| Banner Records | |
|---|---|
 Banner Record Sleeve, 1920s. | |
| Parent company | Plaza Music Company |
| Founded | 1922 |
| Defunct | 1938 |
| Status | Inactive |
| Genre | Popular music, jazz, blues |
| Country of origin | U.S. |
| Location | New York City |
Banner Records was an American record company and label in the 1920s and 1930s. It was created primarily for the S.S. Kresge Company, though it was employed as a budget label in other discount stores.
Banner was formed in January 1922 as the flagship label of the Plaza Music Company of New York City. [1] Plaza Music produced several cheap labels targeted at discount houses and hired bandleader Adrian Schubert as musical director. [2] At the beginning, Banner concentrated on popular dance hits, though it also recorded comedy, semi-classical music, and a small number of country and blues records. In its first years Banner also leased masters from Paramount Records and Emerson Records. [3] [4] [5] [6]
In July 1929 Plaza merged with Cameo-Pathé and the Scranton Button Company to form the (ARC). ARC dropped Pathé and Scranton Button's label Emerson but kept active all of the other labels belonging to the combined company, including Banner. After ARC acquired the rights to Brunswick Records, Banner's product lines began to reflect the general ARC product, and this added more African-American and country music to its catalogue. [7] As part of the ARC-BRC combination, it no longer enjoyed a flagship status accorded to Melotone among the budget labels. Although ARC-BRC dropped some of the dime-store labels, it kept Banner until December 1938, when the CBS Broadcasting Network bought ARC-BRC and liquidated all of the dime-store labels. [1]
In December 1946, entrepreneur Sam Selsman formed a new Banner Records label, devoted to Jewish music and Yiddish-language comedy routines; [8] although this later Banner Records no longer actively records, its catalogue continues. [9] There is no relationship between the Hebrew Banner label and the earlier products of Plaza Music or ARC/BRC; nor is there is a relationship to a dime-store label put out by Leeds and Caitlin in the early 1900s, though the label's design is similar. [10]
Banner debuted with two concurrent label series in January 1922: a popular 1000 series side by side with a "Standard" 2000 series of semi-classical music, comedy, and some Jewish material. [4] [6] Reaching Banner 1999 in the main series in mid-1927, Banner skipped ahead to 6000 and terminated the Standard series at the end of the year at Banner 2183. [11] At this point, Banner also stopped the 6000 series at Banner 6167 and moved again to a 7000 series starting at Banner 7001. [12] This ended in early 1929 at Banner 7265 and then reverted to the old series, starting at Banner 6200. [11] The series survived the merger into ARC, but was ended at the start of 1930 at Banner 6566 and restarted at 0500 until it reached 0872 later in the year. [13] The number series was then started again at 32001 [7] and the price changed from 25 cents to 35 cents in order to bring Banner in line with other dime-store labels being sold 3 for a dollar. This lasted until 1935, when the dime-store labels were all married to a central numbering system. But releases were not necessarily unified; for example, Robert Johnson, who did have some releases on Melotone, did not appear on Banner. [14]
Banner discs are found throughout the United States, indicating their popularity as Plaza's flagship label. The audio fidelity of the records was average to slightly below average for the time, but as Banner was a cheap label they were pressed from cheaper materials that did not withstand repeated playing with the heavy phonograph players of the time. Most Banner discs found today exhibit considerable wear and surface noise, but they are still valued by virtue of the selections.
In keeping with their low-price production, it is common for a current hit song on the A-side and a lesser-known song as the B side. Many of these B side songs are eccentric tunes not recorded elsewhere (but, of course, found on the other Plaza/ARC labels). Many of these odd songs have great hot solos, making them quite enjoyable. Also scattered around these B sides are hot tunes by Luis Russell, Duke Ellington, small groups from the Ben Pollack orchestra, among others.
Although some of the artists from the previous incarnation of Banner survived into this second period, particularly in 1929-1931, none of these artists appeared on the first label. [7] [16] [17] [13]
Romeo Records was an American jazz record label that started in 1926 as a subsidiary of Cameo Records. The discs were sold exclusively at S. H. Kress & Co. department stores and retailed for 25 cents each.
Conqueror Records was a United States-based record label, active from 1928 through 1942. The label was sold exclusively through Sears, Roebuck and Company.
