Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Bridgeport

The Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Bridgeport albums, compilations, singles and EPs, and live albums catalog with cataloged releases, editions, and label credits

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Defunct American East Coast pressing pressing plant of Columbia Records located Bridgeport, Connecticut. Opened in the 1920s, ceased pressing records in March 1964 though continued to operate as a distribution center for several years thereafter. Columbia's Bridgeport plant opened in the 1920s and at one point it was Columbia's primary record pressing plant. Bridgeport was known as the first facility in the world to manufacture commercial 33rpm LP records. Scully, America's top manufacturer of LP cutting lathes, was located 12 blocks away. In 1949, Columbia began moving pressing equipment from its Kings Mills pressing plant in Cincinnati to the Bridgeport plant. Bridgeport had 16 injection molding machines and Terre Haute had four. Columbia announced in September 1963 plans to begin phasing out some operations of their Bridgeport facility within the coming six months, and ceased record pressing operations in March 1964. The change would result in a reduction of the current 650-employee workforce by approximately 325 employees primarily associated with manufacturing while the business operations were expected to continue for several more years, and the facility continued to operate as a distribution center. From December 17, 1951, to January 14, 1952, the Bridgeport plant was hit with a strike by the United Electrical Workers; during that period, there was increased pressing activity by Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Hollywood, as well as product subcontracted to the following other plants: - RCA Records Pressing Plant, Indianapolis - RCA Records Pressing Plant, Canonsburg - Capitol Records Pressing Plant, Scranton - Shelley Products Customatrix was a division of Columbia's pressing operations that handled the making of metal parts (i.e., mothers, stampers) for such pressings by Columbia. Identification The Bridgeport plant identifying marks in the runout area in the late 1950s and early 1960s were pinprick dots ("⦁") or periods ("."), which were positioned to the bottom right of the lacquer number etched or stamped into the runouts, with each dot signifying a new "mother," or mold, made from a master (e.g., ZTSP64863-2B — signifying that up to this point, four mothers/molds were produced from a master created of lacquer designated ZTSP64863-2B). Example: All I Have To Do Is Dream In 1962-63, an embossed dot was positioned to the left of a lacquer number in the runout, another identifying mark of a Bridgeport 7" pressing, sometimes in combination with the aforementioned dots. Example: Don’t Be Afraid, Little Darlin’ In some cases, "CLB" stamped in the runouts was used to identify Bridgeport pressings. Example: Patterns From 1960 to 1963, "BH" etched in the runouts indicates metalwork originating (i.e., "Plated At") at Bridgeport, but pressed at the Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Hollywood, plant. Example: The Two Of Us Cadence (2) issues from 1962-64 have "BP" markings in the runouts. Example: A Taste Of Honey Fine Recording Studios-mastered LPs on Mercury's Living Presence label have "CBFR." Example: Piano Concerto No. 3 Pressings of LPs from the mid- to late 1950s had stamped serif "I's" indicating a mother (or mold), as few as one or as many as 10, embedded in the label area between the outer label edge and the outer edge of the deep groove. Example: The King Of Swing Vol. 1 (1937-38 Jazz Concert No. 2) It should be noted that Bridgeport pressed in styrene for budget Harmony (4) LPs from 1957 until 1960; and also had pressed some styrene LPs on Columbia from 1952 to 1958. (The label hole is 0.34375" diameter, vs. 0.28125" diameter for vinyl pressings.) Bridgeport fonts as included here are: - 8 and 10 point Erbar Bold Condensed - 10 point Gothic Condensed No. 1 - 7 point Gothic No. 4 - 6 point Gothic Condensed No. 4

Discography

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Introducing... The Beatles

The Beatles · 1963

Studio Album

Kind Of Blue

Miles Davis · 1959

Studio Album

Rhapsody In Blue / An American In Paris

Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein · 2014

Studio Album

Sketches Of Spain

Miles Davis · 1960

Studio Album

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan · 1962

Studio Album

Scheherazade

Rimsky-Korsakov, Mario Rossi Conducting The Orchestra Of The Vienna State Opera (Volksoper) · 1959

