[78-L] Advent of Electrical Recording

[Geoffrey Wheeler]

“f you re-publish the book, I hope you make it available on Kindle.”
 >> Ron L

Until I got on the 78-List, I had not encountered the word “kindle.” 
After Ron L mentioned it, I checked Wikepedia and got the general 
drift. Luckily this morning, our Sunday paper had a feature on 
“E-Books” that provided more information about the several products 
currently available, with more to come. I would have to learn more 
about Kindle and the Sony product and where the technology is headed so 
I can make an informed decision. Both my Columbia book and my Dial 
Records book have some drop-in illustrations that may not reproduce 
well with Kindle. As presently formatted, the Columbia book has 46 
facsimiles of original documents that include: The North American 
Phonograph Co. catalog, statement of American Graphophone Co. assets, 
Columbia Graphophone common stock certificate, first page Certificate 
of Incorporation for OKeh Phonograph Corp., Certificate of 
Incorporation for American Record Corp., covers of Victor Race 
catalogs, advertisement for (E) Brunswick “Blackbirds” recordings July 
1933, cover of 1937 Cotton Club program, page from court document for 
Grigsby-Grunow bankruptcy April 16, 1934, agreement to sell Columbia 
Phonograph assets for $150,000, memo to Clive Davis regarding ownership 
of Vocalion masters Nov. 17, 1964, and more.

I don’t have a copy of “Jazz By Mail” in front of me so I am not sure I 
mentioned in the text that one of the first albums described to me by 
Steve Smolian was issued around 1906 and included several size of 
discs. If I recall correctly, Steve said it was European and that he 
had donated it to Yale. I believe the book album to be a very important 
step in marketing records and creating the means for developing the 
idea of a “concept” or “themed” album. It also became another medium 
for the use of cover art and photography. Most small independent record 
companies did not issue albums but some did so extensively. American 
Sonora had quite a few pop and western albums; Pilotone issued a number 
of albums of which the album by Eddie South is the only jazz one; Savoy 
issued 10 albums, nine jazz and one very hard-to-find cowboy; Comet had 
two 12-inch albums (one devoted to Red Norvo; the other to Art Tatum. 
Both were issued by Black & White). Much of the Disc label was 
originally issued in albums with cover art by David Stone Martin. 
Capitol issued a number of 10-inch albums, of which quite a few are 
jazz. Keynote issued a mix of 10- and 12-inch jazz albums, plus others 
devoted to blues, folk, and songs of the Spanish Civil War (Music Room 
label but distributed by Keynote). When Mercury bought the Keynote 
catalog, it reissued many of the same Keynote albums with the same 
artwork. The records themselves are in the Mercury 1100 series. A lot 
of collectors seem suspicious of book albums, but I think they are 
marvelous and enjoy collecting them.
Geoffrey Wheeler