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Re: [ARSCLIST] Concertapes - some more history
Hi Steve:
If you do re-locate those NY Woodwind Quintet CD's, very interested to know the publisher. There are
some definite gray-market Everest jazz CD's out there, obviously made from lousy LP transfers. And
then a label apparently distributed or owned by Universal put out some Everest jazz stuff a year or
few ago, also obviously very bad LP transfers, so I assume the jazz master tapes are lost. Everest
also made a few "pop" records, best described as easy listening. Those never resurfaced after the
LPs went out of print.
I'm talking in all cases about the original Bellock-owned Everest, not the discount label of the
late 60's and 70's.
By the way, the original Everest studio building was still intact in Bayside, Queens as of a few
years ago, but last I heard, there was gentrification going on in the neighborhood so it may now be
torn down. It was a medical offices building as of a few years ago, I assume the studio area was
split into 2 floors.
One more Everest tidbit. A photo of Ted Gossman in the Bayside machine room, which was used to
illustrate a Mix Magazine article about the Everest CD reissues and then used again in the Classic
Record Collector article, is mis-dated and mis-described. It was actually taken when Fine Recording
owned the studio, during a Command session. The Everest-era views of the studio and machine room are
seen in an AES Journal article and similar AES convention preprint by Doc Frayne of Westrex.
Ironically, by the time Westrex published articles touting Everest's use of 35mm for master
recording, the business model was already failing badly and Everest was out of business a year or so
later.
-- Tom Fine
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steven Smolian" <smolians@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 8:52 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Concertapes - some more history
I'm in the muddle of reorganizing my CDs and can't lay hands on specific items at the moment, but
I bought two or three Concert-Disc sourced New York Woodwind Quintet reissues on a label which
name I don't recall.
The Solomon Omega line is not to be confused with the LP label of the same name. The LP one had
records by Claude Helfer, a terrific pianist, and the conductor Argenta, among others.
Steve Smolian
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Fine" <tflists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 6:05 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Concertapes - some more history
Hi Steve:
Yes, Bernard Solomon, my mistake. Seymour owned Omega Records, which reissued some if not most
Everest classical titles on CD and then a few early SACD, but it seems like Omega died with
Seymour Solomon in 2002. Some of the Omega CD's are now available as ArkivCD CDR's.
As I understand it, Madacy Entertainment:
http://www.madacy.com/Investor/index.php
bought rights or bought outright the Everest classical catalog, what remains of it. Classic
Records then licensed from a Madacy subsidiary in Germany to make their LPs and DVD-A's. BTW, the
3-channel DVD-A's are as close as you're going to get to the master tapes and the whole way this
remastering was done was technically the best you can do for those old films. As far as I know,
Everest used the Westrex equipment in its stock configuration, so the EQ curve was well known,
etc.
There was a 2-part article series on Everest in Classic Record Collector this year.
But, back to my main topic, while we've seen the Everest classical catalog resurface first on
CD's and very early SACD's for a few titles, and now on Classic LP's and DVD-A's, I've never seen
nor heard of any Concertape reissues in the modern era.
-- Tom Fine
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steven Smolian" <smolians@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, October 29, 2007 10:07 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Concertapes - some more history
Tom, you'll have to define "Everest Masters." The 35mm company was one entity. Acquiring it and
adding to it, Mr. Solomon (Bernard, not Seymour, I believe), built a conglomerate. Various
segments were licensed out but I think he still owns the entire (Everest I and II) catalogs.
Others may have rights, but not exclusively, as far as I can tell.
As to the location of master tapes, that's a separate jungle.
Steve Smolian
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Fine" <tflists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, October 29, 2007 7:25 PM
Subject: [ARSCLIST] Concertapes - some more history
I ponied up some money and got copies of the Concertapes folder contents in the Leonard Sorkin
archives at U Wisconsin.
A few highlights:
1. Steve Smolian, right again -- Concertapes was acquired by Seymor Solomon/Everest, looks like
in 1963. Concertapes put out what looks like it's last brochure in what seems to be early 1963
(brochure #163) and the same titles were listed in a later Everest brochure, seems to be from
late 1963 or early 1964.
2. Company financial statements in 1961-62 show a profitable concern. There was a payout of
stockholder equity to shareholders in late 1962, taking profits before sale of the company.
3. Concertapes also carried recordings of the "NBC Symphony of the Air," which I believe were
Toscanini's players after the Maestro left. I wonder if these were made by David Sarser?
4. Despite listing the "Fine Arts Symphony Orchestra" for some orchestra recordings -- I think
we've discussed this was probably most of the Chicago Symphony in all but name -- this
performer is not listed in any Concertape catalogs in the file, including one from the mid or
late 50's. The Fine Arts Quartet (Sorkin and 3 other Chicago Symphony string players) was
listed as the artist on a series of tapes.
So, this leads to another question. Were the Concertape masters acquired by the Canadian
company that acquired the Everest classical masters?
-- Tom Fine
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