Re: [ARSCLIST] 101 strings collection up for grabs LA area

[David Lennick <dlennick@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mike Richter" <mrichter@xxxxxxx>
> > Many of those labels offer what *may* be interesting selections, but the
> > names provided - if any - are often fictions. Essential information on
> > labels such as Plymouth is not available on the disc or packaging, so
> > their value for collectors is nil. (Of course, someone seeking all of
> > the Varsity issues may not care what is recorded on them, but that is a
> > rather odd sort of collector indeed - at least, IMHO.)
> >
> Well, minor labels...and, even to a sad extent, major labels...have
> tended to assume that their clients aren't interested in all the
> nasty discographic details! And...anybody looking for Varsity reissues
> descends headlong into the morass of Obie's dealings...where details
> are often lacking because if the source were identified court dealings
> would rapidly ensue!
>
> I'm fairly sure that the Orchestras identified on the labels of
> my half-vast accumulation of Royale (et al) 78's existed only in
> the minds of whomever was in charge of creating pseudonyms!
>
> Then, again...since we were shooting at Germans when these were
> issued, I don't suppose there would have been a lot of enthusiasm
> about the exchange of discographic minutiae with the aforementioned...
>
> ...stevenc

Amazing, isn't it? Not only did Obie steal European recordings (in addition to
occasionally obtaining one or two by legitimate means and crediting the
artists, such as Marian Anderson and the Quintette of the Hot Tub of France),
he also seized opportunities wherever he found them. When rubber was in short
supply during the war, Firestone stores found themselves without their main
product (tires) so Oberstein launched a line of records they could sell, on the
Philharmonic label. You'll find Mengelberg's Tchaikovsky 6th in there, along
with other purloined performances which also turn up on his Music Appreciation
label (where I've also found a couple of Jules Bledsoe sides, uncredited, and
not listed in Rust). Crazy business. And of course the anonymous Varsity sides
were eventually transferred to LP, so 1950 music lovers could purchase
Mengelberg's 1812 Overture legitimately reissued on Mercury or save a couple of
bucks and (unknowingly) get the same performance on Varsity, probably by the
"Rome Opera Orchestra" or some such.

dl