1942-44 musicians' strike
Encyclopedia
On August 1, 1942, the American Federation of Musicians
, at the instigation of union president James Petrillo
, started a strike against the major American recording companies because of disagreements over royalty payments. Beginning at midnight, July 31, no union musician could record for any record company.
The strike did not affect musicians performing on live radio
shows, in concerts, or, after October 27, 1943, on special recordings made by the record companies for V-Disc
s for distribution to the armed forces fighting World War II
, because V–Discs were not available to the general public. However, the union did frequently threaten to withdraw musicians from the radio networks to punish individual network affiliates who were deemed “unfair” for violating the union's policy on recording network shows for repeat broadcasts.
local chapter of the union in 1937 he had organized a strike there. He was elected president of the American Federation of Musicians in 1940.
When he announced that the recording ban would start at midnight, July 31, 1942, most people thought it would not happen. America had just entered World War II
on December 18, 1941 and most newspapers opposed the ban. By July it was clear that the ban would take place and record companies began to stockpile new recording of their big names. In the first two weeks of July, these performers recorded new material: Tommy Dorsey
, Bing Crosby
, Charlie Barnet
, Jimmy Dorsey
, Guy Lombardo
, and Glenn Miller
, who recorded his last records as a civilian bandleader. Recording during the last week was a long list of performers, including Count Basie
, Woody Herman
, Alvino Ray, Johnny Long
, Claude Thornhill
, Judy Garland
, Crosby (again), Glen Gray
, Benny Goodman
, Kay Kyser
, Dinah Shore
, Spike Jones
, and Duke Ellington
, among others.
’s release of Harry James
’ "All or Nothing at All
", recorded in August 1939 and released before James' new vocalist, Frank Sinatra
, had made a name for himself. The original release didn’t even mention the vocalist’s name. When the recording was re–released in 1943 with Sinatra’s name prominently displayed, the record was on the best–selling list for 18 weeks and reached number 2 on June 2, 1943.
As the strike extended into 1943, record companies bypassed the striking musicians by recording their popular vocalists singing with vocal groups filling the backup role normally filled by orchestras. Some of the recordings made this way included:
Frank Sinatra was a special case. He left the Tommy Dorsey
Orchestra in 1942 and signed with Columbia
on June 1, 1943, with the strike ten months old. And while no new records had been issued during the strike, he had been performing on the radio (on "Your Hit Parade"), and on stage—his historic smash opening at New York's Paramount Theater occurred December 31, 1942. Columbia wanted to get new recordings of their growing star as fast as possible, so Sinatra persuaded them to hire Alec Wilder
as arranger and conductor for several sessions with a vocal group called the Bobby Tucker
Singers. These first sessions were on June 7, June 22, August 5, and November 10, 1943. Of the nine songs recorded during these sessions, seven charted on the best–selling list.
The strike had an effect on radio shows that used recorded music due to the limited amount of new recordings. Radio programs that relied mainly on records found it difficult to keep introducing new music to their listeners. Martin Block
, host of WNEW's Make Believe Ballroom radio show, circumvented the ban by having friends in England send him UK-produced versions of records, where the ban was not in effect. He was forced to discontinue this practice after the station's house orchestra staged a retaliatory strike, which was settled when WNEW agreed not to broadcast records made after August 1, 1942.
and its transcription subsidiary World Broadcasting System settled in September, 1943, agreeing to make direct payments to a union-controlled “relief fund”, followed shortly by the new Capitol Records
, on October 11, 1943. Capitol had only issued its first records on July 1, 1942, 30 days before the strike began. The two largest companies, Victor
and Columbia
, held out for another year, but then settled on Armistice Day
, November 11, 1944.
The end of the strike was not the end of the royalty issue, however. As television
was beginning, there were questions regarding musicians and royalties from this new medium, and a similar strike was called for 1948, lasting close to a year, ending on December 14, 1948.
During the strike, vocalists could and did record without instrumentalists; instrumentalists could not record for the public at all. As historian Peter Soderbergh put it, "Until the war most singers were props. After the war they became the stars and the role of the bands was gradually subordinated."
It should be pointed out that before the strike began there were signs that the increasing popularity of singers was beginning to reshape the big bands. When Frank Sinatra
joined Tommy Dorsey
's band in 1940, most selections started with a Tommy Dorsey solo. By the time Sinatra left in 1942, his songs with the band began with his singing, followed by any solos by Dorsey or others.
