| V-Disc | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1943 |
| Founder | U.S. government |
| Defunct | 1949 |
| Genre | Jazz, swing, pop |
| Country of origin | U.S. |
V-Disc ("V" for Victory) was a record label that was formed in 1943 to provide records for U.S. military personnel. Captain Robert Vincent supervised the label from the Special Services division. [1]
Many popular singers, big bands, and orchestras recorded V-discs.
Under the leadership of James Caesar Petrillo, the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) was involved in the 1942–44 musicians' strike in which there was a recording ban on four recording companies. On October 27, 1943 [2] George Robert Vincent convinced Petrillo to allow the union's musicians to make records for the military as long as the discs were not sold and the masters were disposed of. Musicians who had contracts with different record labels were now able to record together for this nonprofit enterprise. A group consisting of Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins, and Art Tatum recorded concerts that were released as V-Discs. Captain Vincent ran the program from the Special Services Division. Artists and repertoire responsibilities were handled by Steve Scholes and Walt Heebner, both of RCA Victor, Morty Palitz of Decca Records, and Tony Janak of Columbia Records. The program started for the Army, but soon music was provided for the Navy and Marines. [1]
Many V-Discs contained spoken-word introductions by bandleaders and musicians wishing good luck and prayers for the soldiers. Glenn Miller in December 1943, introduced a record by saying, "This is Captain Glenn Miller speaking for the Army Air Force's Training Command Orchestra and we hope that you soldiers of the Allied forces enjoy these V-Discs that we're making just for you." The Jubilee series, hosted by comedian Ernie "Bubbles" Whitman, was provided for black servicemen. The banter between Whitman and guests sometimes ventured into risque and racial humor, including the use of the ethnic slur "ofay" to refer to whites. In addition to a window into black entertainment styles, the Jubilee series chronicled the development of swing music on the cusp of bebop. V-disc recordings provide important archives of the Billy Eckstine Orchestra and the International Sweethearts of Rhythm. The "V" stands for "Victory" although Vincent said the "V" stood for "Vincent". [2]
The V-Disc program ended in 1949. [1] Audio masters and stampers were destroyed. Leftover V-Discs at bases and on ships were discarded. On some occasions, the FBI and the Provost Marshal's Office confiscated and destroyed V-Discs that servicemen had smuggled home. An employee at a Los Angeles record company served a prison sentence for the illegal possession of over 2,500 V-Discs. [2]
Alton Glenn Miller was an American big band founder, owner, conductor, composer, arranger, trombone player, and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the US Army Air Forces. Glenn Miller and His Orchestra was one of the most popular and successful bands of the 20th century and the big band era. His military group, the Major Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra, was also popular and successful.
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Harry Haag James was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947, but shortly after he reorganized and was active again with his band from then until his death in 1983. He was especially known among musicians for his technical proficiency as well as his tone, and was influential on new trumpet players from the late 1930s into the 1940s. He was also an actor in a number of films that usually featured his band.
Edward William May Jr. was an American composer, arranger and trumpeter. He composed film and television music for The Green Hornet (1966), The Mod Squad (1968), Batman, and Naked City (1960). He collaborated on films such as Pennies from Heaven (1981), and orchestrated Cocoon, and Cocoon: The Return, among others.
Discography is the study and cataloging of published sound recordings, often by specified artists or within identified music genres. The exact information included varies depending on the type and scope of the discography, but a discography entry for a specific recording will often list such details as the names of the artists involved, the time and place of the recording, the title of the piece performed, release dates, chart positions, and sales figures.
Glenn Miller and His Orchestra was an American swing dance band formed by Glenn Miller in 1938. Arranged around a clarinet and tenor saxophone playing melody, and three other saxophones playing harmony, the band became the most popular and commercially successful dance orchestra of the swing era and one of the greatest singles charting acts of the 20th century. As of 2023, Ray Anthony is the last surviving member of the orchestra.
"You'll Never Know", sometimes referred to as "You'll Never Know " in later years, is a popular song with music written by Harry Warren and the lyrics by Mack Gordon. The song is based on a poem written by a young Oklahoma war bride named Dorothy Fern Norris.
Sing and Dance with Frank Sinatra is the sixth studio album by Frank Sinatra. The tracks were arranged and conducted by George Siravo and his orchestra. Original Columbia 10-inch 33 1/3-rpm LP and 78-rpm album set released October 16, 1950; the 7-inch 45-rpm EP and EP box sets were released in October 1952.
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"Sunday, Monday or Always" is a 1943 popular song with music by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Johnny Burke.
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Irving "Babe" Russin was an American tenor saxophone player.
"Moonlight Serenade" is an American swing ballad composed by Glenn Miller with subsequent lyrics by Mitchell Parish. It was an immediate phenomenon when released in May 1939 as an instrumental arrangement, though it had been adopted and performed as Miller's signature tune as early as 1938, even before it had been given the name "Moonlight Serenade". In 1991, Miller's recording of "Moonlight Serenade" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia 1933–1944 is a 10-CD box set compiling the complete known studio master recordings, plus alternate takes, of Billie Holiday during the time period indicated, released in 2001 on Columbia/Legacy, CXK 85470. Designed like an album of 78s, the medium in which these recordings initially appeared, the 10.5" × 12" box includes 230 tracks, a 116-page booklet with extensive photos, a song list, discography, essays by Michael Brooks, Gary Giddins, and Farah Jasmine Griffin, and an insert of appreciations for Holiday from a diversity of figures including Tony Bennett, Elvis Costello, Marianne Faithfull, B.B. King, Abbey Lincoln, Jill Scott, and Lucinda Williams. At the 44th Grammy Awards on February 27, 2002, the box set won the Grammy Award for Best Historical Album of the previous year.
Between 1938 and 1944, Glenn Miller and His Orchestra released 266 singles on the monaural ten-inch shellac 78 rpm format. Their studio output comprised a variety of musical styles inside of the Swing genre, including ballads, band chants, dance instrumentals, novelty tracks, songs adapted from motion pictures, and, as the Second World War approached, patriotic music.
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Bill Clifton was a Canadian jazz pianist based in New York City for almost three decades. He played with many of the name bands of the swing era and accompanied some of the music industry's most noted vocalists He is remembered today as an early and important influence on the great jazz pianist Bill Evans.
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