In this section you find the original Long Playing records. That means the discs containing at least one track released in vinyl for the first time. Sorted by label names.
| TABLE 3 – Records sorted by Vinyl Label | |||||
| Abbreviations | |||||
| RD – Release date | |||||
| MT – Master Takes. AMT – previous alternate takes, included as MT in this work. | |||||
| LR -Live Recordings: tracks taped out of studios. | |||||
| Film – Movie Soundtracks | |||||
| BC – Radio broadcasts | |||||
| TV – Television broadcasts | |||||
| LP Long-Plays. Manufactured in 10 or 12 “size |
ATLANTIC
Atlantic Records was incorporated in October 1947. In 1967 Atlantic became a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Music Group. Warner Communications merged with Time Inc. in 1990, forming Time Warner.
AMT 173 was originally considered an AT by Commodore and later licensed to Atlantic, being the only Billie’s track released by that label to be included in this work.
Strange Fruit – Atlantic SD1614 – Strange Fruit
BLACK HAWK
The label was founded in the late 1980s by Dr. Herb Wong and did not survive long. Wong, born in Oakland and later resident in Menlo Park, had previously founded Palo Alto Records, that lasted no more than five years. Black Hawk is known by the high quality of its artists, sound and graphics.
Black Hawk BKH 50701 – At Monterey 1958 © Cross Taro
CALLIOPE
Stars of Jazz was a showcase for jazz music hosted by Bobby Troup, jazz pianist and songwriter. The show was aired weekly from June 1956 till the end of 1958 on KABC in Los Angeles. Calliope Records was founded to release these shows in LPs. Thirty-six albuns were produced.
Sessions, Live Calliope 3032 – reproduction
CAMBRA
Cambra Records is a British record label most notably known for their double LP sets.
Fine and Mellow Cambra 139 – reproduction
CLEF
Clef Records was formed in 1948 in California by Norman Granz. Originally associated with Aladdin Records (see above) became independent in the early fifties. Clef recorded jazz and popular music and was discontinued in 1957 when newly founded Norman Granz’s Verve Records became the dominant label in the jazz scene.
Sorted by recording date
Clef MGC 169 Jazz at the Philharmonic © Cross Taro Coll.
Clef MGC 161 © Cross taro Collection
Clef MGC 669 Music for Torching © Cross taro Collection
Clef MGC 713 Velvet Mood © Cross Taro Collection
Clef MGC 721 Lady Sings the Blues © Cross Taro Collection
COLUMBIA
A premier recording label, the Columbia Phonograph Company was originally the local company run by Edward Easton, distributing and selling Edison phonographs and phonograph cylinders in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Delaware, and derives its name from the District of Columbia, which was its headquarters.
The 78rpm era – On February 25, 1925, Columbia began recording with the new electric recording process licensed from Western Electric. The new “Viva-tonal” records set a benchmark in tone and clarity unequaled on commercial discs during the “78-rpm” era. In 1926, Columbia acquired OKeh Records and its growing stable of jazz and blues artists.
In 1923 the company was sold to its subsidiary in UK; that in 1931 merged in a new venture called EMI and was forced to sell its American operations to Majestic Radio. At that time, the company in great decline was still producing remarkable records, specially those producued by John Hammond. Those were the days when Billie, under Hammond lead, recorded her first 78rpm in Columbia (see that chapter). However, in 1934 the company was sold to ARC – American Record Corporation. ARC premium label was Brunswick, followed by Vocalion – and this relegated Columbia as a third-class label.
The LP era – In 1938 ARC was bought by CBS – Columbia Broadcast System (curiously co-founded in 1927 by Columbia Records that soon left the society). CBS revived Columbia as its premium label over Brunswick and OKeh over Vocalion. In 1948 Columbia introduced the Long Playing “microgroove” LP record format which rotated at 33⅓ revolutions per minute, to be the standard for the gramophone record for half a century. First Billie album for Columbia was the 10-inch Favorites in 1950. CBS sold its recording division to Sony in 1988, where Columbia Records remains a premier label.
