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Vocalion Records was a record label
Record label

In the music industry, a record label can be a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of recorded sound and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the Record producer, manufacturing, distribution , marketing and promotion, and enforcement of copyright protec...
 historically active in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 and in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
.

Vocalion was founded in 1916 by the Aeolian Piano Company of New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
, which also introduced a line of phonograph
Phonograph

The record player, phonograph or gramophone was the most common device for playing Sound recording and reproduction sound from the 1870s through the 1980s....
s at the same time.






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Vocaliondapper
Vocalionmuggles
Vocalion Records was a record label
Record label

In the music industry, a record label can be a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of recorded sound and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the Record producer, manufacturing, distribution , marketing and promotion, and enforcement of copyright protec...
 historically active in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 and in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
.

Vocalion was founded in 1916 by the Aeolian Piano Company of New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
, which also introduced a line of phonograph
Phonograph

The record player, phonograph or gramophone was the most common device for playing Sound recording and reproduction sound from the 1870s through the 1980s....
s at the same time. The label first issued single sided vertical cut disc records
Gramophone record

A gramophone record is an analog signal sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed modulated spiral groove usually starting near the periphery and ending near the centre of the disc....
, soon switching to double sided, then switching to the more common lateral cut system in 1920.

Vocalion pressed their discs in a good quality reddish-brown shellac
Shellac

Shellac is a resin secreted by the female Laccifer lacca to form a cocoon, on trees in the forests of India and Thailand.. It is processed and sold as dry flakes , which are dissolved in denatured alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze and wood finish much like a combination of stain and polyuretha...
, which set the product apart from the usual black shellac used by other labels. Advertisements stated "Vocalion Red Records are best", "Red Records last longer". However the shellac was no more durable than good quality black shellac. Vocalion red surfaces are less hardy than contemporary Victor Records
Victor Talking Machine Company

The Victor Talking Machine Company was an United States corporation, the leading American producer of phonographs and gramophone record and one of the leading phonograph companies in the world at the time....
. Audio fidelity of Vocalion records are well above average for the era.

In 1925 the label was acquired by Brunswick Records
Brunswick Records

Brunswick Records is a United States based record label. The label is currently distributed by Koch Entertainment....
. During the 1920s Vocalion also released "race records" (that is, records recorded by and marketed to African American
African American

African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the Black people populations of Africa....
s; their famous 1000 series).

In April 1930, Warner Bros. bought up Brunswick Records. In December 1931, the Warner Bros. licensed Brunswick and Vocalion to the American Record Corporation
American Record Corporation

The American Record Corporation, often known as ARC Records or simply ARC, was a United States based record company. It resulted from the merger in July of 1929 in music of Regal Records , Cameo Records, Banner Records, the US branch of Path? Records and the Scranton Button Company, the parent company of Emerson Records....
. In 1936 and 1937 Vocalion produced the only recordings of the influential blues
Blues

Blues is a music genre based on the use of the blues chord progressions and the blue notes. Though several blues musical form s exist, the 12-bar blues chord progressions are the most frequently encountered....
 artist Robert Johnson.

ARC was purchased by CBS
CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American radio network and television network. The name is derived from the initials of Columbia Broadcasting System, its former legal name....
 and Vocalion became a subsidiary of Columbia Records
Columbia Records

Columbia Records is an American record label founded in 1888.Columbia is the oldest surviving brand name in pre-recorded sound, being the first record company to produce pre-recorded records as opposed to blank cylinders....
 in 1938.

The Vocalion label was discontinued in 1940; those current Vocalion's were reissued as OKeh's. The Vocalion brand was revived in the late 1950s by Decca Records
Decca Records

Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 in music by Edward Lewis . Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; later the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
 (U.S.A.) as a budget label for back catalog reissues. Decca Records
Decca Records

Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 in music by Edward Lewis . Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; later the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
 (U.K.) revived the label for a time in the 1960s.

In 1997 the Vocalion label was revived for a new series of compact discs by Michael Dutton of Dutton Laboratories
Dutton Vocalion

About the companyDutton Vocalion specialises in re-issuing on CD music recorded between the 1920s and 1970s, and in issuing albums of modern digital recordings....
 of Watford
Watford

Watford is a town and Non-metropolitan district in Hertfordshire, England, situated 19 miles northwest of London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway....
, England. The label specialises in reissues of recordings originally made between the 1920s - 1970s, often leasing original master recordings originally made by Decca
Decca Records

Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 in music by Edward Lewis . Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; later the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
 and EMI
EMI

The EMI Group is a United Kingdom music company comprising the major record label EMI Music ? which operates several labels and is based in Kensington in London, England, United Kingdom ? and EMI Music Publishing, based in New York City....
.

Noted recordings

  • How Long, How Long Blues
    How Long, How Long Blues

    How Long, How Long Blues is a traditional eight bar blues song made famous by Leroy Carr on his 1928 Vocalion Records recording with guitarist Scrapper Blackwell....
     by Leroy Carr
    Leroy Carr

    Leroy Carr was an United States blues singer, songwriter and pianist who developed a laid-back, crooning technique and whose popularity and style influenced musician like Nat King Cole and Ray Charles....
  • Sensational Mood by Lloyd Hunter
    Lloyd Hunter

    Lloyd Hunter was a trumpeter and big band leader from North Omaha, Nebraska. He led band across the Midwestern United States from 1923 until his death....
    's Serenaders with Victoria Spivey
    Victoria Spivey

    Victoria Spivey was an United States blues singer and songwriter....
  • Doin' the Jive b/w Dipper Mouth Blues by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra, 1937


See also

  • List of record labels
    List of record labels

    This is a list of notable record labels.Owing to the large number of entries, the list has been divided by the first letter of the label's name, with labels starting with a number added to this page:...


External links