[78-L] Whther Manor?

Han Enderman jcenderman at solcon.nl
Thu Jul 7 05:56:08 PDT 2011


Possibly accurate info can be found in the postwar gospel dg.
Bruyninckx CD discography gives (in available early version):

THE COLEMAN BROTHERS
The Coleman Brothers : vcl group (sacred singing) acc. by g-1 and Melvin Coleman (lead vcl)
prob. Newark, N.J., c. October 1943
S1074S We'll understand Manor 101
S1081S New what a time 1055
S1082S It's my desire (1) 100

The Coleman Brothers : vcl group with Melvin Coleman (lead vcl) unknown g-1
December 1944 or January 1945
S1201S The end of my journey (1) Manor 100
S1202S When the saints go marching in 1055
W1203W New milky white way (1) 101
W1204W Plenty of room in the Kingdom (1) 102, Arco 1208
W1217W I can see everybod's mother but mine (1) - , -
Note : Manor 100, 101 & 102 also available in a 78 rpm album as Manor SP1.
------
I have images of Manor 100-102. These show 4 label variants, and thus there were regular repressings.
ALL state "(Album SP. 1)" on the label.
Early variants state "Clark Record Co., Newark, N.J." along the lower rim; later versions give Manor 
(2 addresses: Newark & New York).
The Manor 1000 series (Milt Page; Pettiford; Coleman Bros., S. Churchill, Luis Russell, etc) has
similar variants and it seems that many issues exist with both Clark and Manor as mfr.

Rather uncommon are 2000 & 4000 & 6000 series; of each I have seen only a single (the first) issue.
The 5000 series is known from a single Gillespie issue.
The 8000 series issued various types of music.
There also was a 9000 series (9006 Manor Concert Och.), poss. a clssical series.
Most "series" shown in Ty's ODP.
There were several "100 Series" albums (from ad in one of the albums).

On Regis there were also similar short series.
Regis 5000 (Sid Catlett) is not the same issue as Manor 5000 (Gillespie).
But Regis 6000 (The Cats And The Fiddle: I Miss You So/My Sugar...) is same as Manor 6000.
The Regis 7000 series is a short jazz series.
Apparently Manor got some numerical series not prev. used by Regis (but then they should have
started a 3000 series for the Gillespie !).
Regis 1225 is Silver Echo Quartet, but I have seen no other issues in this 1200 series.
Is there info in Billboard about issues not listed by Ty?

Gart, ARLD, gives a 2/43 Regis address in Newark, and several "dating guides".
The first Manor address is also in Newark (3/45; 5/46), but 11/46 & 12/46 are New York addresses.

han enderman
===
>>> ...some 100 series Manor Records. 
These records by New Jersey gospel group The Coleman Brothers occupy issues 100-102.

(S-1074) We'll Understand                          Manor 101-B
(S-1082) It's My Desire                               Manor 100-B
(S-1201) The End Of My Journey                  Manor 100-A
(W-1203) New Milky White Way                   Manor 101-A
(W-1204) Plenty Of Room In The Kingdom    Manor 102-B, 1003, Arco 1208
(W-1217) I Can See Everybody's Mother But Mine 
                                                                Manor 102-A, 1003, Arco 1208

ODP does not venture a date; neither does the Wiki on Manor. At the Record.Connexion site a reasonable date of 
"1946/47" for the both sessions in the 10xx and 12xx block. But this article by Tony Cummings 
http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/articles/music/The_Coleman_Brothers_The_Newark_Gospel_music_pioneers/42801/p1/
based on research by Opal Louis Nations, seems to advance a 1943 date for the 10xx block and December 1944 for the
12xx block. Quoted with typos intact:

"The Coleman Brothers
continued their recording career in 1943 with some sessions for
Regis/Manor Records owned by Irving Berman. It was not a happy
association. The Colemans recorded "Milky White Way" in December 1944
but Berman chose not to release it until April 1948 by which time the
Trumeteers had hit with their cover of Lander Coleman's song. The
first three 78s Manor did release by the Coleman Brothers were later packaged as
a 78 album for the white folk/jazz cognoscente rather incongruously
titled 'Spirituals Of The Old South'."

So which dates are right? Manor also had a 1000 series that did start right around the beginning of 1945, but that doesn't mean that the
short-lived 100 series began then also. And a recording date of 1946-47 for "Milky White Way" doesn't seem too terribly late when released
in 1948, though after The Trumpeteers already had a hit with it was arguably not the best time. 

Uncle Dave Lewis
---
The Coleman Brothers are mentioned in "Regis Label starts Releasing Platters" Billboard Mar 27, 1943 pg 25.
Milky White Way on Regis was reviewed in Billboard Jan 29, 1944 pg 60
Manor album SP1 'Spirituals Of The Old South' was advertised in Billboard Feb 9, 1946 pg 24.
 DJD
---
Thanks David! Not only are the earliest dates possible the right ones, "Milky White Way" is mentioned even in the very first article cited. Irving Berman's quote that "The orders I have on hand now will take six weeks to fill" doesn't sound like failure to me; moreover, I had no idea that Regis itself was based in Newark, at least at first; always thought of Manor as a Manhattan-based label. Certainly "Milky White Way" had plenty of time to establish itself before The Trumpeteers covered it; if anything, a 1948 re-release would serve to call attention to the original.

That's just plain bad research, Dave; while I don't doubt that The Coleman Brothers may have had reason to complain about their association with Irving Berman, to invent a reason based on faulty discographical data isn't good medicine. 

By the way, I updated the Apollo Records article on Wikipedia yesterday: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Records_(1944)
I just got sick of the bad, inaccurate stub that was sitting there.

Uncle Dave Lewis
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