[78-L] Alvino Rey and The Kings

[Dan Van Landingham]

As a long time antique radio buff,I'm familiar with their radios although I've never owned one myself.I did know they bought Columbia.Did Obie leave RCA of his own  volition
or was he fired?Majestic was "The Mighty Monarch of the Air" and,I think,sponsored the Edgar Bergen-Charlie McCarthy radio programme.Majestic even made a radio that
was named after them.I saw a picture of it once in a radio book some thirty years ago.Come to think of it,I've never seen any Majestic radios from the '40s either.




________________________________
From: Steven C. Barr <stevenc at interlinks.net>
To: 78-L Mail List <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
Sent: Wed, April 21, 2010 10:11:05 PM
Subject: Re: [78-L] Alvino Rey and The Kings

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Dan Van Landingham" <danvanlandingham at yahoo.com>
> The Kyser version of "Bell Bottom Trousers" came from an album I bought 
> back in the early '80s called
> "Screwballs of Swingtime".It was one of those that disappeared thanks to 
> my sister in law selling off my
> records several years ago.The album also had a recording called "Seven 
> Years With the Wrong Leander"
> by Horace Heidt.Did Lunceford record his Majestic sides at Decca?I've got 
> his "Hi Spook" on Decca
> which I also have on a CD of Lunceford's music.John Lewis led the 
> orchestra.Lewis' "Hi Spook" was
> slowed down somewhat compared to the original version on Decca.By the 
> way,who organised Majestic?
> I was of the impression it was former bandleader Ben Selvin who did a 
> review of the record business that
> led to the recording ban of August,1942 until November,1944.Yvonne King 
> was another great favourite
> of mine.I heard her on a Victor 78 of "I Never Knew" by Rey with a Herfurt 
> clarinet solo and an unkno-
> wn trombone soloist.Did May do that arrangement as well?I once spoke to 
> Yvonne King shortly after
> Skeets Herfurt's death and told her so.She was better known as "Vonnie 
> Burch" as I recall.I believe she
> was married to the late pianist Buddy Cole.
>
Majestic was a radio manufacturer; they revived the brand that had been
manufactured by Grigsby-Grunow (who bought Columbia in 1932 and
then went broke in 1934). The record label was originally started by
Oberstein as Hit (and may have set up some non-union sides during
the ban...?!). Majestic apparently decided to sell records as well as
radios, and bought the Hit label (continuing the catalog-number
sequences); this whole operation went under in 1947-48.

Steven C. Barr 

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