V-DISCS A History and Discography Richard S Sears Jazz Frank Sinatra Bing Crosby
$
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Description
V-DISCS A History and Discography by Richard S. Sears.
Greenwood, 1980.
1167 page hardcover book.
Book is square and tight. No loose, torn, or missing pages.
Original owner's name on ffep and there is the occasional checkmark and annotations.
Please see all photos provided.
Everything you could ever want to know seems to be here including some fascinating illustrations such as letters, recording sheets, labels, and the like. . . . The amount of detail packed into this large but easy-to-handle volume is positively staggering . . . cannot be praised highly enough. Int. Assoc. of Jazz Record Collectors Journal
At the depth of World War II -- July 31, 1942 -- The American Federation of Musicians, headed by James C. Petrillo, went on strike to seek royalties from the record companies to finance an unemployment fund to compensate musicians who lost work because of competition from recorded music. The strike dragged on for more than a year, drastically reducing the production of new commercial recordings. Bing Crosby, for example, recorded no songs for commercial release during the first year of the strike. The strike also cut off the supply of new recordings to the troops overseas. Robert Vincent, a sound engineer and a lieutenant assigned to the radio section of the Army Special Services Division, approached the War Department with the idea of recording music especially for the troops. He received approval from Washington in July 1943 and was transferred to the music section of Army Special Services, where the V-Disc program developed.
Vincent set up shop at Third Avenue and East 42nd Street in New York City. His first order of business was to secure the blessings, including waiver of all fees and royalties, from recording companies and unions, including the striking American Federation of Musicians. To get these waivers the Army assured the unions that V-Discs would be for use of military personal only and would not be available commercially. Moreover, the unions were promised that V-Discs would not be declared military surplus but would be destroyed, along with the masters, when no longer of use to the armed forces.
Next Vincent had to secure a name for the project -- something more attractive than "Special Services Recordings." A secretary suggested V-Discs, the "V" standing for Victory as well as Vincent.
The first V-Discs were shipped Oct. 1, 1943, from the RCA Victor pressing plant in Camden, New Jersey. The initial shipment included 1,780 boxes each containing 30 records.
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