Emerson Records was an American record company and

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed ...

created by Victor Emerson in 1915. Victor Hugo Emerson was the chief recording engineer at

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...

. In 1914 he left the company, created the Emerson Phonograph Company, and then Emerson Records the following year. He began producing small records, 5-inch discs that sold for 10 cents and 7-inch discs that sold for 25 cents. Early discs consisted of popular tunes, dance numbers, and patriotic marches, recorded by musicians in New York City who were credited as the "Emerson Orchestra" or sometimes "The Emerson Symphony Orchestra". Classical records were made by violinist David Hochstein (his only recordings), pianist

Arthur Friedheim Arthur Friedheim (russian: Артур Фридхайм, 14/26 October 1859 – 19 October 1932) was a Russian-born concert pianist and composer who was one of Franz Liszt's foremost pupils. One of Friedheim's students was Rildia Bee O'Bryan C ...

, and the orchestra of New York's Rialto Theatre under its director

Hugo Riesenfeld Hugo Riesenfeld (January 26, 1879 – September 10, 1939) was an Austrian-American composer. As a film director, he began to write his own orchestral compositions for silent films in 1917, and co-created modern production techniques where film ...

. In January 1918 Emerson added a line of 9-inch records that sold for 75 cents. After World War I, Emerson began an ambitious expansion of the business, and in 1919 added a line of industry standard 10-inch discs for 85 cents and increased to one dollar the following year. In 1919 Emerson introduced 12-inch discs, mostly of

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" al ...

, for US$1.25. The label's catalog included recordings by

Wilbur Sweatman Wilbur Coleman Sweatman (February 7, 1882 – March 9, 1961) was an American ragtime and dixieland jazz composer, bandleader and clarinetist. Sweatman was one of the first African-American musicians to have fans nationwide. He was also a trail ...

Eddie Cantor Eddie Cantor (born Isidore Itzkowitz; January 31, 1892 – October 10, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, film producer, screenwriter and author. Familiar to Broadway, radio, movie, and early television audiences ...

, the Six Brown Brothers, the Louisiana Five,

Lizzie Miles Elizabeth Mary Landreaux (March 31, 1895 – March 17, 1963), known by the stage name Lizzie Miles, was an Afro-Creole of color, Creole blues singer in the United States. Biography Miles was born in the Faubourg Marigny neighborhood of New Orle ...

Eubie Blake James Hubert "Eubie" Blake (February 7, 1887 – February 12, 1983) was an American pianist and composer of ragtime, jazz, and popular music. In 1921, he and his long-time collaborator Noble Sissle wrote '' Shuffle Along'', one of the first B ...

Fletcher Henderson James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson (December 18, 1897 – December 29, 1952) was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. He was one of the most prolific black music ...

, the

Original Memphis Five The Original Memphis Five was an early jazz quintet founded in 1917 by trumpeter Phil Napoleon and pianist Frank Signorelli. Jimmy Lytell was a member from 1922 to 1925. The group made many recordings between 1921 and 1931, sometimes under diffe ...

, John W. Myers,

Henry Burr Henry Burr (January 15, 1882 – April 6, 1941) was a Canadian singer, radio performer and producer. He was born Harry Haley McClaskey and used Henry Burr as one of his many pseudonyms, in addition to Irving Gillette, Henry Gillette, Alfred Alex ...

and the

Peerless Quartet The Peerless Quartet was an American vocal group that recorded in the early years of the twentieth century. They formed to record for Columbia Records, where they were credited as the Columbia Quartet or Columbia Male Quartet. From about 1907, wh ...

, Billy Golden, Collins & Harlan, Sally Hamlin, Dan W. Quinn,

Sam Ash Sam Ash (born Samuel Ashkynase) was a violinist, teacher, and entrepreneur, best known as the founder of the Sam Ash Music Store. Life and career Early life Ashkynase was born to Moishe and Mottle Ashkynase in a small town in Austria-Hungary ...

Vernon Dalhart Marion Try Slaughter (April 6, 1883 – September 14, 1948), better known by his stage name Vernon Dalhart, was an American country music singer and songwriter. His recording of the classic ballad "Wreck of the Old 97" was the first country song ...

Van and Schenck Van and Schenck were popular American entertainers in the 1910s and 1920s: Gus Van (born August Von Glahn, August 12, 1886 – March 12, 1968), baritone, and Joe Schenck (pronounced "skenk"; born Joseph Thuma Schenck, (June 2, 1891– June ...

Ada Jones Ada Jane Jones (June 1, 1873 – May 2, 1922) was an English-American popular singer who made her first recordings in 1893 on Edison cylinders. She is among the earliest female singers to be recorded. Biography She was born in Lancashire, UK ...

, and Homer Rodeheaver. In May 1920, Emerson opened a second

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enou ...

in Los Angeles, California. His expansions over-extended the company's finances and forced it into receivership in 1921. In May 1922 investors

Benjamin Abrams Benjamin Abrams (August 18, 1893 – June 23, 1967) was a Romanian-born United States, American businessman and a founder of Emerson Radio, Emerson Radio & Phonograph Corporation after his purchase of Emerson Records in 1922. Along with his broth ...

and Rudolph Kararek purchased the Emerson Company for US$50,000 and raised an additional US$200,000 of capital to revive the business. Emerson discs were then sold for 50 cents each. In 1924, the investors sold Emerson to the

Scranton Button Company The Scranton Button Company was a U.S. corporation, founded in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 1885. For much of its early history it was controlled by Canadian immigrant William Connell (September 10, 1827 – March 21, 1909). Connell's family moved ...

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Wyoming V ...

. About this time, electric

microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and publ ...

s replaced mechanical recording techniques, and Emerson switched to the new method of sound recording in 1926. Scranton Button Co. halted production of new records by its Emerson subsidiary in 1928, but the company retained the name and later applied it to a line of

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a tr ...

s. After about 1924 or 1925, Emerson was no longer a popular label. It seldom recorded any artists of note, mostly standard performers who were jobbing around New York, which explains why the later "Electrosonic Emerson" records are so scarce. The company also issued

race records Race records were 78-rpm phonograph records marketed to African Americans between the 1920s and 1940s.Oliver, Paul. "Race record." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. 13 Feb. 2015. They primarily contained race music, comprising various Afri ...

that were marketed to blacks. These included the 78 "He Wasn't Born in Araby, But He's a Sheikin' Fool" b/w "Heart Breakin' Joe" (1924), recorded by

Ethel Finnie Ethel V. Finnie (January 7, 1898 – May 1, 1981) was an American classic female blues singer. Her most notable recording is "You're Gonna Wake Up Some Morning, but Your Papa Will Be Gone". Information about her life outside music is sketchy. L ...

References

External links

Emerson Records history up to 1920Emerson Records
on the Internet Archive'
Great 78 Project
{{Authority control American record labels Jazz record labels Record labels established in 1916 Record labels disestablished in 1928

See also

References

External links