Oriole Records was an American record label founded in 1921 by McCrory's stores.
American Record Corporation (ARC), also referred to as American Record Company, American Recording Corporation, or ARC Records, was an American record company.
"Love Me or Leave Me" is a popular song written in 1928 by Walter Donaldson with lyrics by Gus Kahn. The song was introduced in the Broadway musical comedy Whoopee!, which opened in December 1928. Ruth Etting's performance of the song was so popular that she was also given the song to sing in the play Simple Simon, which opened in February 1930.
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1945.
"The Nearness of You" is a popular song written in 1937 by Hoagy Carmichael with lyrics by Ned Washington. Intended for an unproduced Paramount film titled Romance In The Rough, the studio's publishing division Famous Music reregistered and published the song in 1940. It was first recorded by Chick Bullock and his Orchestra on Vocalion. Despite numerous accounts to the contrary, the song was never scheduled for and does not appear in the 1938 Paramount film Romance in the Dark.
"Dinah" is a popular song published in 1925 and introduced by Ethel Waters at the Plantation Club on Broadway. It was integrated into the show Kid Boots. The music was written by Harry Akst and the lyrics by Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young. Hit versions in 1926 were by Ethel Waters, The Revelers, Cliff Edwards, and Fletcher Henderson.
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1938.
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1937.
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1936.
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1935.
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1934.
"Mexicali Rose" is a popular song composed by bandleader and pianist Jack Breckenridge Tenney in the early 1920s, when he and his seven piece orchestra played the hotels and clubs of the Calexico and Mexicali border. The song became a hit in the mid-1930s, thanks to Gene Autry and Bing Crosby, around the same time that Tenney became a lawyer and was elected to the California State Assembly. Tenney was later appointed to head of the California Senate Factfinding Subcommittee on Un-American Activities.
Bert Lown was a violinist, orchestra leader, and songwriter.
"When Your Lover Has Gone" is a 1931 composition by Einar Aaron Swan which, after being featured in the James Cagney film Blonde Crazy that same year, has become a jazz standard.
"I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" is a popular Vaudeville song. The music is credited to Harry Carroll, but the melody is adapted from Fantaisie-Impromptu by Frédéric Chopin. The lyrics were written by Joseph McCarthy, and the song was published in 1917. It was introduced in the Broadway show Oh, Look! which opened in March 1918. The song was sung in the show by the Dolly Sisters. Judy Garland sang it in the 1941 film Ziegfeld Girl. It was subsequently sung by Jack Oakie in the 1944 film The Merry Monahans and was again featured in the 1945 film The Dolly Sisters, where it was sung by John Payne. It was also included for part of the run of the 1973 revival of Irene.
Starting as the B-side of Gene Autry's "Mexicali Rose", penned by Autry, 'You're the Only Star in My Blue Heaven' was also popular in Hillbilly jukeboxes and radios in the mid-late 1930s. After the Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. (CBS) purchased ARC and Gene's contract in December 1938., 'Star' was re-recorded on April 13, 1939 at Columbia's new Hollywood studio, located at KNX Radio, Sunset and Gower. The younger version is over 20 seconds shorter.
"I've Got the Key to the Kingdom" is a gospel blues song recorded in 1929 by Washington Phillips.
Oh Baby is a 1923 song by Walter Donaldson with lyrics by Buddy DeSylva. On December 21, 1923 it was recorded by Frank Crummit, vocal and ukulele, accompanied by Phil Ohman on piano, in New York, for the Victor label. That same December it was recorded by Billy Jones for the Banner label. Again for the Banner label it was recorded by the Lucky Strike Dance Orchestra in February 1924. It was recorded by the Wolverine Orchestra on May 6, 1924 in Richmond, Indiana for the Gennett Label. The Wolverine Orchestra was made up of Bix Beiderbecke on cornet, pianist Dick Voynow, trombonist Al Gandee, tenor saxophonist George Johnson, clarinetist Jimmy Hartwell, banjoist Bob Gillette, tuba player Min Leibrook, and drummer Vic Moore. Three days later, again in the Gennett studio, it was recorded by Bailey's Lucky Seven. It was recorded by Nathan Glantz and His Orchestra in March 1924 for the Emerson label.