Columbia The Golden Years CL1759 © Cross Taro Collection
The Lester Young Story vol.5 – Evening of a Basie-ite – Columbia C2 34849 – reproduction
Columbia CL6163 © Cross Taro Collection
Columbia CL1098 The Sound of Jazz © Cross Taro Collection
Columbia CL1157 Lady In Satin © Cross Taro Collection
Jazz at the Plaza Columbia C32471 – reproduction
CONTINENTAL
Continental Record Company, Inc. was started in NY by Donald H. Gabor in 1944 and operated up to 1960.
The Real lady Day Sings the Blues – Continental 211 – repro.
DALE
A small label based in New York City in the Fifities
Billie and Stan – Dale LP25 © Cross Taro Collection
DECCA
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929. Its U.S. label was established in 1934. American Decca embraced the new post-war record formats adopting the LP in 1949. They merged with MCA in 1962.
Decca DL8701 The Blues Are Brewing © Cross taro Collection
ESP
ESP-Disk is a New York-based record label, founded in 1964. Though it suspended releasing records in the 70s, several new releases by iconic and cutting edge artists have been released by the label, and it still exists with nearly its entire catalog available.
ESP-Disc 3002 The Lady Lives © Cross Taro Collection
ESP-Disc 3003 Billie Holiday 1953-56 Radio & TV Broadcasts © Cross Taro Collection
ESP-disc 3006 – Billie Holiday 1956-58 Radio & TV Broadcasts © Cross Taro Collection
EVERYBODYS
A small label based in NY. 78rpm records with this label were released as early as 1925.
Everybodys EV3003 Live at the Apollo 1944-47- reproduction
EXPUBIDENCE
A small label based in Newark, NJ. Couldn´t find any further data.
Expubidence logo; I couldn’t find the specific EXP-010 image
FDC
FDC (For Discriminate Collector) Records
Esquire Jazz Concert – FDC 1009 – reproduction
Condon’s Floor Show – FDC 1014 – reproduction
GIANTS OF JAZZ
Giants of Jazz Productions was based in Hollywood, CA
Giants of Jazz LP1001 © Cross Taro Collection
Giants of Jazz GOJ 1008 – Giants 3 reproduction
Giants of Jazz GOJ 1018 The Winners – reproduction
GOJ 1025 New Orleans Soundtrack © Cross Taro Collection
JAZZ ARCHIVE
A label based in France.
Jazz Archives 17 – Hot Lips Play the Blue in “B” – reproduction
MCA CORAL
Coral Records was a Decca Records subsidiary formed in 1949. It was based in the United States. Various jazz and swing band recordings were issued on Coral in the 1940s.
Coral was absorbed by MCA Records in the late 1960s. In 1973, MCA amalgamated Decca, Kapp Records, Uni Records, and Vocalion Records under the single MCA Records banner, and the MCA Coral label became the company’s mid-line and budget album reissue label in the U.S. and internationally throughout the 1970s.
Just to remember that yhose three “Big Stuff” versions are originally considered Alternate Takes. As they were recorded in different dates and with different personnel, I decided to classify them as MTs.The LP with the 3 versions never before released received the name of the song.
Big Stuff – MCA Coral 6.22125 – reproduction
MERITT
Meritt is a record label established in 1979 known for reissuing early jazz records by artists such Duke Ellington. (there was also an older Merrit Records with similar spelling operating in the Twenties in Kansas City known for its recordings of African American performers).
Red Allen and his Friends 1932 – 1956 (US 1987)
METRO JAZZ
Metrojazz was a jazz subsidiary of MGM that lasted less than a year. It came in about the time that stereo was being introduced on disc, and of the fifteen albums issued on the label, three were also issued in stereo.
Metro Jazz 2-E 1009 The Seven Ages of Jazz – reproduction
MGM
MGM Records was a record label started by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack albums of their musical films. It transitioned to a pop music label which continued until it was sold to PolyGram in 1972.
MGM E3764 Last Recording © Cross Taro Collection
MONMOUTH EVERGREEN
Small label based in NYC, a subsidiary of Monmouth Records.
Monmouth MES 7046 Galant Lady – reproduction
PHOENIX JAZZ
UK label previously operated as Radioactive that specializes in unlicensed reproductions.
Phoenix Jazz LP-8 In Concert – reproduction
PRIVATEER
A private label based in France
Privateer logo; actual LP image N.A.
