RCA Thesaurus is the title of a series of phonographic albums on the RCA Victor
label featuring outstanding transcriptions of classical music and popular compositions from
the 1950s. They were produced under the musical direction of Ben Selvin

Ben Selvin

Benjamin B. Selvin , son of Russian-immigrant Jewish parents, was a musician, bandleader, record producer and innovator in recorded music. He was known as The Dean of Recorded Music....

 during the 1950s in New York City for RCA Victor and were broadcast over the NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 radio network. The noted musician John Serry, Sr.

John Serry, Sr.

John Serry, Sr. was an accomplished concert accordionist virtuoso, arranger, composer, organist and educator who performed on the CBS Radio and CBS Television networks...

 recorded several of his arrangements for this collection with his ensemble The Bel-Cordions in 1954. The group consisted of four accordions, string bass and guitar. It was augmented in some arrangements by vibes, drums and piano. Mr. Serry's arrangements included the following works:

Classical Compositions

• "Allegro" - Joseph Haydn
  Joseph Haydn
  Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
  
    Arr. John Serry Sr. (Accordion Quartette 1954)
• "La Cinquantane" - Gabriel Marie Arr. John Serry Sr. (Accordion Quartette 1954)
• "Tango of Love" - John Serry, Sr.
  John Serry, Sr.
  John Serry, Sr. was an accomplished concert accordionist virtuoso, arranger, composer, organist and educator who performed on the CBS Radio and CBS Television networks...
  
    Arr. John Serry Sr. (Accordion Quartette 1954)

Popular compositions

• "Shine On, Harvest Moon
  Shine On, Harvest Moon
  "Shine On, Harvest Moon" is the name of a popular early-1900s song credited to the married vaudeville team Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth. It was one of a series of moon related Tin Pan Alley songs of the era. The song was debuted by Bayes and Norworth in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1908 to great acclaim...
  
  - Jack Noworth & Nora Bayes
  Nora Bayes
  Nora Bayes was a popular American singer, comedienne and actress of the early 20th century.-Early life and career:...
  
  "- Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954)
• "Melancholy Baby" - Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954)
• "Singin' in the Rain
  Singin' in the Rain (song)
  "Singin' In the Rain" is a song with lyrics by Arthur Freed and music by Nacio Herb Brown, published in 1929. However, it is unclear exactly when the song was written with some claiming that the song was written and performed as early as 1927. The song was listed as Number 3 on AFI's 100 Years.....
  
  - Arthur Freed
  Arthur Freed
  Arthur Freed was born Arthur Grossman in Charleston, South Carolina. He was a Jewish American lyricist and a Hollywood film producer.- Biography :Freed began his career as a song-plugger and pianist in Chicago...
  
   & Nacio Herb Brown
  Nacio Herb Brown
  Nacio Herb Brown was an American writer of popular songs, movie scores, and Broadway theatre music in the 1920s through the early 1950s.-Biography:...
  
  " - Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954)
• "Nobody's Sweetheart" - Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954)
• "Chicago
  Chicago (That Toddlin' Town)
  "Chicago" is a popular song. It was written by Fred Fisher and was published in 1922. The song has been recorded by many artists, but the best-known version is by Frank Sinatra....
  
  " - Fred Fisher
  Fred Fisher
  Fred Fisher was a German-born American songwriter and Tin Pan Alley music publisher. Fisher founded Fred Fisher Music Publishing Company in 1907. He was born as Albert von Breitenbach in Cologne...
  
   - Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954)
• "If You Knew Susie
  If You Knew Susie
  "If You Knew Susie" is the title of a popular song from the 1920s written by Buddy DeSylva and Joseph Meyer.With a name immortally linked with many hits, Eddie Cantor's best-known 1920s success was undoubtedly "If You Knew Susie", which was a U.S...
  
  " - Buddy DeSylva & Joseph Meyer
  Joseph Meyer (songwriter)
  Joseph Meyer was an American songwriter who wrote some of the most notable songs of the first half of the twentieth century....
  
   -Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954)
• "Somebody Stole My Gal
  Somebody Stole My Gal
  "Somebody Stole My Gal" is a popular song from 1918, written by Leo Wood. In 1923 Ted Weems & his Orchestra had a five-week run at number one with his million-selling version of Leo Wood’s 1922 standard...
  
  " - Leo Wood
  Leo Wood
  Leo Wood was a songwriter and lyricist for popular songs in the United States. He is best remembered as the songwriter of the 1920’s hit Somebody Stole My Gal. Wood wrote lyrics for many of the top songwriters of the day, including Theodore F. Morse...
  
   - Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954)
• "Tara Ra Boom Dere" - Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954)
• "Old McDonald" - Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954)
• "Beer Barrel" - Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954)
• "I Love Louisa" - Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954)
• "Oh You Beautiful Doll" - Seymour Brown/ Nat D. Ayer - Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954)
• "Chinatown" - Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954)

The Bel-Cordions

• John Serry, Sr.
  John Serry, Sr.
  John Serry, Sr. was an accomplished concert accordionist virtuoso, arranger, composer, organist and educator who performed on the CBS Radio and CBS Television networks...
  
   - First Accordionist/ Conductor/Arranger
• Louis Delmonte - Accordionist
• Alf Nystrom - Accordionist
• Ralph Vetro - Accordionist