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This was the most successful record
label produced by Levy's of London (see also Levaphone).
The first of 4 different series of Oriole records were released in May & June 1927, and 15 different records were released, though the recordings generally dated from a year or two earlier. They were all from American Vocalion's "race" catalogue and numbered 1000 to 1012 plus 2000 and 2001 for 4 sides by white cabaret artists. (see first label) The P-100 series dates from the early 1930s and the label is either silver (see second label), or sometimes gold as in the third series.
In the mid-1930s, there
was a short-lived LV-100 series, gold labelled with the same design as
the earlier 30s P- series. (see third label example) The LV-series were re-issued in the 1950s as LB-series, using the original masters and a new-design of label in Black with silver printing (see fourth example). New recordings were also made available in this series
Thanks to Bill Dean-Myatt's tireless research, I have found three more
Oriole series from the 1950s: I'm sure there are more....
|
The following
is an attempt at listing some of the Oriole series.
First the fifteen 1927 records:
Cat No | Matrix | Title | Artists | Original Issue / Recording Date |
1000 |
E-2328 E-2329 |
Plantation Blues Chicago Breakdown |
Sonny Clay's Plantation Orchestra | Vocalion 1000 (Feb 2, 1926) |
1001 |
E-3193/4 E-3195/7 |
Daddy Come Back I've Got Somebody New |
Rosa Henderson with the Four Black Diamonds | Vocalion 1025 (May-Jun 1926) |
1002 |
E-2440 E-2442 |
South Street Blues Charleston Blues |
Viola McCoy with the Dixie Trio | Vocalion 1002 (c. Dec 1925) |
1003 |
C-2620/1 C-2622/3 |
29th And Dearborn Sweet Mumtaz |
(Louis) Russell's Hot Six | Vocalion 1010 (Mar 10, 1926) |
1004 |
E-3138 E-3142 |
Static Strut Stomp Off, Let's Go! |
Erskine Tate's Vendome Orchestra | Vocalion 1027 (May 28,-1926) |
1005 |
E-2859 E-2882 |
Sadie Green (The Vamp Of New
Orleans) Nobody Else Will Do |
Della & Gene Collins, (vocal duet with ukulele) Edmonia Henderson (with piano & clarinet) |
Vocalion 1016 (c. Apr 19,
1926) Vocalion 1015 (Apr 20, 1926) |
1006 |
E-3415 E-2950 |
She's Crying For Me Here Comes My Baby |
Dewey Jackson's Peacock Orchestra Rosa Henderson with the Three Hot Eskimos |
Vocalion 1040 (Jun 21, 1926) Vocalion 1021 (c. Apr 29, 1926) |
1007 |
E-2863 E-2869 |
The Pearls King Porter Stomp |
Jelly-Roll Morton (piano solo) | Vocalion 1020 (Apr 20, 1926) |
1008 |
E-3166 E-3164 |
Struggling Little Bits |
Jimmy Bertrand's Washboard Wizards | Vocalion 1035 (May 29, 1926) |
1009 |
E-3156 E-3157 |
Georgia Bo-Bo Drop That Sack |
Lill (Armstong)'s Hot Shots | Vocalion 1037 (May 28, 1926) |
1010 |
E-4324 E-4321 |
The Creeper Immigration Blues |
Duke Ellington's Kentucky Orchestra | Vocalion 1077 (Dec 29, 1926) |
1011 |
E-4771/3 E-4774/6 |
Variety Stomp Phantom Blues |
Fess Williams & his Royal Flush Orchestra | Vocalion 15550 (Mar 28, 1927) |
1012 |
E-21786 E-21788 |
Cushion Foot Stomp P. D. Q. Blues |
Clarence Williams & his Washboard Band | Vocalion 1088 (Mar 8, 1927) |
2000 |
E-3802 E-3805 |
She Knows Her Onions Yiddisher Charleston |
Arthur Brown (tenor, with orchestra) (pseudonym for Irving Kaufman) | Vocalion 15460 (Sept 1926) |
2001 |
E-4358 E-4363 |
High-High-High Up In The Hills How Long Must I Wait For You ? |
Peggy English | Vocalion 15504 (Jan 25, 1927) |
Now the early 1930s P-series: Grateful thanks to Steve Walker for filling all the gaps. See also notes at the bottom of the page.
