78 rpm record label, issued in the United States (1921-April 1940), Canada (1921-1930), the United Kingdom (1919-1927, 1936-1954, and 1962-1968), Australia (1927-1931), and New Zealand. For CDs reissued by the current UK-based label operated by Dutton Laboratories, please see . For unofficial releases, please see . Note: The official color of the reddish-brown records is 'Red', as listed in catalogs during that time. The Vocalion label began in 1917 in the United States as Aeolian Vocalion. It became "Vocalion" when the "Aeolian" was dropped from the label's name in 1921. In Canada, Scythes Vocalion Co. Ltd. in Toronto was incorporated in April 1921 to both distribute and manufacture Vocalion discs in Canada. The new company's president, E. C. Scythes, had been distributing American-made Vocalion discs in Canada since 1917. The Canadian company was dissolved in February 1930. In the United Kingdom, Vocalion started in 1920 as a subsidiary of the American label, originally also called Aeolian Vocalion. Here, the original label name was used longer, until 1925. In November 1924, The Aeolian Company was acquired by The Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company. The new owner continued to produce Vocalion discs, but replaced their much-touted "red" (reddish-brown) shellac with the standard black shellac. At the same time, the British subsidiary was split off from its American mother. A new British company, the Vocalion Gramophone Co. Ltd., was established (later credited as Vocalion Records, Hayes, Middlesex) that continued to produce the Vocalion label (and the low-price Aco label) in the United Kingdom until 1927. The switch was accompanied by a change in label design. The background color became first green, then red, until it finally turned light blue. In the United States, Warner Bros. Pictures bought the American Brunswick label in April 1930. For a while, Warner Bros. managed the company themselves. In December 1931, however, they licensed the entire Brunswick and Vocalion (2) operation to the American Record Corporation (ARC). In 1936 and 1937, while under ARC ownership, the American Vocalion (2) label produced the only recordings of the influential blues artist Robert Johnson. In December 1938, ARC was acquired by the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), which discontinued production of Brunswick and Vocalion (2) in April 1940. Vocalion releases kept their Vocalion catalog numbers, but were now reissued on the Okeh label, which CBS had recently revived. CBS's discontinuance of the Vocalion brand voided the lease arrangement Warner Bros. had made with the American Record Corporation (ARC) back in 1931. As a result, Warner Bros. re-acquired all pre-1931 master recordings of Brunswick and Vocalion (2) and promptly sold them outright to Decca Records, Inc.. In contrast, all post-1931 Brunswick and Vocalion masters were retained by Columbia Broadcasting System (Columbia/CBS). In the UK, the Vocalion company was acquired in 1932 by Crystalate, but the label was not revived until 1936 with the Vocalion Swing Series and the Celebrity Record series. In 1937, The Decca Record Company Limited took over the British Vocalion label. Despite the change in ownership, the British label continued to use the same label logo until 1939. Later, the British Decca company used the Vocalion name between October 1951 and October 1954 for the 78 rpm Origins Of Jazz (2) series (V1001 to V1041). Some, if not all, of these titles appear to have originated with the pre-1934 US Brunswick and Vocalion catalogues now owned by Decca. In the United States, Decca Records, Inc. resurrected Vocalion as a budget label for back-catalog reissues in the late 1950s. It was active until 1973 when the parent label, Decca, was merged along with Kapp Records and Uni Records to create MCA Records. Some of the LPs on this label remained in print well after 1973 on either MCA or Coral. Coral was a former Decca subsidiary label that was reactivated as a budget reissue label (and then quickly renamed MCA Coral) soon after the consolidation of the MCA-owned labels. After the 78rpm era, between 1962 and 1968, the British Decca used the Vocalion brand once more as a budget label to continue the series originally issued as Vogue Records because the rights to the "Vogue Records" trademark had reverted to the French company Disques Vogue. Curiously, the company name "Vogue Records Limited" remained on the label right up until its demise in March 1968. In 1976, Decca revived the label one last time for a short run of LP's drawn from the pre-1934 U.S. Brunswick catalogue, which Decca owned outright. One "sampler" single was issued, coupling Duke Ellington & His Orchestra with Benny Goodman and The Boswell Sisters. NOTE: Do not confuse with the CD label (Vocalion), est. in the UK in 1997 for a new series of compact discs produced by Mike Dutton of Dutton Laboratories Ltd of Watford, England (also see Dutton Epoch).