Some critics see the defining moment in the shift to be Sinatra’s performance with Benny Goodman
and his Orchestra at New York City
's Paramount Theater
December 30, 1942. Sinatra was third–billed on the program and although he was America’s most popular singer, Goodman had never heard of him. Goodman announced him and the audience roared and shrieked for five minutes. Goodman’s response was, ”What the hell was that?” Once Sinatra started to sing, the audience continued to shriek during every song. As a saxophone player said, "When Frank hit that screaming bunch of kids, the big bands just went right into the background."
The other major cause of the decline of the big bands is World War II
itself—and the resulting loss of band members to the military, curtailment of traveling by touring bands because of gasoline rationing, and a shortage of the shellac used to make records.
, developed by Charlie Parker
and Dizzy Gillespie
and others during the period of the strike, was not recorded and was not available to the general public. James Lincoln Collier says, "By about 1942 it was clear to musicians that here was something more than mere experimentation. Here was a new kind of music. Unfortunately, we cannot pinpoint these developments [because of the strike]. As a result there are few commercial recordings of any of the bop players during the years they were working out their innovations." As Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns
put it in "Jazz: A History of America's Music“, "And so, except for a handful dedicated collaborators and a few devoted fans, the new music Parker and Gillespie and their cohorts were developing remained largely a secret".
American Federation of Musicians
The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada is a labor union of professional musicians in the United States and Canada...
, at the instigation of union president James Petrillo
James Petrillo
James Caesar Petrillo was the prominent leader of the American Federation of Musicians, a trade union of professional musicians in the United States and Canada.-Biography:Petrillo was born in Chicago, Illinois...
, started a strike against the major American recording companies because of disagreements over royalty payments. Beginning at midnight, July 31, no union musician could record for any record company.
The strike did not affect musicians performing on live radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
shows, in concerts, or, after October 27, 1943, on special recordings made by the record companies for V-Disc
V-Disc
V-Disc was a morale-boosting initiative involving the production of several series of recordings during the World War II era by special arrangement between the United States government and various private U.S. record companies. The records were produced for the use of United States military...
s for distribution to the armed forces fighting World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, because V–Discs were not available to the general public. However, the union did frequently threaten to withdraw musicians from the radio networks to punish individual network affiliates who were deemed “unfair” for violating the union's policy on recording network shows for repeat broadcasts.
Background to the strike
Petrillo had long thought that recording companies should pay royalties. As head of the ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
local chapter of the union in 1937 he had organized a strike there. He was elected president of the American Federation of Musicians in 1940.
When he announced that the recording ban would start at midnight, July 31, 1942, most people thought it would not happen. America had just entered World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
on December 18, 1941 and most newspapers opposed the ban. By July it was clear that the ban would take place and record companies began to stockpile new recording of their big names. In the first two weeks of July, these performers recorded new material: Tommy Dorsey
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
, Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
, Charlie Barnet
Charlie Barnet
Charles Daly Barnet was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader.His major recordings were "Skyliner", "Cherokee", "The Wrong Idea", "Scotch and Soda", "In a Mizz", and "Southland Shuffle".-Early life:...
, Jimmy Dorsey
Jimmy Dorsey
James "Jimmy" Dorsey was a prominent American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, and big band leader. He was known as "JD"...
, Guy Lombardo
Guy Lombardo
Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist.Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, Lombardo led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest...
, and Glenn Miller
Glenn Miller
Alton Glenn Miller was an American jazz musician , arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big Bands"...
, who recorded his last records as a civilian bandleader. Recording during the last week was a long list of performers, including Count Basie
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
, Woody Herman
Woody Herman
Woodrow Charles Herman , known as Woody Herman, was an American jazz clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading various groups called "The Herd," Herman was one of the most popular of the 1930s and '40s bandleaders...
, Alvino Ray, Johnny Long
Johnny Long (musician)
Johnny Long was an American violinist and bandleader, known as "The Man Who's Long on Music". He was raised on a farm in Newell, North Carolina, currently a subdivision of Charlotte. He started practicing with the violin at the age of six, but injured two fingers on his left hand when he was...
, Claude Thornhill
Claude Thornhill
Claude Thornhill was an American pianist, arranger, composer, and bandleader...
, Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
, Crosby (again), Glen Gray
Glen Gray
Glen Gray Knoblauch, better known as Glen Gray, was a jazz saxophonist and leader of the Casa Loma Orchestra....
, Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
, Kay Kyser
Kay Kyser
James Kern Kyser was a popular bandleader and radio personality of the 1930s and 1940s.-Early years:He was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the son of pharmacists Paul Bynum Kyser and Emily Royster Kyser. Editor Vermont C. Royster was his cousin...
, Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality...
, Spike Jones
Spike Jones
Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny and other Warner Brothers cartoon characters, performed a drunken, hiccuping verse for 1942's "Clink! Clink! Another Drink"...
, and Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
, among others.
During the strike
At first, the record companies could release these new recordings to meet listeners’ needs from their stockpile, but eventually this supply was exhausted. The companies also released earlier recordings that had not been already released and re–released records from their back catalogue, including some from as far back as the mid-1920s (the dawn of the electrical recording era). One re–release that was especially successful was ColumbiaColumbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
’s release of Harry James
Harry James
Henry Haag “Harry” James was a trumpeter who led a jazz swing band during the Big Band Era of the 1930s and 1940s. He was especially known among musicians for his astonishing technical proficiency as well as his superior tone.-Biography:He was born in Albany, Georgia, the son of a bandleader of a...
’ "All or Nothing at All
All or Nothing at All
"All or Nothing at All" is a song composed in 1939 by Arthur Altman, with lyrics by Jack Lawrence.Frank Sinatra's 1939 recording of the song became a huge hit in 1943, when it was reissued by Columbia Records during the 1942-43 musicians' strike...
", recorded in August 1939 and released before James' new vocalist, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, had made a name for himself. The original release didn’t even mention the vocalist’s name. When the recording was re–released in 1943 with Sinatra’s name prominently displayed, the record was on the best–selling list for 18 weeks and reached number 2 on June 2, 1943.
As the strike extended into 1943, record companies bypassed the striking musicians by recording their popular vocalists singing with vocal groups filling the backup role normally filled by orchestras. Some of the recordings made this way included:
- "Goodbye Sue" by Perry ComoPerry ComoPierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
(1943) (1944 V-Disc version with full orchestra) - "Have I Stayed Away Too Long?" by Perry ComoPerry ComoPierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
- "Lili MarleneLili Marleen"Lili Marleen" is a German love song which became popular during World War II.Written in 1915 during World War I, the poem was published under the title "Das Lied eines jungen Soldaten auf der Wacht" in 1937, and was first recorded by Lale Andersen in 1939 under the...
" by Perry Como - "Long Ago And Far Away" by Perry Como
- "Sunday, Monday, or AlwaysSunday, Monday, or Always"Sunday, Monday, or Always" is a popular song.The music was written by Jimmy Van Heusen, the lyrics by Johnny Burke. The song was published in 1943....
"- by Bing CrosbyBing CrosbyHarry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
- by Frank SinatraFrank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
- by Bing Crosby
- "You'll Never KnowYou'll Never Know"You'll Never Know" is a popular song. The music was written by Harry Warren and the lyrics by Mack Gordon, based on a poem written by a young Oklahoma war bride named Dorothy Fern Norris....
"- by Frank Sinatra
- by Dick HaymesDick HaymesRichard Benjamin "Dick" Haymes was an Argentine actor and one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s. He was the older brother of Bob Haymes, who was an actor, television host, and songwriter....
Frank Sinatra was a special case. He left the Tommy Dorsey
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
Orchestra in 1942 and signed with Columbia
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
on June 1, 1943, with the strike ten months old. And while no new records had been issued during the strike, he had been performing on the radio (on "Your Hit Parade"), and on stage—his historic smash opening at New York's Paramount Theater occurred December 31, 1942. Columbia wanted to get new recordings of their growing star as fast as possible, so Sinatra persuaded them to hire Alec Wilder
Alec Wilder
Alec Wilder was an American composer.-Biography:...
as arranger and conductor for several sessions with a vocal group called the Bobby Tucker
Bobby Tucker
Bobby Tucker was a pianist and arranger during the jazz era from the 1940s into the 1960s...
Singers. These first sessions were on June 7, June 22, August 5, and November 10, 1943. Of the nine songs recorded during these sessions, seven charted on the best–selling list.
The strike had an effect on radio shows that used recorded music due to the limited amount of new recordings. Radio programs that relied mainly on records found it difficult to keep introducing new music to their listeners. Martin Block
Martin Block
Martin Block born in Los Angeles, California, was an American disc jockey. Walter Winchell is said to have invented the term "disk jockey" as a means of describing Block's radio work.-Early years:...