Studio Album

Symphony No. 5 Op. 47

Shostakovitch, Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra Of New York, Dimitri Mitropoulos · 2014

Studio Album

Gunfighter Ballads And Trail Songs

Marty Robbins · 1959

Studio Album

Milestones

Miles Davis · 1958

Studio Album

Someday My Prince Will Come

Miles Davis Sextet · 1961

Studio Album

Miles Ahead

Miles Davis + 19 - Orchestra Under The Direction Of Gil Evans · 1957

Studio Album

Time Further Out (Miro Reflections)

The Dave Brubeck Quartet · 1961

Studio Album

Over Under Sideways Down

The Yardbirds · 1966

Studio Album

First Time! The Count Meets The Duke

Duke Ellington And Count Basie · 1961

Studio Album

Peter, Paul And Mary

Peter, Paul And Mary · 1962

Studio Album

My Fair Lady

Rex Harrison, Julie Andrews · 1956

Studio Album

Undercurrent

Bill Evans - Jim Hall · 1962

Studio Album

South Pacific

Richard Rodgers / Oscar Hammerstein 2nd / Featuring Mary Martin, Ezio Pinza With Original B'way Cast · 1949

Studio Album

Louis Armstrong Plays W. C. Handy

Louis Armstrong · 1954

Studio Album

Lawrence Of Arabia - Original Soundtrack Recording

Maurice Jarre, The London Philharmonic Orchestra · 1962

Studio Album

(Moving)

Peter, Paul And Mary · 1963

Studio Album

Gone With The Wind

The Dave Brubeck Quartet · 1959

Studio Album

Merry Christmas

Johnny Mathis · 1958

Studio Album

Brubeck Time

The Dave Brubeck Quartet · 1955

Studio Album

Hi-Fi Ellington Uptown

Duke Ellington And His Orchestra · 1953

Studio Album

Christmas Dreaming

Frank Sinatra · 1948

Studio Album

Satch Plays Fats: A Tribute To The Immortal Fats Waller By Louis Armstrong And His All-Stars

Louis Armstrong And His All-Stars · 1955

Studio Album

The Musings Of Miles

Miles Davis Quartet · 1955

Studio Album

Concerto In A Minor For Piano And Orchestra

Dinu Lipatti • Schumann • Grieg

Studio Album

Now, There Was A Song!

Johnny Cash · 1960

Studio Album

Stranger On The Shore

Mr. Acker Bilk With The Leon Young String Chorale · 1961

Studio Album

Heavenly

Johnny Mathis · 1959

Studio Album

Bernstein Plays Brubeck Plays Bernstein

The Dave Brubeck Quartet · 1960

Studio Album

What'd I Say

Ray Charles · 1959

Studio Album

Ride This Train

Johnny Cash · 1960

Studio Album

Patterns

The Modern Jazz Quartet · 1960

Studio Album

Countdown: Time in Outer Space

The Dave Brubeck Quartet · 1962

Studio Album

The Best Of Cugat

Xavier Cugat And His Orchestra · 1961

Studio Album

Surfing

The Ventures · 1963

Studio Album

Songs Of Our Soil

Johnny Cash · 1959

Studio Album

The Sound Of Jazz

Various · 1958

Studio Album

Malaguena (Music Of Cuba)

Percy Faith And His Orchestra · 1959

Studio Album

Chet Baker & Strings

Chet Baker · 1954

Studio Album

Anatomy Of A Murder (From The Sound Track Of The Motion Picture)

Duke Ellington & His Orchestra · 1959

Studio Album

What Is There To Say?

Gerry Mulligan Quartet · 1959

Studio Album

Erroll Garner

Erroll Garner · 1953

Studio Album

Hymns By Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash · 1959

Studio Album

3 Blind Mice

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers · 1962

Studio Album