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Herein an old advertising piece from the Spanish Columbia label, which says: Require your label to be Columbia .
Not easily seen, but if you zoom on the record the girl is displaying, it seems the famous HMV logo!
A funny advert...
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Inigo
- Victor VI
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- Location: Madrid, Spain
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A funny advert...
Inigo
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shoshani
- Victor I
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Re: A funny advert...
All I notice when I try to zoom in is that Columbia is joined at the bottom by Decca and a handful of other labels that are not EMI labels (that I am aware of). I'm guessing this was an advert by a distributor or retailer or something...
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Inigo
- Victor VI
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- Personal Text: Keep'em well oiled
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Re: A funny advert...
That's the special Spanish Columbia label after our civil war. They issued Spanish Columbia recordings only at first, and they could use the brand inside Spain thanks to an agreement with USA Columbia, but not out from Spain. Export records were branded Iberia. In 1943 they signed an agreement with UK Decca, and so they got access to Decca recordings across the world. They used the Decca brand and the British Beethoven label since 1945. Alhambra was another brand of theirs for Spanish music also, that started in early fifties. Later on, agreements with French impresario Eddy Barclay, and with Italian Durium, made possible these other record lines since early fifties.
The proprietor and Alma mater of this curious company was Juan Inurrieta, a Basque impresario who was very active. They started in early 1910s selling gramophones and records, guns, etc. Soon they started making their own gramophones under an agreement with some German maker, under the brands Multiplex and Mercedes.
In 1923 they signed an agreement with Columbia (both the USA and the British companies which were independent then) to build a factory and issue laminated records in Spain. Records were labelled Regal, and I suspect (non verified) that the Americans retained the rights for use of the Columbia label also in Spain, which they issued with the week known green Columbia label. Spanish Regal records issued American Columbia recordings, and also British, French and German, and from other countries too. But most of their output were Spanish recordings, which were made by visiting engineers from UK, in the Spanish K matrix series (later WK when they became electric). I also suspect that at some point in the thirties, they were allowed to take the Columbia recording system by their own, records being made by our own engineers that were learned by the British.
So they went along, with very good sales. In fact, together with Odeon and Parlophon, Gramófono (Spanish branch of HMV) and Polydor since 1929, were the major record sellers herein. Judging by the survivor records, Odeon, Gramófono and Regal were the three big in Spanish market. But Regal records were the best quality by far... In 1926, Odeon and Parlophon became the property of British Columbia (which by then also owned again the USA company) and they also started to press laminated records, and improved the quality of their recordings up to the same standard of Regal. But the rights and agreement with Inurrieta and the Spanish Columbia factory were still in force, so they didn't interfere with each other.
Then came the 1931 merger, and EMI automatically took over the Barcelona Gramófono Factory. They claimed to take over the Basque factory too, but Inurrieta resisted, making force of their American Columbia agreement, as by then, the US company was again independent from the British one. So in Spain they could continue production under that umbrella. Things went along, with several legal processes that menaced the independency of Basque Columbia, until 1935. By then, in only 12 years of existence, to Inurrieta had produced nearly 3500 Spanish matrixes, which makes a pretty 280 recordings each year. Adding the many international Columbia recordings they also issued, they got a pretty well packed catalogue. Gramófono claimed the factory, the matrixes and stock, but they lost the last trial for the Spanish recordings, winning only the rights to the use of the Regal brand since then, and prohibiting Inurrieta to issue more international Columbia recordings. Yet Inurrieta retained some of the American matrixes... And the story continues. Since then, international Columbia recordings were issued under the Regal brand in Spain, pressed by the Barcelona Gramófono Factory (now the Spanish EMI branch). They started a new matrix series at CR-3000, later named CK. Inurrieta was prevented from issuing more international Columbia recordings. But this was not a problem... for they had amassed a great Spanish music catalogue. Thanks to the American agreement, they were allowed to use the Columbia label in Spain and the magic notes logo. Inurrieta closed the former company (Columbia Graphophone Company S.A.E) and opened a new one (Fabrica de discos Columbia S.A). They relabeled all their stock with the new Columbia label and continued production. They also lost the rights to use the laminated process, but by then all companies except French, Italian, German and Australian, had abandoned that process because of cost.
