[78-L] Alex Steinweiss article

[Michael Biel]

From: David Lennick <dlennick at sympatico.ca>

> Faulty memory here..the Beethoven 5th does indeed have a bust o' Beethoven
> on the cover, but it is full color. It's the Brahms 1st that has Arteero 
> Toscanoony on the cover and that's later.

I have several copies of the Beethoven 5th.  Are you sure it always had
this illustrated cover?  I will admit that having seen dozens of copies
of this set over the years I have NEVER seen any copy except with this
illustrated cover, most having the illustration on both the front and
the back, something that Decca also did but Columbia never (?) did.  

> Gulliver's Travels and Wizard of Oz on Decca are definitely 1939 and have 
> colored artwork.

I have Gulliver, but not here with me.

> So does 5 Feet of Swing.

That is A-131, right after Peter and the Wolf, A-130 which is 1940. We
need to compare release dates of these with C-11 for the sake of our
debate.  P&W includes the words on the inside front.

> Gershwin Songs just shows artists and titles.

But that is fine for this purpose since C-11 basically only does that. 
Is this A-96 or 97?  These are probably like the Victor Herbert albums I
have (but not here) which are each distinctive in color and typography,
and are readable from a distance in a display in record stores.  One of
the aspects of the Steinweiss discussion is that he allowed for store
displays of covers for the first time.  Again, that is not factually
correct.  

> Boys From Syracuse has b&w photographs of the Broadway production
> on the front..nice one.  

This is A-33 and is very early, much before Steinweiss.

> Ballad For Americans has a bluish cover (as I recall) and 
> an inset photo of Robeson (as I recall).  dl

Also has recording session photos and some narration on inside front and
inside rear.  We know it's general release date due to the Time magazine
and NY Daily News items.  But what is the release date of C-11? 

Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com 


Michael Biel wrote:
> As for Taylor's doubts, I held Miles' copy of the Brunswick Show Boat
> album in my hands, so I know it exists. Likewise the gold colored
> Blackbirds of 1928 album which was the source of the Columbia LP
> reissue. He did modify the lettering font to match the lettering from
> the original 1928 sheet music covers.
> 
> 
>> Toscanini's recording of Beethoven's Symphony #5 (Victor M 640)
>> had a full color picture of Toscanini from Day 1, possibly on
>> both front and back covers. Recorded February-March 1939, not
>> sure of release date.
> 
> I would not be sure about Victor classical sets because I have a lot
> with both plain and illustrated covers. I think that this cover is the
> one with a bust of Beethoven in a two-tone blue picture frame, not a
> picture of Toscanini. 
> 
> Steinweiss claims that his first album cover is C-11, Music by Richard
> Rodgers, the one showing a marquee. A particularly dull start, eh? Can
> we have a precise release date? Some sites say 1938 but this is a
> Columbia red label set. That couldn't have come out until the middle of
> 1940, right? So, we need to show things from early 40 and earlier. My
> suggestion is to get out your catalogs to show when albums were issued. 
> For example, in the Nov 1939 Victor catalog they have the Snow White
> soundtracks listed as being "in container J8". Mike Murray illustrates
> it in his Disney book, and I took a digital photo of one at the recent
> Wayne show. I'll look for it tonight. Can someone find the release
> date of Robison's Ballad for Americans P-20. This is what Wikiplotz
> says "Time mentioned the album on the May 6, 1940 issue. On May 14,
> 1940, a full page ad for the records appeared in the New York Daily
> News." I suppose I could go into Manhattan and get a scan of that ad. 
> I have a color photo of the cover from the 1942 Victor catalog but Leah
> has a copy of the album around here somewhere. I also have Templeton's
> album P-19 but not here, but there is a B&W photo in the Victor 1942
> catalog. 
> 
> As for Decca, their catalogs have a numerical listing of all of their
> albums. I swear I left an extra copy of the 1940 catalog here in Leah's
> apartment, but all I find is my extra 1942 catalog where the list is at
> 300. I was thinking that the 1940 catalog was at 200, but it might have
> been 100 (which is Gulliver's Travels) considering that A-134 is the
> Crosby Ballad for Americans which Wiki says was recorded on July 6, 1940
> which would have been after Robeson's Victor was released. So, let's
> say that any Decca album under 100 is 1939 or earlier. Some of you
> might have:
> A-10 Music of Hawaii (MAL???)
> A-31 Geo Gershwin Music -- Whiteman
> A-32 Bob Crosby Showcase
> A-33 Boys From Syracuse Vallee & Langford
> Deanna Durbin Souvenir Album 1 A-35, 2 A-75 
> Victor Herbert Melodies 1 A-38, 2 A-72, 3 A-73, 4 A-82
> A-40 Songs of Hawaii Ray Kinney (MAL??)
> A-43 Hoagy C
> A-45 Songs of the South
> A-46 Songs of the North
> A-57 Concerto in F Whiteman & Bargy
> A-65 Cowboy Songs Ranch Boys
> A-69 Cowboy Songs Bing
> A-70 Irving Berlin Vol 1 Whiteman
> A-71 Irving Berlin Vol 2 "
> A-74 Wizard of Oz
> A-76 Judy G Souv album 
> A-87 Fran Langford Souv Alb
> Gershwin Popular Songs 1 A-96, 2 A-97
> 
> I have a couple of these but not here in Brooklyn. There are many other
> albums -- there are no gaps in the catalog numericals! I just listed a
> few which I see most often. Surely one of you has the 1940 Decca
> catalog. It has yellow and light brown circles. I could send scans of
> the numerical in the 1942 catalog. 
> The kids albums were in a separate listing, and I am not sure where it
> was at the point of the 1940 catalog (which was issued at the end of
> 1939 -- safely before Steinweiss.) They are at k-38 in the 42 catalog
> at the end of 1941. Leah just dug up Decca A-15 Stephen Foster
> Melodies, and it is not quite what we are looking for. Most of the
> cover looks like fancy flowered wallpaper with a wide 3-inch cloth
> binding on the left side with fancy silver lettering identifying the
> album. The Vol 1 Victor Herbert A-38 has a silver cover all over with
> blue lettering on the whole front. But I think the Durbin's all have
> photos. 
> 
> 
> Mike Biel mbiel at mbiel.com 
> 
> 
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