Melotone Records (US)
Encyclopedia
Melotone Records was a United States
based record label
. In late 1930, Warner/Brunswick Records introduced the Melotone label in the U.S. and Canada
as a budget subsidiary issuing 78 rpm disc records
. It then became part of the American Record Corporation
collection of labels in 1932. The label was disestablished in 1938
. In 2010, Melotone Records was refounded as a division of Melotone Music LLC.
During the Depression, Melotone Records was a common cheap priced label. Melotone issued popular dance tunes of the era (usually a group of studio musicians issued under a variety of pseudonyms, including Ralph Bennett and his Seven Aces (all eleven of 'em), Bob Causer and his Cornellians, Owen Fallon and his Orchestra, Sleepy Hall and his Collegians, Vic Irwin and his Orchestra, Chick Bullock and his Levee Loungers, Vincent Rose and his Orchestra, Paul Small and his Orchestra, etc.), together with a variety of jazz
, country music
, blues
, Mexican music, Cajun music
, and Hawaiian music. Artists whose recordings were issued on Melotone include Eddie Cantor
, Annette Hanshaw
, Gene Autry
, Tex Ritter
, Leadbelly
, and Blind Boy Fuller
. Audio fidelity was average for the era even though the shellac material wasn't quite as high quality as the more expensive labels (although a mint copy played with a good diamond stylus produces good-for-the-era sound).
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
based 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 late 1930, Warner/Brunswick Records introduced the Melotone label in the U.S. and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
as a budget subsidiary issuing 78 rpm 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...
. It then became part of the American Record Corporation
American Record Corporation
ARC, the American Record Company, also referred to as American Record Corporation, or as ARC Records, was a United States based record company...
collection of labels in 1932. The label was disestablished in 1938
1938 in music
-Events:*January 16**Benny Goodman plays the first jazz concert at Carnegie Hall.**Béla Bartók's Sonata for two pianos and percussion is premiered in Basel....
. In 2010, Melotone Records was refounded as a division of Melotone Music LLC.
During the Depression, Melotone Records was a common cheap priced label. Melotone issued popular dance tunes of the era (usually a group of studio musicians issued under a variety of pseudonyms, including Ralph Bennett and his Seven Aces (all eleven of 'em), Bob Causer and his Cornellians, Owen Fallon and his Orchestra, Sleepy Hall and his Collegians, Vic Irwin and his Orchestra, Chick Bullock and his Levee Loungers, Vincent Rose and his Orchestra, Paul Small and his Orchestra, etc.), together with a variety of 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...
, country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, Mexican music, Cajun music
Cajun music
Cajun music, an emblematic music of Louisiana, is rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada. Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem with the Creole-based, Cajun-influenced zydeco form, both of Acadiana origin...
, and Hawaiian music. Artists whose recordings were issued on Melotone include Eddie Cantor
Eddie Cantor
Eddie Cantor was an American "illustrated song" performer, comedian, dancer, singer, actor and songwriter...
, Annette Hanshaw
Annette Hanshaw
Catherine Annette Hanshaw was born at her parents' residence in New York City on October 18, 1901. [Ed. While Annette sometimes gave her birth date as 1910, nephew Frank W. Hanshaw III confirms 1901 as the date on Annette's birth certificate.]-Biography:...
, Gene Autry
Gene Autry
Orvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...
, Tex Ritter
Tex Ritter
Woodward Maurice Ritter , better known as Tex Ritter, was an American country music singer and movie actor popular from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter family in acting...
, Leadbelly
Leadbelly
Huddie William Ledbetter was an iconic American folk and blues musician, notable for his strong vocals, his virtuosity on the twelve-string guitar, and the songbook of folk standards he introduced....
, and Blind Boy Fuller
Blind Boy Fuller
Blind Boy Fuller was an American blues guitarist and vocalist. He was one of the most popular of the recorded Piedmont blues artists with rural Black Americans, a group that also included Blind Blake, Josh White, and Buddy Moss.-Life and career:Fulton Allen was born in Wadesboro, North Carolina,...
. Audio fidelity was average for the era even though the shellac material wasn't quite as high quality as the more expensive labels (although a mint copy played with a good diamond stylus produces good-for-the-era sound).