Inurrieta continued recording in Spain, for they had learned the technology. Their recordings were always far better than the Gramófono ones. Besides that, they continued pressing their old K matrixes alongside the newly made ones, so good was their quality that many recordings from the late twenties and early thirties continued in the catalogue until 1950. Yet Inurrieta must have retained some of the old American Columbia matrixes, and still some of them went to the presses, with matrix numbers erased and new ones assigned, and labelled under phantom pseudonyms. Those were few and rare issues, yet I happen to own two or three examples.
Our civil war in 1936 almost stopped production for three years. Yet they went along, with some patriotic recordings for the new government, language courses, etc. They managed to reach matrix 4400 by 1940. Then the series was renamed C, but matrix numbers continued in the same series.
Something has to be done, because Gramófono competitors in Barcelona had access to all the international Columbia catalogue. So Inurrieta sent his son Enrique to continue engineering studies in England, later making training at Decca, and making also good friends with Edward Lewis, the Decca manager. Result: a new contract in 1943 to issue in Spain all the international Decca catalogue. This, together with the recovery of the Spanish recording activities, and (I suspect) access to the Decca recording technology, put again the Spanish Columbia company in the podium. From herein until the seventies, they were a powerful record company, with a very good recording technology and an aggressive commercial and artistic punch. Later in the forties they launched their Spanish Decca label, the Alhambra label, and the others.
In 1954 the Columbia contract with USA ended, but they started with a new contract with New York Decca, retained the Columbia name in Spain, and continued with the UK Decca contract too.
Although Barcelona had the HMV label, together with Odeon and Regal, and later Pathé and Capitol, the Basque Columbia enterprise was a very serious competitor.
And all the time since the twenties, the Spanish made Columbia recordings were better quality than the Gramófono ones. Also the records were better in composition, much more silent, thicker and very good in all.
The Decca label story, another day!
That's the story of the Spanish Columbia label, as I've learned it from several sources which I'll cite herein:
Jaume Baró and David Jones book about musical industry in Spain.
They took much information from the late Antonio Massisimo, a Catalonian collector that joined many paperwork and catalogues from the Spanish record companies. Unfortunately he tried to sell all his documents to our national library, but they didn't reach an agreement, so all his heritage went to an unknown French collector supposedly.
Also the magnificent Eresbil, the Basque country library, has lately compiled and put in their website all this information, or a great part of it.
So far, these are the more reliable sources I've found. And I suspect that Antonio Massisimo was the unique source behind all them.
I've heard during years that he intended to publish a book about all this, but he didn't. The best things I've found compiling all this and publishing are the web pages of Eresbil, and the one of Colección Filiberto, this later more focused on machines.
The proprietor and Alma mater of this curious company was Juan Inurrieta, a Basque impresario who was very active. They started in early 1910s selling gramophones and records, guns, etc. Soon they started making their own gramophones under an agreement with some German maker, under the brands Multiplex and Mercedes.
In 1923 they signed an agreement with Columbia (both the USA and the British companies which were independent then) to build a factory and issue laminated records in Spain. Records were labelled Regal, and I suspect (non verified) that the Americans retained the rights for use of the Columbia label also in Spain, which they issued with the week known green Columbia label. Spanish Regal records issued American Columbia recordings, and also British, French and German, and from other countries too. But most of their output were Spanish recordings, which were made by visiting engineers from UK, in the Spanish K matrix series (later WK when they became electric). I also suspect that at some point in the thirties, they were allowed to take the Columbia recording system by their own, records being made by our own engineers that were learned by the British.
So they went along, with very good sales. In fact, together with Odeon and Parlophon, Gramófono (Spanish branch of HMV) and Polydor since 1929, were the major record sellers herein. Judging by the survivor records, Odeon, Gramófono and Regal were the three big in Spanish market. But Regal records were the best quality by far... In 1926, Odeon and Parlophon became the property of British Columbia (which by then also owned again the USA company) and they also started to press laminated records, and improved the quality of their recordings up to the same standard of Regal. But the rights and agreement with Inurrieta and the Spanish Columbia factory were still in force, so they didn't interfere with each other.
