[78-L] UK vinylite pressings

[soundthink at aol.com]

OK, everyone, put on your thinking caps.

In my research on the Jazz Man record label (1942-54), I recently acquired six 78 rpm?pressings of Jazz Man material, pressed?on vinylite. I assume these originated in the UK for two reasons: the labels include the silver-on-yellow?color scheme?of the UK issues?(which are used on two 1942 Lu Watters pairings and probably the two Jelly Roll Morton piano solos from 1938). The second reason is more obvious, although not necessarily conclusive?- I got them from a collector in England. Although 5 of the 6 discs come from the '42 Watters sessions, the 6th disc is from a 1947 session?by Pete Daily's Rhythm Kings, which, as far as I know, was never issued on a 78 in England. For that matter, neither were the 5 Watters discs. There are only 2 Jazz Man issues I know of that were issued in the UK (Jazz Man 1 & 2, neither of which was in this collection). A few others were issued on Melodisc, but other than the 1938 Jelly Roll Morton piano solos, which Laurie Wright reported were also issued on English Jazz Man, those are the only other UK issues of Jazz Man material that I am aware of.

The label area is divided in two on each of these discs. The labels appear to have been blank, white labels, but there is a second label that is pasted on over the top 30% of the white label. This second label consists of the Jazz Man logo (silver print on yellow).?The remaining portion of the white label features handwritten information, including title, artist,?and record number plus the words "Vinylite Pressing." 

These are not dubs. The master numbers in the run-off match those on the U.S. issues. So (darn it), no alternate takes here. The sound quality, since it is pressed on vinyl, is better and quieter than any of the early Jazz Man shellac pressings.?But can anyone enlighten me as to how, when, and why these were made? The record numbers are Jazz Man 3, 4, 6, 13, 15 (by Watters), & 30 (by Daily), which all correspond exactly to the U.S. pressings. If anyone is interested in seeing a scan of one of these labels, I'd be happy to send one off-list.

Cary Ginell


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