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Crown Records was a New York-based dime store label started in 1930 and did not survive the Great Depression (last issue was in 1933). Known as the label offering "Two Hits for Two Bits" (proudly printed on their sleeves), they sold for 25 cents. Plaza Music Company started the company after they were excluded from the merger which resulted in the formation of the American Record Corporation. Their office was located at 10 West 20th Street, New York, and had recording studios in the McGraw-Hill building on 42nd Street. Adrian Schubert was the initial recording director. From the start, Crown set out to provide well performed versions of the hit songs of the day. Crown mostly used publisher's basic 'stock arrangements' and most releases didn't contain many hot solos and often performed at a slower tempo than competitive dime store recordings. However, after about 100 issues their records started getting a bit more peppy, increasing interest in these later issues to many collectors. Most of the releases were studio assembled groups led by Adrian Schubert, Milt Shaw, Jack Albin, Lou Gold, Buddy Blue (Smith Ballew), The High Steppers, Frank Novak and others. There were exceptions; Ben Pollack's band recorded for Crown using the name "Gil Rodin". Gene Kardos's band recorded for Crown using the name "Joel Shaw". A handful of black bands like Eubie Blake's and Fletcher Henderson's recorded for Crown, as well. There were a number of country-styled records recorded by Carson Robison, Frankie Marvin, as well as Frank & James McGravy. There were a few performing orchestras who recorded for Crown towards the end of their existence, such as Gus Steck's Chanticleer Orchestra. The most collectible records are probably those made by: * Ben Pollack - a couple using the name "Gil Rodin" as well as one record under "Jack Teagarden"s name * Fletcher Henderson - five records issued under his name as well as ''Connie's Inn Orchestra'' * Eubie Blake - 7 records issued * Joel Shaw - a sizable group of hot sides recorded by Gene Kardos's orchestra under the name of his pianist * For personality collectors, the vocal records made by Sylvia Froos, Welcome Lewis and Charlie Palloy are quite scare and highly valued * Benny Carter - there was one very rare but commercial side recorded by this bandleader * a handful of Paramount blues and gospel was issued on Crown and are very rare (Blind Blake, Harum Scarums, etc.) Crown also issued a handful of "longer playing" 78s, featuring nearly 5 minutes of music at the same 25-cent price. Despite Crown Records being recorded at their own studios, pressings were done by Victor, which made them the first client label pressed by RCA, although the first 100 or so Crown records do not resemble the standard Victor's pressing appearance. (It's useful to note that Victor was experimenting with their own 'budget' series of labels. Their first attempt was the short-lived 1931 Timely Tunes label, sold at Montgomery Ward. Then Victor started their Bluebird and Electradisk labels, originally as an 8-inch record. An early group of 10-inch Electradisk records (their 2500 series) look more like Crown masters than Victor masters, leading collectors to speculate that perhaps these early Electradisks were recorded at Crown's studios, based on appearance of the record and the typeface of the matrix numbers. This odd Electradisk series were made at two sessions in June 1932.) Crown Records seemed to sell fairly well, competing with Hit of the Week, Columbia's line of 'cheaper' labels (Harmony, Velvet Tone and Clarion), as well as the ARC group of dime store labels (Melotone, Perfect, Romeo, Oriole, etc.). Although Crown records turn up in the east, they are much less commonly found in the midwest and south, leading to the assumption that they did not have a full nationwide network of dealers, due to Depression conditions. Some selected Crown sides were leased to Broadway in the US, to the Imperial, and Edison Bell Winner labels in the UK, and to Angelus, Lyric and Summit Records in Australia. A handful of Paramount masters were issued on Crown, as well. Crown took over the Homestead Records mail order line from ARC as well. After about 400 issues, Crown produced the very rare "Gem" label. All known Gems were exactly the same as the issue on Crown (for example, Joel Shaw's Crown 3414 of "Yeah Man" b/w "Jazz Pie" was also issued on Gem 3414). No one has been able to determine what store sold these rare records (or even what price they might have sold for), but the few copies that have turned up were in the New York/New Jersey area. The last known Crown master was recorded on August 8, 1933, after reaching 533 records (3533). In 1939–40, many of the jazzier Crown sides were issued on Eli Oberstein's short-lived Varsity Records, all from dubbed masters. ==References== * "The American Record Label Book" by Brian Rust (Arlington House Publishers, 1978) * "Two Hits For Two Bits - Crown Record and Master Listing" by Robert R. Olson & Bill Korst (Joyce Publications, 1993). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Crown Records (1930s label)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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