Discography

6,511 albums
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Hair - The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical (The Original Broadway Cast Recording)

Various · 1968

Studio Album

Breakaway

Art Garfunkel · 1975

Studio Album

The Great Buddy Holly

Buddy Holly · 1958

Studio Album

Illuminations

Turiya Alice Coltrane, Devadip Carlos Santana · 1974

Studio Album

Blue Moods

Miles Davis · 1955

Studio Album

Night Birds

Shakatak · 1982

Studio Album

Body Talk

George Benson · 1973

Studio Album

Angel Clare

Art Garfunkel · 1973

Studio Album

Tale Spinnin'

Weather Report · 1975

Studio Album

Invitations

Shakatak · 1982

Studio Album

Night Passage

Weather Report · 1980

Studio Album

Musicmagic

Return To Forever · 1977

Studio Album

The Bermuda Triangle

Tomita · 1978

Studio Album

Black Byrd

Donald Byrd · 1973

Studio Album

In Concert

Max Roach And Clifford Brown · 1956

Studio Album

A Web Of Sound

The Seeds · 1966

Studio Album

Firebird

Tomita · 1975

Studio Album

Cal Tjader-Stan Getz Sextet

Cal Tjader-Stan Getz Sextet · 1958

Studio Album

Two Steps From The Blues

Bobby Bland · 1961

Studio Album

Concerto No. 1 In B Flat Minor, Op. 23

Tchaikovsky - Maurice Cole & Metropolitan Symphony Orch. · 1947

Studio Album

Jazz Impressions Of Black Orpheus

Vince Guaraldi Trio · 1962

Studio Album

Sextant

Herbie Hancock · 1973

Studio Album

Future

The Seeds · 1967

Studio Album

Out Of This World

Shakatak · 1983

Studio Album

Taboo

Arthur Lyman · 1958

Studio Album

Soul Box

Grover Washington, Jr. · 1973

Studio Album

Benny Goodman Today (Recorded Live In Stockholm)

Benny Goodman And His Orchestra · 1970

Studio Album

Street Lady

Donald Byrd · 1973

Studio Album

The Original Dizzy Gillespie Big Band In Concert

The Original Dizzy Gillespie Big Band Featuring Chano Pozo, James Moody & Ernie Henry · 1954

Studio Album

Taboo Vol. 2

Arthur Lyman · 1960

Studio Album

A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing

The Vince Guaraldi Trio · 1958

Studio Album

Daphnis et Chloé

Tomita, Ravel · 1979

Studio Album

Casablanca - Classic Film Scores For Humphrey Bogart

Charles Gerhardt / National Philharmonic Orchestra · 1974

Studio Album

Yellow Bird

Arthur Lyman · 1961

Studio Album

Les Paul Now!

Les Paul · 1968

Studio Album

Ain't Nothin' Stoppin' Us Now

Tower Of Power · 1976

Studio Album

Cugat's Favorite Rhumbas

Xavier Cugat And His Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra · 1945

Studio Album

The Seekers

The Seekers · 1963

Studio Album

Waylon Jennings

Waylon Jennings · 1964

Studio Album

Spellbound - The Classic Film Scores Of Miklós Rózsa

Charles Gerhardt / National Philharmonic Orchestra · 1975

Studio Album

Euphrates River

The Main Ingredient · 1974

Studio Album

Here's The Man

Bobby Bland · 1962

Studio Album

Picnic: Music From The Sound Track Of The Columbia Picture

Morris Stoloff Conducting The Columbia Pictures Orchestra · 1956

Studio Album

Here's Brenda Lee!

Brenda Lee · 1959

Studio Album

Noël

Paul Mauriat And His Orchestra · 1967

Studio Album

Paradise

Arthur Lyman · 1964

Studio Album

Brazil Now

Les Baxter Orchestra & Chorus · 1967

Studio Album

Country Great!

Patsy Cline · 1957

Studio Album