BELL & ARTO RECORDS 1920-1928: 78 RECORDS DISCOGRAPHY & ILLUSTR. HISTORY (BOOK)

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Bell and Arto Records: A History and Discography, 1920–1928

By William R. Bryant
with The Record Research Associates

Edited and annotated by Allan Sutton

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Originally $39.00

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248 total pages, illustrated
6" x 9" quality softcover

WILLIAM R. BRYANT'S American Zonophone Records, Emerson Records, Pathé-Perfect Discography, and other major works have been published posthumously by Mainspring Press.

THE RECORD RESEARCH ASSOCIATES comprised a group of well-known discographers and writers, including Walter C. Allen, Len Kunstadt, and Perry Armagnac. Mainspring Press has acquired the group's research materials and the rights to their unpublished work.

ALLAN SUTTON is the author of numerous books on early sound recordings and recording history, and is winner of the 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Recorded Sound Collections.
 

Arto and Bell records — with their lack of identifying markings and use of specially commissioned recordings or other companies' alternate takes (and even outright rejects) — have tripped up many collectors and discographers over the years.

A group affiliated with Record Research magazine set out to remedy that situation. They delved into surviving primary-source materials (including the Ed Kirkeby and Carson Robison logs, and the Plaza and Gennett company files) and used synchronized dual turntables to determine alternate takes and suspected source recordings. Researcher Bill Bryant eventually inherited and largely completed the project. Unpublished until now, it has been newly updated and annotated by Allan Sutton.

The group's findings — many of which appear in print here for the first time — have finally established the correct sources of most Arto and Bell issues, in the process identifying many erroneous attributions that appear in some well-known, but less-rigorously researched works.

The discography identifies the original source recordings (including those from such obscure sources as Critona and Olympic), as well as exclusive commissioned recordings. It includes:
 

• Discographical details for all series
• Originating studios
• Master and take numbers when verifiable from original materials
• Source issues, with release dates
• Recording dates (actual or estimated, depending on surviving materials)
• Artist pseudonyms and label errors
• Composer and show credits
• Medley contents and interpolated songs
• Artist and title indexes.

The illustrated and footnoted introduction traces Arto's transition from purely a piano-roll brand; Bell's early history as an Arto client label; its takeover by Arto's musical director, composer-arranger-conductor George Beynon, after Arto's collapse; the Scranton-ERL years; and its final incarnation as a Gennett client label.

These are new, first-quality copies in the original shrinkwrap, shipped directly from the publisher. Your satisfaction is guaranteed.

Only a limited number of copies are available at this special price.

“Mainspring Press has a reputation for commitment to serious discographical
research and superb quality book production.”
— Vintage Jazz Mart

“Significant contributions to discographic research.”
— Notes (Music Library Association)

Visit the Mainspring Press website and blog for free articles on vintage cylinders and 78 records

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