[78-L] An American Decca query

soundthink at aol.com soundthink at aol.com
Tue Dec 16 16:21:58 PST 2008


Poor Unlucky Cowboy, Texas Plains, Riding Old Paint, and Lopez the Bandit were the first titles. Hamblen recorded for Victor prior to his Decca stint. Hamblen was always straight Western. The Decca 5000 series was specifically for hillbilly artists. I did my master's thesis on the series; it's in book form now, priced outta sight thanks to Greenwood Press. All the info is now also in Tony Russell's book, which is a lot more affordable, but not organized by label as my book is.

Tubb recorded for Bluebird in the '30s before moving on to Decca in 1940.

Cary Ginell


-----Original Message-----
From: kil at roadrunner.com
To: 78-l at 78online.com
Sent: Tue, 16 Dec 2008 3:34 pm
Subject: Re: [78-L] An American Decca query



Fascinating.  What were some of the titles recorded in that first Hamblen 
session?  Just wondering if he was straight Country right from the start.  I 
didn't think Decca was into Country that early.  I guess Ernest Tubb came along 
soon after.
RayK

---- David Lennick  wrote: 
> The claim is almost valid, actually. Decca began recording almost 
> simultaneously in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles in August 1934. Charles 
> Bourne recorded in NY on August 2nd and 3rd and none of the sides was 
released. 
> Hamblen made the first LA recordings on the 3rd, and Chicago didn't start 
> recording activity till the following week. Bing Crosby and the Sons of the 
> Pioneers had sessions in LA on the 8th, then Guy Lombardo and the Dorsey 
> Brothers recorded in NY a few days later. Whether or not Hamblen had the first 

> contract, he seems to have made the first recordings to be issued.
> 
> dl

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