[78-L] Bishop Pressinigs

[Thatcher Graham]

I have a white label Bishop Pressing I've never identified.
Side A says WCR36
Side B says WCR40

no other info.


-- Thatcher 




Geoffrey Wheeler wrote:
> The Monday, November 9, 2009 weekly List included nine postings on 
> “Bishop Pressings.” I just happened to hit on it minutes ago while 
> backtracking past listings. As Cary Ginnel correctly notes, Bishop 
> record pressing plant was an L.A. based business located at  810 Rollin 
> St. in South Pasadena. From what I’ve learned, the company specialized 
> in short-run small independent labels. Per contributions from other 
> posters on this subject, the labels identified with Bishop pressings 
> included Crescent, Session, Jump, S D, Fentone, and Dial. Session 
> started as a Chicago label but was moved to the Los Angeles area. Jump 
> was also based in Los Angeles. Some Jump records are similarly embossed 
> with “Bishop Pressing” but not all by any means. I have most of the 
> Jumo 78s. For more information on this label, consult the excellent 
> soft-cover bio-discography “The Jump Records Story,” by Sonny McGown 
> and Bert Whyatt, published by IAJRC in 2006. Ross Russell of Dial 
> Records also had some of his issues stamped by Bishop. I have copies of 
> S D Bishop Pressings but don’t know how John Steiner came to use 
> Bishop. Fentone (not Fen-Tone), a Division of Fentone Enterprises,  was 
> originally manufactured by Oliver Record Co., Oakland, Calif. Fentone 
> was started by white singer Hal Fenton (Elliot Dolgin), who lived in 
> San Francisco. The second group to be recorded by the label at the 
> Radio Central Recording Studio (probably early 1949) was Charles 
> Mingus, who was living at the time in the Filmore district. Four sides 
> were recorded and issued on 10-inch 78s Fentone 2002 and 2003. Ralph J. 
> Gleason wrote up the group in his March 25, 1949 column in Down Beat. 
> Gleason misspells the label name as “Fen-Tone.” Recorded in late 1948, 
> Fentone 2001 was a 12-incher featuring the Owl Sextette. The best-known 
> player in the group was altoist Pony Poindexter, who later played for 
> Basie. All Fentone pressings are very scarce and may have been sold 
> only on a limited basis on the West Coast. The marvelous 96-page 
> booklet included in the Uptown set “Charles ‘Baron’ Mingus West Coast 
> 1945-1949” provides excellent detail and photos of Mingus’ playing and 
> recording activities.
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