Cat No | Matrix | Title | Artists | Rec. Date |
P-100 |
81 83 |
Lay In The
Hay Tiger Rag |
Harry Roy and his Bat Club Boys (from the Bat Club, London) | August 1931 |
P-101 |
91 92 |
Swanee I Ain't Got Nobody |
Stanley Black & his Oriole Modernists ("Hot" vocalism by Nat Gonnella (sic)) | August 1931 |
P-102 |
R-221 R-222 |
Minnie The
Moocher To Have And To Hold |
Adelaide Hall (the crooning blackbird) with piano accmp. | October 1931 |
P-103 |
R-216 R-218 |
Doin' What
I Please Rhapsody In Love |
Adelaide Hall (the crooning blackbird) with piano accmp. | October 1931 |
P-104 |
87 89 |
Pussy! If You Haven't Got Love |
Harry Roy and his Bat Club Boys (from the Bat Club, London) | August 1931 |
P-105 |
195 204 |
Cheated
(Roy) Ooh! That Kiss (Warren) |
Harry Roy and his Bat Club Boys (from the Bat Club, London) | September 1931 |
P-106 |
199 202 |
Home You Rascal. You (No. 2) |
Harry Roy and his Bat Club Boys (from the Bat Club, London) | September 1931 |
P-107 |
206 208 |
I'll Putcha
Pitcha In The Paper All For The Sake Of Love (Hart, Blight) |
Nan Blackstone (with novelty orchestra) | September 1931 |
P-108 |
R-225 R-232 |
Too Darn
Fickle I'm Red-Hot From Harlem |
Adelaide Hall (the crooning blackbird) with piano accmp. | October 1931 |
P-109 |
R-229 R-230 |
I Got
Rhythm Baby Mine |
Adelaide Hall (the crooning blackbird) with piano accmp. | October 1931 |
P-110 |
278 279 |
Bidin' My
Time (Gershwin) You Took Advantage Of Me (Rodgers) |
Edgar Jackson's Gargoyle Five (at the Gargoyle Club, London) | May 1932 |
P-111 |
284 287 |
I've Got
Five Dollars (Rodgers, Hart) By Special Permission Of The Copyright Owners (Gensler) |
Edgar Jackson's Gargoyle Five (at the Gargoyle Club, London) | May 1932 |
P-112 |
308 309 |
excerpts from Rhapsody Moderne, parts 1 & 2 (Harry Gordon) | Harry Gordon (piano) | circa July 1932 |
P-113 |
348 350 |
Thank You
For The Flowers (Moore, Johnson) You're Just About Right For Me (Turk, Ahlert) |
Edgar Jackson's Gargoyle Five (at the Spider's Web, Bushey) | September 1932 |
P-114 (12") |
352 354 |
Rhapsody
(Lucas) Arabaasques (Jean-Jean) |
Rudolph Dunbar (clarinet) with Mary Lucas at the piano | September 1932 |
P-115 |
515 516 |
Sim Shalom Birchas Kohanim |
Cantor Wolf Lewi | June-July 1933 |
Finally, the mid-1930s LV-series; these appear to have been re-issued in the 1940s in the LB series, then in the 1950s on the CB-series.
Cat No | Matrix | Title | Artists | Original Issue / Recording Date |
LV-100 |
P-77161 P-77163 |
Dinah Lady Be Good |
Quintette Of The Hot Club Of France | Ultraphon AP-1422, Dec. 1934 |
LV-101 |
P-77162 P-77164 |
Tiger Rag I Saw Stars |
Quintette Of The Hot Club Of France | Ultraphon AP-1423, Dec. 1934 |
LV-102 |
P-77242 P-77243 |
Confessin' The Continental |
Quintette Of The Hot Club Of France | Ultraphon AP-1443, Mar. 1935 |
LV-103 |
P-77351 P-77352 |
Blue Drag Swanee River |
Quintette Of The Hot Club Of France | Ultraphon AP-1479, Apr. 1935 |
LV-104 |
P-77241 P-77353 |
Sweet Sue, Just You The Sunshine Of Your Smile |
Quintette Of The Hot Club Of France | Ultraphon
AP-1444, Mar. 1935 Ultraphon AP-1484, Apr. 1935 |
LV-105 |
P-77285 P-77286 |
Blue Drag Viper's Dream |
Freddy Taylor and his Men From Harlem | Ultraphon AP-1489, Mar. 1935 |
Oriole Private Recordings: It is
reasonable to assume that Levy's produced many of these, probably hundreds, but
generally only single copies have been found of those known, excepting the
Vernon's Pools record, so it it not unlikely that Levys only pressed individual
copies of most private recordings. I will attempt to list them below, hopefully in master
number order, though not all show a master number, so some guesswork has to be
undertaken. These are usually single-sided, often with the Oriole-stamped
backing. One or two show "catalogue number" in an SP-series on the label, though
I don't believe they were ever publicly available in that way. Where known, I
will show this.
