[78-L] National Records

[Geoffrey Wheeler]

Dan Van Landingham says: “He also got my album of those Charlie Parker 
Dials with Ross Russell.”

That was very generous giving someone your Parker Dial album. Since its 
release, it has greatly accrued in value. If in excellent condition  
the two 1947 album versions or the 1948 album without records tend to 
sell for $50 and more. The complete albums with records in E+ condition 
or better sell in the hundreds. Same with the four Parker 10-inch Dial 
LPs, and even more for the 12-inch Dial LPs.

All sides were originally recorded on lacquer masters. The ones Ross 
Russell wanted to reissue on LP were then transferred to tape at WOR 
studios. When Russell sold the original Dial jazz recordings (not the 
reissues of French recordings or the ethnic recordings) to Jazztone 
Society, the WOR tapes were part of the deal. Russel; kept the studio 
masters in storage at WOR until 1959 when he cancelled the contract. (I 
have copies of the correspondence.) Presumably, he dumped the masters 
because he saw no need for them at the time, and all they were doing 
was costing him money. He had also been disappoinited with the sales of 
the LP reissues. He told me he probably sold no more than a total of 
500 copies of the first 12-inch Parker LP in its various versions.

Of all non-Dial issues of these sessions, the Jazztone issues come 
closest in generation. After that, it is all bootleg up to who knows 
what generation! Tony Williams of (E) Spotlite dubbed his Dial reissues 
from Dial 78s, or from the few tests he had access to. I asked Tony, 
and he told me he used no metal parts or studio acetates as sources. 
Ross Russell worked with Tony and even produced his own set of American 
Spotlite Dial LPs licensed from Tony. Ross loaned me a complete set for 
my viewing but I do not own any copies of American Spotlite issues. The 
irony is Russell no longer owned legal rights to any of the Dial 
material. All that was conveyed to Jazztone when he sold the jazz 
catalog.