[ARSCLIST] Hatto, etc.

[Steven Smolian <smolians@xxxxxxxxx>]

I have at least one catalog of "master" tapes available from a European source that offers copies of popular standards, broadway show, operetta, G&S, the standard symphonic repertoire, etc., in instrumental versions, marketed to the bargain LP market.  I'm searching for it.  You purchased a copy of the master as could anyone else.  They were uncredited.  The buyer was expected to add his own performer names.

Thus the same performance probably appeared under a variety of credits.  Some likely candidates made their way into Schwann though most were distributed either though other outlets (cheap) or mail order ventures.      

An interesting feature was that you could issue the pop and show stuff either as instrumental items or, by overdubbing, have them appear as vocal versions.  I suspect the old "Ed Sullivan Presents" broadway show series was thus created.

One of my odd jobs was hunting down all the cheap issues of West Side Story and songs therefrom for Leonard Bernstein's office so they could be sure they were collecting royalties.  A copy of Rodin's bust of Mahler was part of the office decoration.  One of the office girls told me she was sure it was Bernstein because some visiting sculptor-type had told her he had made it.  Her, not it.  What a line!  

Sales were not restricted to the US.  There was a Mikado, possibly from one of these sources, with a cast including Martyn Green, which was issued on Allegro.  The same instrumental performance appeared behind a version in German, or so I recall.  

Some of the Halo (.$ .99) records were made this way.  I remember Eddie Smith (EJS records, Golden Age of Opera, etc.) once telling me he used these tapes to record some of the active opera singers of the period.  Kurt Baum may have been one.  This was probably part of a gig Eddie did for Allegro or Remington that trickled down to Halo.  I've no paper work on this, just recollection.  I'm sure other tenors of that ilk reused these audio backgrounds.  

I recall sitting late a couple of nights in the old Crest Cafateria on 57th St in NY with George Goldner, a rock behind-the-scenes personality, plus a friend of mine who had German and Dutch, the three of us making up performer names for symphonic recordings.  George was planning a bargain line from these sources.   This was about 1964.  I think some of these came on Roulette and/or a sub-label, maybe Forum.  Goldner, a minority interest founder of Roulette, subsequently sold his share to Morris Levy, the bigger stockholder and a man with dubious connections.  Goldner later did ocassional projects for him of which this was one.  At least one source was legit- the English Saga label.  

In addition, Vox leased tapes for use in some of encycloperdia sets and other ventures.  Sometimes credited, often not, they add to the confusion.  

This situation murkifies uncovering accurate credits for many of the bargain records.   

I'll let you guys know when that tape catalog shows up.

Steve Smolian