[78-L] Label Info. Query Answered

[David Lennick]

Oh, THAAAAAAAAT HJCA..
http://www.tedstaunton.com/labels/1940-1949.pages/Hot.Jazz.Club.1/hot.jazz.club.1.htm

I was confusing it in my mind with UHCA which was a legitimate reissue label 
ten years earlier. These are vinyl pressings. Some of the dubs are half decent.

dl

Charles Bihun wrote:
> Several days ago I posted a question about a record label for which I could find no background information, the "Hot Jazz Club of America," commonly referred to as HJCA.  I didn't get any answers about the company, but a whole series of issues came up resulting in the subject changing to "reissues."
> 
> Continuing my search, I finally received the information I was looking for, thanks to Geoffrey Wheeler.  Geoff  has apparently spent endless hours searching for and compiling extensive information about obscure record labels from the '30s through the '50s.  In particular he has published a book, "Collectors Guide to Jazz on Bootleg& Reissue 78 R.P.M. Records 1932 to 1952.  It features 2500 rarities on 60 labels. It addition to hundreds of pages devoted to reissues on 78, it covers some 41 bootleg labels issued between 1946 and 1952.
> 
> When I came across a record on the HJCA label, I suspected it was a reissue label for a jazz society from the late '40s and early '50s; that idea was not based on any evidence, just intuition.  The information about HJCA that Geoff shared with me from his book confirms my initial suspicion; however, while the label implies that it is under the auspices of a record club, that is not really true.  There was no actual Hot Jazz Club of America associated with the label.  The following is a summary of what Geoff sent me, augmented by some info. from other sources: 
> 
> HJCA was a bootleg label.  A plethora of such companies was founded in the late '40s.  From what I have read, to circumvent the copyright laws, they established fictitious record clubs; they proposed that copyrights didn't apply when a club only released reissues to its members and didn't offer them for sale to the general public; that didn't fly for long.  
> 
> HJCA was founded by Sam Meltzer, who also was affiliated with the Century Record Company and Blue Ace Records.   A Mr. C. Robert Fine remastered many of the reissues (apparently he was a sound engineer who played a pivotal role in developing LPs).  The address of the company was 737 Fox St., Bronx 55, NY, NY.  This was the same address for Century records.  Geoff's book has a complete catalog of the HJCA and other labels, with sources, etc.
> 
> I can't thank Geoff enough.
> 
> Chuck Bihun
> 
>