[78-L] Columbia Records and HRS/UHCA Reissues

[Geoffrey Wheeler]

Previous comment has been made about reasons for HRS discontinuing its 
reissue program. Here’s more.

Why was the HRS Clarence Williams’ Blue Five album not released? 
Because Columbia Records Co., which owned the rights to the Clarence 
Williams’ Blue Five recordings that had originally appeared on OKeh, 
reneged on the agreement to provide the masters and press the records. 
Heywood Hale Broun thinks that because HRS was always short of money, 
that may have also had something to do with its only issuing one of the 
album’s five discs.

The August 9, 1940 issue of Jazz Information announced that Columbia 
Records was going to produce a series of reissues of famous hot jazz 
classics starting in the Fall of 1940. Three days earlier, on Tuesday, 
August 6, Columbia Recording Corp. announced that it was cutting its 
retail prices on both its classical Masterworks line and its popular 
red-label line. RCA Victor soon followed suit. The effect of the price 
cuts was almost immediate. An article in the Financial section of the 
September 12th issue of The New York Times was headlined: “Price Cut 
Brings Boom in Records; Sales This Year will Far Exceed 1939 Total of 
60,000,000, Companies Report; RCA-Victor Total Spurts; Dealer Stocks 
Cut; Columbia Orders Up 1500%; New Offer Draws ” [punctuation added]. 
According to the Times article, “With price cuts on classical types of 
phonograph records increasing orders from 200 to 1500 percent during 
the last month, the record industry is now moving toward a new high in 
disc output and sales, executives of leading companies here said 
yesterday. They made the prediction that the 1939 total of close to 
60,000,000 records will be far outstripped this year that the industry 
after a slump to around 12,000,000 records in 1932 [sic: 6 million] is 
now headed toward the 100,000,000 annual mark. The previous high of 
125,000,000 records was reached in the middle Nineteen Twenties.

The September 20, 1940 issue of Jazz Information has a lead story on 
Columbia’s reissue program and its first four 4-disc albums plus 15 
single 78 reissues by various groups. JI comments: “…a number of sides 
privately reissued by UHCA and HRS will be included in Columbia’s 
catalog… Columbia’s plans for a permanent hot jazz catalog were first 
announced in Vol. 1 No. 1 of this magazine, published September 8, 
1939…” Tsotsi again comments: “These dates tie in with the 
‘abandonment’ of the HRS and UHCA reissue programs vis-à-vis use of 
material now owned by Columbia. … The proposed Clarence Williams Blue 
Five HRS Album #3, scheduled for April 1940 release, fell victim to 
Columbia’s decision to produce its own reissues, hence the removal of 
permission for HRS to use Blue Five OKeh sides now owned by Columbia, 
and the single release on the Decca-pressed HRS 31 of the Red Onion 
Jazz Babies Gennett sides now owned by Decca.” Note use of the 
underscored phrase “owned by Columbia” twice in reference to Columbia 
Recording Corp. [emphasis added]. As can be seen from the following 
statement, there was uncertainty within Columbia Recording Corp. 
management regarding what the company actually owned. If this were not 
a concern, there would be little reason for Hammond to mention it in 
his letter to Steve Smith. Since this was a potential legal issue, it 
is surprising Hammond does mention what might otherwise be regarded as 
an internal matter not for public disclosure.

Columbia Discontinues Doing Reissue Pressings for HRS and UHCA
An editorial statement in the November 1940 issue of HRS Society Rag 
[pages 22 and 23], titled “Reissue Agreement Reached by Hot Record 
Society and Columbia” attempts to explain the situation to readers.

“During the period when the Columbia Recording Corporation was readying 
itself for the opening drive on its reissues, a good deal of confusion 
existed as to the status of Hot Record Society reissues, rights to 
which belonged to Columbia, masters of which belong to the Society. For 
the past year, Columbia has refused to press up further copies of these 
records for the Society, nor to grant further permission for new 
reissues, on the ground that intensive investigation would be necessary 
to find whether Columbia actually owned the rights to these records 
[emphasis added]. After many months had passed without a final reply 
from Columbia, during which time statements were made that Columbia was 
favoring the HRS in its reissue catalogue, Steve Smith of the Hot 
Record Society, tired of hanging by his thumbs, made a direct request 
to John Hammond for a definitive settlement. Hammond complied, and the 
following settlement was reached.

“Columbia wishes to reissue at some future date eight of the sides now 
on the HRS label and will compensate the Society for the use of its 
masters. The other masters pressed for HRS by Columbia, those which are 
owned by other companies, those to which title is not clear [emphasis 
added], and those which Columbia owns but does not wish to use, will be 
defaced and shipped to the HRS as owners. By agreement with Hammond, 
further reissues of these records will not be made by the Society.

“The five records in the Bix album and numbers 9 and 31, the rights to 
which belong to Decca, will continue in the HRS catalogue along with 
the Hines records, rights to which have been secured from the De Vry 
Corporation.

“Although occasional reissues may be made by the HRS, the Society is 
withdrawing from the field as far as a regular release policy is 
concerned, feeling that there is not longer a place for the independent 
reissue group, with necessarily high prices and limited distribution.

“In fairness to Columbia, it must be said that the UHCA received full 
compensation for masters used by Columbia, although rumours [sic] to 
the contrary were at one time current, and that the HRS as stated above 
will also be compensated.”