Then came the 1931 merger, and EMI automatically took over the Barcelona Gramófono Factory. They claimed to take over the Basque factory too, but Inurrieta resisted, making force of their American Columbia agreement, as by then, the US company was again independent from the British one. So in Spain they could continue production under that umbrella. Things went along, with several legal processes that menaced the independency of Basque Columbia, until 1935. By then, in only 12 years of existence, to Inurrieta had produced nearly 3500 Spanish matrixes, which makes a pretty 280 recordings each year. Adding the many international Columbia recordings they also issued, they got a pretty well packed catalogue. Gramófono claimed the factory, the matrixes and stock, but they lost the last trial for the Spanish recordings, winning only the rights to the use of the Regal brand since then, and prohibiting Inurrieta to issue more international Columbia recordings. Yet Inurrieta retained some of the American matrixes... And the story continues. Since then, international Columbia recordings were issued under the Regal brand in Spain, pressed by the Barcelona Gramófono Factory (now the Spanish EMI branch). They started a new matrix series at CR-3000, later named CK. Inurrieta was prevented from issuing more international Columbia recordings. But this was not a problem... for they had amassed a great Spanish music catalogue. Thanks to the American agreement, they were allowed to use the Columbia label in Spain and the magic notes logo. Inurrieta closed the former company (Columbia Graphophone Company S.A.E) and opened a new one (Fabrica de discos Columbia S.A). They relabeled all their stock with the new Columbia label and continued production. They also lost the rights to use the laminated process, but by then all companies except French, Italian, German and Australian, had abandoned that process because of cost.
Inurrieta continued recording in Spain, for they had learned the technology. Their recordings were always far better than the Gramófono ones. Besides that, they continued pressing their old K matrixes alongside the newly made ones, so good was their quality that many recordings from the late twenties and early thirties continued in the catalogue until 1950. Yet Inurrieta must have retained some of the old American Columbia matrixes, and still some of them went to the presses, with matrix numbers erased and new ones assigned, and labelled under phantom pseudonyms. Those were few and rare issues, yet I happen to own two or three examples.
Our civil war in 1936 almost stopped production for three years. Yet they went along, with some patriotic recordings for the new government, language courses, etc. They managed to reach matrix 4400 by 1940. Then the series was renamed C, but matrix numbers continued in the same series.
Something has to be done, because Gramófono competitors in Barcelona had access to all the international Columbia catalogue. So Inurrieta sent his son Enrique to continue engineering studies in England, later making training at Decca, and making also good friends with Edward Lewis, the Decca manager. Result: a new contract in 1943 to issue in Spain all the international Decca catalogue. This, together with the recovery of the Spanish recording activities, and (I suspect) access to the Decca recording technology, put again the Spanish Columbia company in the podium. From herein until the seventies, they were a powerful record company, with a very good recording technology and an aggressive commercial and artistic punch. Later in the forties they launched their Spanish Decca label, the Alhambra label, and the others.
In 1954 the Columbia contract with USA ended, but they started with a new contract with New York Decca, retained the Columbia name in Spain, and continued with the UK Decca contract too.
Although Barcelona had the HMV label, together with Odeon and Regal, and later Pathé and Capitol, the Basque Columbia enterprise was a very serious competitor.
And all the time since the twenties, the Spanish made Columbia recordings were better quality than the Gramófono ones. Also the records were better in composition, much more silent, thicker and very good in all.
The Decca label story, another day!
That's the story of the Spanish Columbia label, as I've learned it from several sources which I'll cite herein:
Jaume Baró and David Jones book about musical industry in Spain.
They took much information from the late Antonio Massisimo, a Catalonian collector that joined many paperwork and catalogues from the Spanish record companies. Unfortunately he tried to sell all his documents to our national library, but they didn't reach an agreement, so all his heritage went to an unknown French collector supposedly.
Also the magnificent Eresbil, the Basque country library, has lately compiled and put in their website all this information, or a great part of it.
So far, these are the more reliable sources I've found. And I suspect that Antonio Massisimo was the unique source behind all them.
I've heard during years that he intended to publish a book about all this, but he didn't. The best things I've found compiling all this and publishing are the web pages of Eresbil, and the one of Colección Filiberto, this later more focused on machines.
Inigo