Thanks to the following people who
have helped with this listing: Colin Bray, Norman Field,
Charles Hippisley-Cox, Mike Langridge, Alan Miles, John Norman, and most of all, Steve Walker.
Matrix | Title | Artists (where known) | Approx. Recording Date | coupling |
104 | The Island Spell (John Ireland) | Tom F. Milton (piano) | circa August 1931 | 106 |
106 | Fantaisie Impromptu (Chopin) | Tom F. Milton (piano) | circa August 1931 | 104 |
118 | When I Look At You (Mack) | Jimmy Mack and his Boys | circa September 1931 | 119 |
119 | What A Girl (Mack) | Jimmy Mack and his Boys | circa September 1931 | 118 |
150 | O Mistress Mine | male voice (with piano accmp) | s/s | |
158 | [no title shown] | ? (soprano, with piano accmp) | 171 | |
171 | [no title shown] | violin solo | 158 | |
173 | A.A. Pantomime 1930 - Sweet And Lowbrow | (Bucely, Botterell, Marsh, Todd) | s/s | |
180 (12") | A.A. Pantomime 1931, part 2 | 181 | ||
181 (12") | A.A. Pantomime 1931, part 1 (Little God; Fall Of The Pound) | 180 | ||
210 (SP-14) | That's My Description Of Love | The Novelty Three (banjo, piano & vocal) | c. Sepetmber 30, 1931 | 211 |
211 (SP-14) | You, Just You | The Novelty Three (banjo, piano & vocal) | c. Sepetmber 30, 1931 | 210 |
212 (SP-13) | That's Why (waltz) (Fayette Perry) | The Novelty Three (banjo, piano & vocal) (solo vocal & trio) | c. Sepetmber 30, 1931 | 213 |
213 (SP-13) | It's True (waltz) (Fayette Perry) | The Novelty Three (banjo, piano & vocal) (vocal trio) | c. Sepetmber 30, 1931 | 212 |
270 | Limehouse Blues | Cavendish Dance Band | May 1932 | |
I Heard | Jack Sheehan & his Music (with vocal trio) | Summer, 1932 | ||
333 | Love Me And Please Don't Leave Me | piano solo | Autumn 1932 | s/s |
373 | When It's Early-Closing In Town | anonymous dance band with vocal refrain | Autumn 1932 | |
SP-436 | Healing For Some The Cruise Of The Youstone |
Freddie Earle and chorus
(piano: Rudolph Rex) Ron Mawton & Ed Black |
SP-437 | |
SP-437 | A Horticulturist Am I We Both Went To The Boardschool |
Ron Mawton & chorus Ed Black & Chas. Pratt |
SP-436 | |
538 | A Souvenir Of Duke Ellington | Duke Ellington interviewed by Percy Mathieson Brooks (editor of The Melody Maker magazine) | July 14 or 15, 1933 | s/s |
539 | A Souvenir Of Duke Ellington | Duke Ellington interviewed by Percy Mathieson Brooks (editor of The Melody Maker magazine) | July 14 or 15, 1933 | s/s |
553 | Night | anonymous dance band, thought to be Percival Mackey's Band, vocal possibly by Monti Ryan | Autumn 1933 | |
563 | Corinne Corinna | anonymous dance band (2t/tb/2sax/p/g/sb/d) (from "JR") | c. December 1933 | |
581 (12") | 1933 World Trophy Competition for Britain | anonymous | c. early 1933 | |
906 | Love In Bloom | Ted Ford and his Old Florida Band | c. November 1934 | 907 |
907 | Miss Otis Regrets | Al Shaw (guitar) | c. November 1934 | 906 |
935 | Theme, into: Sing As We Go | Vernon's Football Pools Recording Orchestra | c. December 1934 | 937 |
936 | ||||
937 | Theme, into: Over My Shoulder | Vernon's Football Pools Recording Orchestra | c. December 1934 | 935 |
1170 | Abide With Me (Liddle) | Florence Winnicott | 12" record c. 1935 | 1171 |
1171 | O Don Fatale (Verdi) | Don Carlo | 12" record c. 1935 | 1170 |
1203 | Sweet Sue - Just You | Cambridge University QuinQuagiunta Ramblers | c. 1935 | 1204 |
1204 | Oh, Lady Be Good | Cambridge University QuinQuagiunta Ramblers | c. 1935 | 1203 |
1215 | Ave Maria (Gounod) | Florence Winnicott (vocal, with piano accmp) | c. 1935 | 1216 |
1216 | Ritoornelle (Chaminade) | Florence Winnicott (vocal, with piano accmp) | c. 1935 | 1215 |
1272 | (I've Got A) Feeling You're Fooling | male vocal duet with piano & drums accmp | c. Late 1935 | 1273 |