, host of WNEW's Make Believe Ballroom radio show, circumvented the ban by having friends in England send him UK-produced versions of records, where the ban was not in effect. He was forced to discontinue this practice after the station's house orchestra staged a retaliatory strike, which was settled when WNEW agreed not to broadcast records made after August 1, 1942.
Ending the strike
Some recording companies did not have an extensive backlog of recordings and they settled with the union after just over a year. Decca RecordsDecca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
and its transcription subsidiary World Broadcasting System settled in September, 1943, agreeing to make direct payments to a union-controlled “relief fund”, followed shortly by the new Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
, on October 11, 1943. Capitol had only issued its first records on July 1, 1942, 30 days before the strike began. The two largest companies, Victor
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
and Columbia
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, held out for another year, but then settled on Armistice Day
Armistice Day
Armistice Day is on 11 November and commemorates the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning—the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day...
, November 11, 1944.
The end of the strike was not the end of the royalty issue, however. As television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
was beginning, there were questions regarding musicians and royalties from this new medium, and a similar strike was called for 1948, lasting close to a year, ending on December 14, 1948.
Consequences of the strike for record companies
Over the long term the record companies were not hurt by the strike. In 1941, 127 million records were sold; two years after the strike, that number jumped to 275 million in 1946 and it jumped higher in 1947 to 400 million.Decline of the big bands
One unexpected result of the strike was the decline of the importance in popular music of the big bands of the 1930s and early 1940s. The strike was not the only cause of this decline, but it emphasized the shift from big bands with an accompanying vocalist to an emphasis on the vocalist, with the exclusion of the band. In the 1930s and pre–strike 1940s, big bands dominated popular music; after the strike, vocalists dominated popular music.During the strike, vocalists could and did record without instrumentalists; instrumentalists could not record for the public at all. As historian Peter Soderbergh put it, "Until the war most singers were props. After the war they became the stars and the role of the bands was gradually subordinated."
It should be pointed out that before the strike began there were signs that the increasing popularity of singers was beginning to reshape the big bands. When Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
joined Tommy Dorsey
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
's band in 1940, most selections started with a Tommy Dorsey solo. By the time Sinatra left in 1942, his songs with the band began with his singing, followed by any solos by Dorsey or others.
Some critics see the defining moment in the shift to be Sinatra’s performance with Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
and his Orchestra at New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's Paramount Theater
Paramount Theater (New York City)
The Paramount Theatre was a noted movie palace located at 43rd Street and Broadway in the Times Square district of New York City. Opened in 1926, it was the premiere showcase for Paramount Pictures and also became a popular live performance venue. The theater was closed in 1964 and its space...
December 30, 1942. Sinatra was third–billed on the program and although he was America’s most popular singer, Goodman had never heard of him. Goodman announced him and the audience roared and shrieked for five minutes. Goodman’s response was, ”What the hell was that?” Once Sinatra started to sing, the audience continued to shriek during every song. As a saxophone player said, "When Frank hit that screaming bunch of kids, the big bands just went right into the background."
The other major cause of the decline of the big bands is World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
itself—and the resulting loss of band members to the military, curtailment of traveling by touring bands because of gasoline rationing, and a shortage of the shellac used to make records.
Lack of recordings of early bebop
A second consequence of the ban on recording was that a new musical style, known later as BebopBebop
Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
, developed by Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
and Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
and others during the period of the strike, was not recorded and was not available to the general public. James Lincoln Collier says, "By about 1942 it was clear to musicians that here was something more than mere experimentation. Here was a new kind of music. Unfortunately, we cannot pinpoint these developments [because of the strike]. As a result there are few commercial recordings of any of the bop players during the years they were working out their innovations." As Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns
Ken Burns
Kenneth Lauren "Ken" Burns is an American director and producer of documentary films, known for his style of using archival footage and photographs...
put it in "Jazz: A History of America's Music“, "And so, except for a handful dedicated collaborators and a few devoted fans, the new music Parker and Gillespie and their cohorts were developing remained largely a secret".
External references
- Reproduction of Down Beat magazine article on the start of strike
- Billboard, 26 July 1947-Wither Disk Biz, Petrillo? Article discusses second AFM strike which would take place in 1948.
- Time, December 27, 1948-One for Harry Time Magazine's account of the settlement of the second AFM strike in 1948.