Bing Crosby on Harmony (1949 repressing of '30s items).
Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 1:29 am
Something I found at Salvation Army last week, one of the items on the short-lived revival of the Harmony name on 78 rpm singles, in 1949.
The labels are the same colour as the CBS Okeh labels, a light purple, with all printing in gold.
The record came in its original sleeve; at the bottom it states, 'Wright Record Corporation, Meriden, Conn. Exclusive distributors.'
Most all the material came from ARC era Brunswick or early CBS Columbia, although toward the label's end there were new recordings from such as Pearl Bailey.
Here's the two sides of 1007, one of the three Bing Crosby singles listed on the sleeve.
'Paradise' is from matrix B.11480-B, recorded 15 March 1932 and originally released on Brunswick 6285.
'(She walks like you--she talks like you) She reminds me of you', backed by Jimmie Grier and his orchestra, is a Hollywood recording, matrix LA.146-A, recorded 13 March 1934 and originally released on Brunswick 6853.
It seems like Columbia's shellac pressing quality didn't much recover from the shortages and problems caused by World War II, as they often seem rougher than the records they made in the early 1940s. It wasn't until the change from the 'knife-edge' pressings to the rounded-edge discs around 1953 or 1954 that the quality jumped up again.
And in keeping with this, this is not only a knife-edge disc, the surfaces of both sides possess a 'smoky' character, with a higher hiss level. The records also sound as though the stampers were very worn out, the grooves widened and distorted out of shape, and thus sounding quite poor played with a 3 mil stylus (which is all I have). I wonder what the record would sound like played back with a truncated tip or perhaps a 3.5 to 4 mil stylus....
The labels are the same colour as the CBS Okeh labels, a light purple, with all printing in gold.
The record came in its original sleeve; at the bottom it states, 'Wright Record Corporation, Meriden, Conn. Exclusive distributors.'
Most all the material came from ARC era Brunswick or early CBS Columbia, although toward the label's end there were new recordings from such as Pearl Bailey.
Here's the two sides of 1007, one of the three Bing Crosby singles listed on the sleeve.
'Paradise' is from matrix B.11480-B, recorded 15 March 1932 and originally released on Brunswick 6285.
'(She walks like you--she talks like you) She reminds me of you', backed by Jimmie Grier and his orchestra, is a Hollywood recording, matrix LA.146-A, recorded 13 March 1934 and originally released on Brunswick 6853.
It seems like Columbia's shellac pressing quality didn't much recover from the shortages and problems caused by World War II, as they often seem rougher than the records they made in the early 1940s. It wasn't until the change from the 'knife-edge' pressings to the rounded-edge discs around 1953 or 1954 that the quality jumped up again.
And in keeping with this, this is not only a knife-edge disc, the surfaces of both sides possess a 'smoky' character, with a higher hiss level. The records also sound as though the stampers were very worn out, the grooves widened and distorted out of shape, and thus sounding quite poor played with a 3 mil stylus (which is all I have). I wonder what the record would sound like played back with a truncated tip or perhaps a 3.5 to 4 mil stylus....