QUEEN DISC
A label based in Italy
Queen Disc 011 – reproduction
Queen Disc 016 – reproduction
ROULETTE
Roulette Records is an American record label founded in late 1956. In 1989, it was sold to a consortium of EMI and Rhino Records. EMI has the global rights to the jazz catalogue and the “Roulette” name.
Birdland All-Stars – Roulette RE-127 – reproduction
SAGA
A record company based in UK. Saga Eros is one of their labels.
Lady Day – Saga Eros 8014 – reproduction
SOCIETY
Society Recordings was a mid-20th century United States based record label. The company was headquartered in Encino, California (Wikipedia)
Society SOC 1027 – reproduction
STORYVILLE
Storyville Records is a large international record label based in Copenhagen, Denmark, specializing in jazz and blues music. It was founded in 1952 by Karl Emil Knudsen, a Danish jazz record collector.
BH at Storyville PA 3113 – reproduction
SWING HOUSE
An UK label in the 1970s and 1980s printing rare live recordings of 1940s Blues, Swing and Jazz. They were manufactured and distributed by a UK label called Submarine Records so, presumably, a subsidiary.
Miss Brown to You – Swing House SWH27 – reproduction
TOTEM
Totem Records was an American label based in Redmont, WA.
On The Air -Totem 1037 ©Cross Taro Collection
UNITED ARTISTS
United Artists Records was a record label founded in 1957 initially to distribute records of its movie soundtracks, though it soon branched out into recording music of a number of different genres. They recruited Alan Douglas in 1960 to run its new jazz department.
In 1969, United Artists merged with co-owned Liberty Records. In 1978 it was sold and renamed Liberty-United Records, being the label United Artists dropped in 1980.
Lady Love UAJ 14014 © Cross Taro Collection
VERVE RECORDS
Verve Records is an American jazz record label founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records (founded in 1946) and Norgran Records (founded in 1953), and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.
The Verve catalog grew throughout the 1950s and 1960s to boast an impressive roster of major figures in jazz like Ella Fitzgerald, Bill Evans, Stan Getz, Billie Holiday, Oscar Peterson, Ben Webster, and Lester Young. Granz sold Verve to MGM in 1961. In the seventies, the label became part of the PolyGram group, at this point incorporating the Mercury/EmArcy jazz catalog.
Records sorted by recording date
Verve MGV 8197 © Cross Taro Collection
Billie & Ella Verve MGV 8234 © Cross Taro Collection
Verve MGV 8257 © Cross Taro Collection
Verve MGV 8302 © Cross Taro Collection
Verve MGV 8329 © Cross Taro Collection
BH on Verve 1946-1959 Verve OOMJ 3488 © Cross Taro Collection
Live at Carnegie Hall Verve 8410 © Cross Taro Collection
Stormy Blues Verve VE2 2515 © Cross Taro Collection
WEKA
A small label from Switzerland
Weka JSD 12-1 Lionel Hampton 1948 – reproduction
XANADU
Xanadu Records was a jazz music record label specialized in bebop throughout the 1970s and 1980s founded by Don Schlitten, recording and issuing recordings by some legendary names in jazz music.
Xanadu 112 Harlem Odyssey – reproduction
| Notes | ||||
| (1) release dates estimated | ||||
| (2) not sure if they were issued in 45rpm or LP | ||||
| (3) originally an AT that I considered as MT | ||||
| (4) stereo version was also issued under Columbia # CS 8048 | ||||
| (5) stereo version was also issued under Columbia # CS 8040 | ||||
| (6) stereo version was also issued under MGM # SE3764 | ||||
| (7) stereo version was also issued under Verve # MG VS-6021 | ||||
© 2013-2017 www.billieholidaysongs.com February 2017
In case of the one track “I Cover The Waterfront” from July 7, 1948, you’ve posted the wrong cover art: https://www.discogs.com/Lionel-Hampton-And-His-Orchestra-Lionel-Hampton-And-His-Orchestra-1948/release/8938425
It’s also on this German LP: https://www.discogs.com/Lionel-Hampton-Jay-Bird/release/7902598
Brewsk, many thanks for the remark. Correction made.