Grey Gull Records
Encyclopedia
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,...
based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
from 1919
1919 in music
-Events:*July 22 - The Ballets Russes gives the world premiere of Manuel de Falla's ballet El sombrero de tres picos in London.*August - Josef Matthias Hauer devises his own twelve-tone technique of composition....
through 1930
1930 in music
-Events:*February 16 - al which opens to rave reviews. Of the film's song, "When The Little Red Roses Get The Blues For You", becomes a hit. Al Jolson records this song from the picture for Brunswick Records....
. According to the Massachusetts Department of Corporation and Taxation, Grey Gull was officially incorporated on 31 December 1919. It was dissolved on 31 March 1934 (Acts 1934, c. 187) The company was founded by Theodore Lyman Shaw, a member of a wealthy and prominent family from Wellesley, Massachusetts, whose ancestors included Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
hero Robert Gould Shaw
Robert Gould Shaw
Robert Gould Shaw was an American officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. As colonel, he commanded the all-black 54th Regiment, which entered the war in 1863. He was killed in the Second Battle of Fort Wagner, near Charleston, South Carolina...
("Robert Gould Shaw," 1) Theodore Lyman Shaw was involved in a number of business projects, including the Marcus Lucius Quinn School of Music in Dorchester; he also operated an advertising business (Harvard University Class of 1905, 25th Anniversary Report, 575).
The original location of Grey Gull Records was 295 Huntington Avenue in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
(advertisement in Talking Machine World, 15 October 1920, p. 192) but city directories show that by 1923, the company's offices were in South Boston, at 135 Dorchester Avenue. In the early 1920s, Grey Gull records were recorded and manufactured from a plant at 81 Wareham Street in Boston ("Local Studio," C7; Boston Globe classified ad, 21 August 1920, p. 9)
The first issues of Grey Gull were high quality vertical-cut 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...
at premium prices, using an unusual system of small grooves to be played with a small needle or stylus
Stylus
A stylus is a writing utensil, or a small tool for some other form of marking or shaping, for example in pottery. The word is also used for a computer accessory . It usually refers to a narrow elongated staff, similar to a modern ballpoint pen. Many styli are heavily curved to be held more easily...
, giving about twice the playing time of the standard 10 inch 78 rpm
Revolutions per minute
Revolutions per minute is a measure of the frequency of a rotation. It annotates the number of full rotations completed in one minute around a fixed axis...
record of the time, perhaps somewhat anticipating later EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
records. Most, in fact, offered more than one selection per side. These records bore catalog numbers prefixed with an "H," probably because vertical-cut discs were also called "Hill and Dale" (Marco, 302-303)
These unusual records sold poorly (at a rather high price for the time of one dollar
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
each). They were quickly phased out by 1920, to be replaced by the more common lateral-cut records (the essential patent
Essential patent
An essential patent is a patent which discloses and claims one or more inventions that are required to practice a given industry standard. Standardisation bodies, therefore, often require members disclose and grant licenses to patents and pending patent applications that they own and that cover a...
on such discs had expired in 1919). The lateral discs bore catalog numbers prefixed with "L" (for "lateral") and initially sold for the same high price. These records were recorded in Boston, where the company (and Mr. Shaw) was located ("Local Studio," C7), a practice that continued in 1926, when Grey Gull's recording operations were moved to New York City. A New York Times mention on 24 April 1926, p. 31 said Grey Gull had leased offices on the fifth floor of 20 East 42nd Street in Manhattan. an announcement of the move also appeared in the trade publication Talking Machine World on 15 July 1926.
By 1922, Grey Gull records were priced at fifty-five cents each. Shaw places a series of newspaper advertisements, publicizing this price and asserting that his Grey Gull Records were "Better Than 75 cent Records... MUCH better" (ad in the Philadelphia Inquirer, 10 September 1922, p. 6) As well, Shaw introduced a new method of selling phonograph records...one which would much later become standard practice in the record industry. Grey Gull would place display racks offering their latest product in newsstands, cigar stores, drug stores, and other well-frequented businesses, returning on a regular basis to restock the racks and settle accounts with the merchant (a system known today as "rack jobbing.") The racks are mentioned in some of the ads Shaw placed, and Grey Gull Records became associated with them (see for example "This Famous Rack is Everywhere," Springfield Republican, 12 November 1923, p. 7) A good example of Shaw's strategy of placing the racks in a wide variety of locations can be seen in an ad for Ruth's Drug Store in Elyria, Ohio. The druggist, Dr. Robert J. Ruth, offered to demonstrate the records to those who came into his store (Elyria Chronicle Telegram, 3 June 1922, p. 9).
