[78-L] Adrien Beauregard

[David Lennick]

The Compo Starr connection goes way the hell back. Compo issued hundreds of 
Gennett recordings as STARR GENNETT and GENNETT showing Starr Co. of Canada 
(sometimes Limited, sometimes not) in various places on the label. They also 
used STARR GENNETT for many of their own Apex (etc) recordings and quite often 
issued OKehs on this label. By the late 20s (or possibly later) STARR was being 
used exclusively as a name for their French Canadian recordings, and this was 
the case into the fifties when they finally changed it to APEX Serie Francais. 
Silver on blue is indeed around 1950 (actually probably a 1951 or later 
pressing)..it would have been gold print through 1950.

As to 45s, I rarely see them..this market was pretty much devoted to 78s to the 
end. 45s could have been reissues or remakes of recordings that sounded too 
ancient.

dl

On 4/10/2011 8:44 AM, David Lewis wrote:
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> My sincere thanks to the intrepid Canadians who ventured out into these treacherous discographical waters. The effort is appreciated, and I have some supplementary info on this record to share.
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> I did find some answers in an unlikely source; a somewhat cheesy YouTube video made by a relative of Adrien Beauregard, Claude Beauregard. He may have been one of the musicians on the original record, or perhaps a descendant of them.
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> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZp7AOaJRDk
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> My rough translation of the caption is included below:
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> ["La Chanson de Seraphin" is] a composition of the Beauregard family --  Adrien, Roch and Claude -- who were living at this time in Drummondsville. From 1950 to 1959 they were broadcasting every week on CJSO in Sorel, CHLT in Sherbrooke and CHIEF in Granby. Their first recording was a 78 rpm on Apex Français number 9-17502, and the response was so strong that it was necessary to make thousands more, [including] the 1951 45 rpm record number 45-11615, with the backside devoted to the piano [solo] PIANO RAG, by Claude Beauregard. In 1953 the family moved to Granby...
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> and I'm not sure what the phrase "jusqu'au déces de Celui qui L" quite means, but it seems to mean "and as he [Adrien Beauregard 1908-1975] has since died" --
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> [here is "La Chanson de Seraphin"] as performed today on YouTube by Claude Beauregard.
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> This does raise some additional questions. It appears that Adrien, Roch and Claude -- the three Beauregard family members -- made the Apex record that I have found, but only Adrien was credited. Claude Beauregard indicates that it was himself, rather than Adrien, who plays the "Piano Rag," but specifies that it was on the 45 rpm version; one might assume that he also did so on the 78, but it would be an assumption, as the YouTube caption isn't clear on this point. One would have to find the 45 version to make sure; was it common in Canada for 45 recordings of works that had appeared on 78s to be wholly different from the 78?
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> Mr. Lennick, I note a tiny device under the Apex logo which reads "enregistré par Starr" in the typical Germanic lettering used by Gennett, which seems to have led the eBay seller I bought it from to believe that this was an acoustical recording. It is a small label, silver on blue. I could get a scan up shortly, though the caption on YouTube clarifies that the record as such was made in 1950, of a very local Quebecois family band, and that "La Chanson de Seraphin" was a popular number among French Canadian listeners. I would certainly like to know how Compo managed to acquire rights to the Starr name and what led them to employ it for French Canadian releases for so long; I didn't know that there was a relationship between Gennett and Compo.
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> Uncle Dave Lewis
> uncledavelewis at hotmail.com
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>