1273 | I Wished On The Moon | male vocal duet with piano & drums accmp | c. Late 1935 | 1272 |
1396 ? | Alas Those Chimes ("Maritana" - Wallace) | Master John Herbert Holiday (piano: Charles Western) | ||
1396 ? | John Peel (Traditional) | Master John Herbert Holiday (assisted by Doris & Jean Western and David Gale and Charles Western) | n.b. from ebay; quoted as number 1396 but I don't know which side this number refers to. | |
2858 | Code and Numerals | Morse Record 1A | 2859 | |
2859 | Plain Language | Morse Record 1A | 2858 | |
3414 | Code And Numerals, 12-15 w.p.m. | Morse Record 2A | 3415 | |
3415 | Plain Language, 12-15 w.p.m. | Morse Record 2A | 3414 | |
3934 (12") | WWII: Reproduction of a BBC broadcast telling of a feat of herosim of the RAF over enemy lines | |||
Note: A copy seen of 906/907 (the sides are coupled) says there were only 18 copies made of this record (hand-written on the label)
NOTES regarding the Oriole P-series and Levys
by
Steve Walker.
(dated October 28, 2012)
All
details are taken from the original labels, with the exceptions of P-103,
108, 109, 112, 114 and 115. Note that P-114 is a 12” record. Masters in italic
face are hand-written, and were recorded in an upstairs room of the Regent
Palace Hotel; masters in upright face are type-set and were recorded in Levy’s
own studio at Rosslyn House, Regent Street (but see note on the Adelaide Hall
session, below).
These records seem to
have been issued in two blocks: P-100 - 109 in the autumn of 1931, and P-110 -
114 in the autumn of 1932; only P-113 and P-114 were ever publicly advertised so
far as I know. All originally had silver labels with black printing; the most
popular were re-pressed on gold labels with black printing, and these
re-pressings appear to date from 1933-34. A batch of P-107 on silver is known to
have been sent to the Liberty Music Shop in New York; exact recording dates
where known are likely to have come from test pressings.
The second Harry Roy session was moved in Rust &
Forbes' BRITISH DANCE BANDS ON RECORD
to the spring of 1932, on the understandable but erroneous evidence of the
general release date of some of the tunes in England. The band in fact gave up
doubling at the Bat Club in November, 1931, under the pressure of mounting the
full band’s stage show at the RKO Theatre, Leicester Square. It is likely that
the band got advance copies of the sheet music from Paris, where the release
restrictions did not apply, and that the sales of the Oriole records were so
limited as to escape the attention of the Performing Rights Society.
The Adelaide Hall
session, however, bears faint stylo-written masters prefixed R-, indicating that
they are genuine English Brunswick masters. The only explanation I can offer is
that Brunswick were allowed the use of Levy’s small Rosslyn House studio on
occasions when their normal venue - Chappell’s Aeolian Hall in Bond
Street - was too large for the purpose; Brunswick 1217 must have
been issued contemporaneously with Oriole P-102 and 103, though Brunswick 1307
is a 1932 re-issue. To make matters worse, some later pressings of the Oriole
P-100 series bear
Collector and sound
restorer (and jazz musician) John R.T. Davies was the first to point out (and I
entirely agree) that the studio used pre-numbered waxes, thereby accounting for
many blanks by using a new number for each take. This is supported by the
existence of a number of rejected takes in test pressing form, which I have of
course not included in the listing.
P-115 is a complete
rogue, but the report appears to be correct (which is to say it does not seem to
be a mis-report for an SP- or SR- issue; it was filed in order at THE
GRAMOPHONE). It is likely to be on orange with gold printing, but I have not
seen it.