But with the drop in price came a corresponding drop in quality. Grey Gull had also introduced its Radiex label, and it too offered low-priced records (Boston department store Raymond's advertised Radiex records for 40 cents each or two for 75 cents in a Boston Globe ad, 30 July 1922, p. 10; in 1924, a Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
department store was advertising Radiex records at 47 cents or three for $1.35, according to the Los Angeles Times, 21 September 1924, p. B26). Grey Gull also pressed a number of "client labels," such as Oriole (for the McCrory chain, and later pressed by the Plaza Music Company) as well as others (Amco, Nadsco and Globe...the latter possibly a continuation of an earlier label of that name).
Grey Gull used primarily their own recordings during 1922 and 1923, although some were leased from other companies such as Plaza, Emerson and the New York Recording Laboratories (Paramount et al.). There are, as well, some sides which emanate from unknown sources, including one ("Draggin' the Dragon") which is probably from Black Swan records. From late 1923 until early 1926, Grey Gull seems to have used material recorded by Emerson, carrying control numbers in a 3xxx series instead of Emerson's own 4xxxx numbers. At the same time, Grey Gull began the practice of using "B" sides credited to "house composers" (who may or may not have actually existed?). Further, Grey Gull was still using some "out-sourced" sides, which bore control numbers with a letter prefix indicating the source company (i.e. "Y" for NYRL).
Around 1924, Grey Gull augmented its existing catalog-number series (1xxx for dance music, 2xxx for vocal) with a 4xxx series used for "standard" material. This series is very difficult to document, since the initial issues drew from existing such recordings made by several companies...and the records remained in the catalog for long periods, meaning they were often remade in Grey Gull facilities! As well, they used a 7xxx "race" series (nominally "blues" and "jazz") and 80xx, later 81xx, series whose specific purpose is not clear. A single issue bears a number in an 8xxx series; this appears to be a 12" private pressing disc.
In 1925, Grey Gull began pressing the Madison label (presumably for F. W. Woolworth stores) The initial issues used a 16xx series for popular recordings (both instrumental and vocal) and a 19xx series for "standard" issues. Both series were replaced by a 500xx series c. 1928, which was itself replaced by a 50xx (one zero was dropped from existing numbers) shortly thereafter. There was also a 50xx matrix-number series used...these may (or may not?) have been renumberings of existing GG sides.
In 1926 the company opened a recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
equipped with the new electric microphone
Microphone
A microphone is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. In 1877, Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter...
s. Grey Gull's New York studio band often included trumpeter Mike Mosiello
Mike Mosiello
Mike Mosiello was an Italian-born American trumpet player.- Biography :...
and clarinetist Andy Sannella
Andy Sannella
Anthony G. "Andy" Sannella was an American musician and bandleader.Sannella, who was born in Indiana, was a multiinstrumentalist; according to jazz historian John Chilton he played violin, piano, organ, clarinet, alto saxophone, guitar , banjo and vibraphone...
, who were sometimes able to add some good jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
licks to Grey Gull's otherwise generally undistinguished fare. Tommy Dorsey
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
also graces a few issues as an uncredited sideman. A few interesting sides on the label were recorded by such musicians as Clarence Williams and Wilber Sweatman, as well as two sessions by Cliff Jackson's Krazy Kats, a good Harlem band of the era otherwise neglected by the recording industry. The company also pressed records from masters leased from Emerson Records
Emerson Records
Emerson Records was a record label active in the United States between 1916 to 1928. Emerson Records produced between the 1910s and early 1920s offered generally above average audio fidelity for the era, pressed in high quality shellac. The fidelity of the later issues compares less...
and Paramount Records
Paramount Records
Paramount Records was an American record label, best known for its recordings of African-American jazz and blues in the 1920s and early 1930s, including such artists as Ma Rainey and Blind Lemon Jefferson.-Early years:...
