Master Discography Database, which is in preliminary planning and development. When completed, it will link the output of a large group of producers who shared masters, including Arto-Bell, Plaza-ARC, Emerson-Consolidated, Grey Gull, Jones Recording Laboratories, the Criterion group, the Fletcher-Olympic group, the New York Recording Laboratories, Cameo, American Pathé, and Federal, among others.

Progress reports to come…Stay tuned!

The two nearly identical hand-outs for the Maple City Four (1933) are a good example of the redundancy that plagued ARC, which sometimes issued the same recording on four, five, or more different labels. ARC president Harold Yates finally discontinued many of ARC’s overlapping budget and client labels before the company was sold to the Columbia Broadcasting System in 1938.

The Patsy Montana placard is a later piece, from 1937. By then, ARC had taken the first steps toward consolidating its labels, assigning the same three-part catalog numbers to Oriole, Perfect, Romeo, etc. (although Sears’ Conqueror label was exempt). The numbers indicate year-month-order of release.

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If you enjoy 1930s 78s, be sure to check out Recording the ‘Thirties: The Evolution of the American Recording Industry, 1930-1939, available from Mainspring Press.

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If you enjoy recordings from the 1930s, be sure to check out Recording the Thirties: The Evolution of the American Recording Industry, 1930–1939, from Mainspring Press. It covers all types of recording — from swing, jazz and blues, to country, classical, and even recordings for the Mexican-American market, Communist labels, and adult-only “party records.”

For more on sound recordings from this period, be sure to check out A Phonograph in Every Home: The Evolution of the American Recording Industry, 1900-1919, from Mainspring Press.

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Paul Charosh’s Berliner Gramophone Records in America: A Discography is currently in production at Mainspring Press for early summer release and will be available as an afforadable, high-quality paperback.

ORIGINAL MEMPHIS FIVE: Back o’ Town Blues

Paramount 20281  (mx. 1584-3)
New York: c. December 1923

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ORIGINAL MEMPHIS FIVE (as THE COTTON PICKERS):
He May Be Your Man, But He Comes to See Me Sometimes

Brunswick 2380  (mx. 9309)
New York: November 1922

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ORIGINAL MEMPHIS FIVE (accompanying LEONA WILLIAMS as her DIXIE JAZZ BAND: Decatur Street Blues

Columbia A3565  (mx. 80157-3)
New York: January 23, 1922

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Complete discographic details on these and more than 32,000 other jazz and jazz-related 78s can be found in the sixth edition of Brian Rust’s classic Jazz and Ragtime Records, 1897-1942, out of print in book form but now available as a covenenient, fully searchable CD from Mainspring Press.

ZONOPHONE CONCERT BAND (probably Edward King, conductor):
The Smiler (Percy Wenrich)

New York: Released March 1908 (listed February 1908)
Zonophone 980  (mx. 8301)

(This is the same Eddie King who infamously ejected Bix Beiderbecke from his first Victor session in 1924. He replaced Fred Hager as Zonophone’s house conductor in April 1906, although Hager allowed Zono to continue to use his name on band records for a time after his departure. King was retained by Victor after Zonophone shut down in 1912 and was made house conductor — and later, manager — of Victor’s New York studio. He also oversaw many of Victor’s recording “expeditions” to other cities.)

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VESS L. OSSMAN (banjo): Yankee Land  (Max Hoffmann)
With studio orchestra (probably Fred Hager, conductor)

New York: Released June 1905 (Listed May 1905)
Zonophone 162  (mx. 4735)

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ZONOPHONE ORCHESTRA (probably Edward King, conductor):
Southern Beauties  (Charles L. Johnson)

New York: Released January 1909 (Listed December 1908)
Zonophone 5169–A  (mx. 8689)

We’ll be posting higher-resolution scans of the complete 20-page catalog, along with many other rare brown-wax lists, on the Mainspring website in the upcoming months as part of The American Cylinder Record Project.

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CYLINDER COLLECTORS — Be sure to check out the new Indestructible and U-S Everlasting History and Cylinderography, the first volume in Mainspring Press’ new American Cylinder Record Index series.

The flyer is from Bill Bryant’s archive, which also includes a complete 32-page United States Phonograph Company cylinder catalog and related materials. We’ll be scanning and posting the full catalog on the Mainspring Press website later this month, as part of our new American Cylinder Record Project.