American Record Company
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, in business from about 1904
1904 in music
-Events:* January 13 - Béla Bartók's symphonic poem Kossuth is premiered in Budapest, becoming his first major work to be performed* February 17 - Puccini's Madame Butterfly debuts in Milan to no great acclaim....
to 1908
1908 in music
-Events:*January 26 - Sergei Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2 receives its première.*March 15 - Maurice Ravel's Rapsodie espagnole receives its première in Paris.*April 11 - Spyridon Samaras's opera Rhea is premiered in Florence...
. Then re-activated in 1979
1979 in music
See also:Record labels established in 1979* 1979 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1979.-January–February:*January 1...
.
The American Record Company was founded by Ellsworth A. Hawthorne and Horace Sheble (formerly dealers for Edison Records
Edison Records
Edison Records was one of the earliest record labels which pioneered recorded sound and was an important player in the early recording industry.- Early phonographs before commercial mass produced records :...
who had been blacklisted for their questionable business methods) and Frederick M. Prescott. It was based in Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
. They produced single-sided lateral-cut-groove disc records
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
.
The principals were connected with the Odeon Records
Odeon Records
Odeon Records was a record label founded in 1903 by Max Straus and Heinrich Zuntz of the International Talking Machine Company in Berlin, Germany. It was named after a famous theatre in Paris, whose classical dome appears on the Odeon record label....
firm (some export pressings carried the "American Odeon Record" name). Most of the records are single sided, but there are also two-sided records known on the label; one researcher stated that the company would press any two sides paired, if the buyer met the minimum-order qualification. As well, these records are notable for being blue in color, rather than the usual black. Several variations of the "Indian" label exist, differing only in minor details. The records appear to have been numbered using a sequence which began at (or near) 030000; the numbers had reached the mid 031000's by the end of operation. The records exist in 7-inch, 10-inch and 10.75-inch sizes, with the latter size being derived from its connection with Odeon (which also used that size). The seven-inch discs used a different numbering sequence, and seemed to have only been produced for a short time. The double-faced issues used the numbers of each side when issued.
The company was closed after unfavorable judgments on patents which the American Record Company had violated from Emile Berliner
Emile Berliner
Emile Berliner or Emil Berliner was a German-born American inventor. He is best known for developing the disc record gramophone...
, Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, and the Victor Talking Machine Company
Victor Talking Machine Company
The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American corporation, the leading American producer of phonographs and phonograph records and one of the leading phonograph companies in the world at the time. It was headquartered in Camden, New Jersey....
.
The label of the discs featured artwork depicting a Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
with a smoking pipe listening to a front-mount disc phonograph
Phonograph
The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
of undeterminable manufacture.
In February 1979 Maurice White
Maurice White
Maurice White is a Grammy Award–winning American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, arranger. He is the older brother of Verdine White and Fred White and the leader and founder of the band Earth, Wind & Fire...
of the R&B group Earth, Wind and Fire re-launched the American Recording Company (ARC), a Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
distributed label whose artist roster included Deniece Williams
Deniece Williams
June Deniece Chandler known by her stage name Deniece Williams is an American Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and record producer who achieved success in the 1970s and 1980s...
and the Emotions.