The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Ok folks, most people here if there were to choose the Wax Amberol release or the Blue Amberol release of a title they would go for the blue.

But what titles you can ONLY hear on a Wax Amberol where there we NO Blue Amberol release whatsoever?

I hear Sophie Tucker and Polk Miller releases are the most wanted in this format.

This Cal Stewart title that I bought at the antique store today doesn’t seem to show up often. There are no recordings of it on the UCSB site or YouTube.

I own about 5 WAs and none have fallen apart on me, but I am very cautious because of the stories I’ve read of them self destructing.

Yeah, I've lost a few WAs that way: one of them practically exploded on the mandrel. Some others cracked just sitting in their boxes...

-Bill

The Sutton guides to both wax and blue Amberols indicate which titles were also cross-released. You'll want to get them if you don't already have them.

Sophie Tucker never made it to blue Amberol, except for an experimental record that Norman B. made a few copies of. The 4 Polk Miller wax Amberols were all reissued on blue Amberol.

52089 wrote:The Sutton guides to both wax and blue Amberols indicate which titles were also cross-released. You'll want to get them if you don't already have them.

Sophie Tucker never made it to blue Amberol, except for an experimental record that Norman B. made a few copies of. The 4 Polk Miller wax Amberols were all reissued on blue Amberol.

Where can I find this guide? Is it available online or do I have to buy a physical copy?

Isn’t Irene Franklin also up there with Sophie Tucker for popular artists on wax amberol?

AmberolaAndy wrote:

52089 wrote:The Sutton guides to both wax and blue Amberols indicate which titles were also cross-released. You'll want to get them if you don't already have them.

Sophie Tucker never made it to blue Amberol, except for an experimental record that Norman B. made a few copies of. The 4 Polk Miller wax Amberols were all reissued on blue Amberol.

Where can I find this guide? Is it available online or do I have to buy a physical copy?

What do mean do you have to buy ?

Wolfe wrote:

AmberolaAndy wrote:

52089 wrote:The Sutton guides to both wax and blue Amberols indicate which titles were also cross-released. You'll want to get them if you don't already have them.

Sophie Tucker never made it to blue Amberol, except for an experimental record that Norman B. made a few copies of. The 4 Polk Miller wax Amberols were all reissued on blue Amberol.

Where can I find this guide? Is it available online or do I have to buy a physical copy?

What do mean do you have to buy ?

If there is a PDF of the guide on say, Archive.org or do I have to buy a physical copy of the guide from amazon or eBay.

They were available from Mainspring Press but they are no longer publishing hard copies. You can download a PDF from them (at a cost) or maybe find used copies.

I have always wondered why more Wax Amberol recordings, especially the operatic repertoire, were not reissued as Blue Amberols.
Being directly recorded, their sound quality is vastly superior to dubbings from Diamond discs, which from their first appearance in the UK were known as "Damberols".

I believe Tim Fabrizio's rendition of "My Melancholy Baby" was issued only on black wax and was not made available on Blue Amberol. As such, it's exceedingly rare.