[78-L] Record Stores

[Michael Biel]

Here's yet another picture, this one of the outside of the shop from the 
early LP era, on the cover of the DVD with a good essay about Milt and 
the DVD.  
http://www.vervemusicgroup.com/artist/music/detail.aspx?pid=11129&aid=2656   
A shot in the homje movies puts the storefront in context to surrounding 
stores, and might be a better locator that might help Howard tell us 
which store was which.  Do any of the pictures so far jog your memory?   
The inside shots seem to fit your description, one aisle, a counter on 
the right opposite listening booths which can just barely be seen on the 
large picture Cary found.  The difference is all of the shelves behind 
the counter.

Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com

Michael Biel wrote:
> I have several other pictures of the store including those that show the 
> front from both the inside and outside, and there are some home movies 
> on the DVD.  They all show all labels being sold.  I don't see how a 
> store could stay in business only selling a catalog that never grew to 
> more than 200 records.
>
> There's another picture from the same photo session from the opposite 
> angle here:
> http://www.riverwalkjazz.org/jazznotes/commodore/
>
> But I still have others. 
>
> Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com 
>
>   

The 42 st. store was a one aisle small, small location with, as I mentioned, 
counter on right and three listening booths to the left. No other items for 
sale as there really was no room. Any possibility Milt opened the 52 st. 
location to have room for other labels? I really just looked in at the 52 
st. location but I remember it as having a little more room. Hope my 
memories are not confusing the issue.

Howard H.


> Cary Ginell wrote:
>   
>> I wouldn't know for sure. It seems to me that the 52nd St. outlet, the one that Milt ran, sold just records. The 42nd St. store might have still stocked appliances plus records at the time you were there, but Julius had been ordering 78s from Victor, Columbia, Decca, et. al. since the '20s. so I would guess that both outlets carried other labels in addition to Commodore and UHCA.
>>
>>  
>>
>> Cary Ginell
>>  
>>   
>>     
>>> From: hhoffmst at charter.net
>>>
>>>
>>> Gary, that looks like the 52nd st. store, which I was in once while 
>>> clubbing. Any chance, 42nd st only Commodore, 52nd st other labels also?
>>> I definitely remember the counter in the 42nd st store as being on the right 
>>> as you walked in.
>>>
>>> Howard H.
>>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>>> From: "Cary Ginell" <soundthink at live.com>
>>> Here's a link to the image:
>>>
>>> http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/I?gottlieb:2:./temp/~ammem_rMhs::displayType=1:m856sd=gottlieb:m856sf=10631:@@@
>>>
>>> Cary Ginell
>>>
>>>     
>>>       
>>>> From: soundthink at live.com
>>>>
>>>> I don't mean to challenge your memory about Commodore, but there is a 
>>>> photograph of the interior of the Commodore Shop taken in 1947 that shows 
>>>> a whole array of different records. You can even see a customer purchasing 
>>>> the Kid Ory Columbia 78 album with the Jim Flora art cover. They never 
>>>> would have been able to stay in business selling only new Commodore 
>>>> records. Gabler was too smart a businessman to restrict his customers to 
>>>> just buying his own stuff.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Commodore did have two storefronts at one time, though; Milt opened his 
>>>> own shop in 1938 at 46 W. 52nd St. (the original shop was at 144 E. 42nd 
>>>> St.). Not being old enough to have visited either shop, I don't know what 
>>>> the differences were between the two locations.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> In 1926, Julius Gabler (Milt's father) contacted all the major record 
>>>> companies and had them send him the latest jazz releases. As far as I 
>>>> know, the store stocked all new jazz records from then on, and augmented 
>>>> the stock with the Commodore and UHCA releases as they came out.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Cary Ginell
>>>>
>>>>       
>>>>         
>>>>> From: hhoffmst at charter.net
>>>>>
>>>>> As I recall my weekly visits in the forties, Commodore only sold 
>>>>> Commodore
>>>>> records, and only new.
>>>>>
>>>>> Howard H.
>>>>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>>>>> From: "Steven C. Barr" <stevenc at interlinks.net>
>>>>>
>>>>>         
>>>>>           
>>>>>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>>>>>> From: "Michael Biel" <mbiel at mbiel.com>
>>>>>>           
>>>>>>             
>>>>>>> Cary Ginell wrote:
>>>>>>>             
>>>>>>>               
>>>>>>>> I'm finishing up my book on Hollywood's Jazz Man Record Shop, and in 
>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>> first chapter, I discuss the Commodore Shop. My research shows that 
>>>>>>>> they
>>>>>>>> started selling records as early as 1926, not 1933.
>>>>>>>> Cary Ginell
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>               
>>>>>>>>                 
>>>>>>> It's too bad Milt Gabler never did the autobiography everyone asked 
>>>>>>> him
>>>>>>> to do, but all the ads are there, and Billy Crystal has his uncles's 
>>>>>>> and
>>>>>>> his father's stuff. His father managed the store when Milt went to
>>>>>>> Decca. Again I mention the interesting DVD Billy did a few years ago
>>>>>>> about his Uncle Milt.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>             
>>>>>>>               
>>>>>> But Commodore even started and ran their own label! Did they also sell
>>>>>> new records on other labels...and, if so, more than one label or group
>>>>>> thereof? That is the change in record sales that I'm trying to 
>>>>>> date...?!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Steven C. Barr
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ____________________
>>>>>>             
>
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