. In addition to their Grey Gull label, the company also produced Madison Records
Madison Records
Madison Records was a United States-based record label. It was also sold in the United Kingdom through the F.W. Woolworth dime store chain. It was a subsidiary of Grey Gull Records, produced from 1926 through 1931...
, Radiex Records
Radiex Records
Radiex Records was a United States record label of the 1920s. It was manufactured by Grey Gull Records of Boston, Massachusetts, from 1921 until the demise of Grey Gull in late 1930; it was then pressed for a few more months into 1931 by the successor firm which continued the Radiex, Van Dyke and...
, Supreme Records
Supreme Records
Supreme Records was a cheaply produced record label subsidiary of Grey Gull Records of Boston, Massachusetts marketed in the United States of America in the late 1920s...
, and Van Dyke Records
Van Dyke Records
Van Dyke Records was a United States based record label in existence from about early 1929 through 1932. Van Dyke was a subsidiary of Grey Gull Records of Boston, Massachusetts....
as well as a host of short-lived (possibly client?) record labels.
During this period, Grey Gull typically put one "hit" song on the top side and original composition by one of the company's "staff composers" on the flip side. The above mentioned Mike Mosiello contributed a number instrumental numbers (many often released on several issues with varying titles) which apart from solo work by himself and Andy Sannella often featured the accordionist Charles Magnante
Charles Magnante
Charles Magnante was an American piano-accordionist, arranger, composer, author and educator. His artistry helped raise the image of the accordion from an instrument considered suitable only for folk music to an instrument accepted in many music genres.- Background :Magnante's father was a...
and xylophone virtuoso George Hamilton Green
George Hamilton Green
George Hamilton Green, Jr. was a xylophonist, composer, and cartoonist born in Omaha, Nebraska. He was born into a musical family, both his grandfather and his father being composers, arrangers, and conductors for bands in Omaha. From age four G.H...
. This rather unusual instrumental line-up combined with Grey Gull's rather over-modulated sound of their recordings, give these records a particular sound of their own. Among vocalists often found on vocal numbers were Irving Kaufman
Irving Kaufman
Irving Robert Kaufman was a federal judge in the United States. He is best remembered for imposing the controversial death sentences on Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.-Biography:...
or Arthur Fields
Arthur Fields
Arthur Fields was a United States singer and songwriter.He was born Abraham Finkelstein in Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, but grew up mainly in Utica, New York. He became a professional singer as a youngster...
. Elmer Feldkamp was often heard as vocalist on the California Ramblers sides of 1929-1930.
The Grey Gull firm went out of business as such at the end of September, 1930, quite possibly because Shaw was no longer being financed by his family. Numbers in the 1000-series reached at least 1896, and those in the 2000-series into the low 2500's. However, it would appear that the "remains" of the firm, including its contract to press Madison records, was acquired by a so-far-unknown party or group. Records exist on Madison, Radiex and Van Dyke bearing catalog numbers in the Madison series (which jumped after 5099 to 6001) and there is also an 800/900 series which pairs older Grey Gull "B" sides, often with altered titles. All these are identifiably from a different source from their Grey Gull (et al.) predecessors, and may (this is so far unverified) be from the same operation as the US Crown label of 1930-33. Production of all Grey Gull related labels appeared to have ended sometime in 1931.
Grey Gull's audio fidelity is generally slightly below average for the era. Furthermore, pressings are often in cheap shellac
Shellac
Shellac is a resin secreted by the female lac bug, on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is processed and sold as dry flakes , which are dissolved in ethyl alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze and wood finish...
which gives them more surface noise and stood up to repeated playing poorly, further degrading the sound quality.
Sources and Works Cited
- Brian RustBrian RustBrian Rust , was an English jazz discographer.Brian Arthur Lovell Rust was born in London, and collected records from the age of five. He worked in the BBC's record library from 1945 to 1960, and supervised broadcasting selections...
: The American Record Label Book (New York, 1984)
- Guy A. Marco, editor. "Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound in the United States." New York: Garland, 1993.
- "Local Studio Solves Problem." Boston Herald, 8 May 1921, p. C 7.
- "Robert Gould Shaw Dies in Brookline." Boston Evening Transcript, 10 April 1931, p. 1.
- Allan Sutton: Directory of American Disc Record Brands and Manufacturers, 1891-1943 (Westport & London, 1994)