thumb
The thumb is the first digit of the hand, next to the index finger. When a person is standing in the medical anatomical position (where the palm is facing to the front), the thumb is the outermost digit. The Medical Latin English noun for thu ...
RCA Thesaurus, a brand owned by
RCA Victor
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Ar ...
, was a supplier of
electrical transcriptions.
Efforts were made as early as 1936 to consolidate The RCA Victor Transcription service with
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...
's independent transcription service within the NBC radio network. NBC's''Thesaurus'' catalog system and library of recordings was not completely merged with RCA's catalog until 1939 when the consolidation was completed in an effort to compete with rival transcription services which were available at the Mutual, Columbia and World Broadcasting Systems.
During the 1950s, RCA Thesaurus produced under the musical direction of
Ben Selvin in New York City.
In 1953 RCA Thesaurus bought a library of 1600 transcriptions.
In
1954,
John Serry Sr.
John Serry Sr. (born John Serrapica; January 29, 1915 – September 14, 2003) was an American concert accordionist, arranger, composer, organist, and educator. He performed on the CBS Radio and Television networks and contributed to Voic ...
recorded several of his arrangements for RCA Thesaurus, with his ensemble
The Bel-Cordions.
[''Who Is Who in Music International 1958'', Publisher: Who Is Who in Music International, Chicago, Illinois. Biographical File #B11719 for John Serry. See International Biographical Center, Cambridge, England as the current publisher.] The group consisted of four accordions, string bass and guitar. It was augmented in some arrangements by vibes, drums and piano.
Copies of the album and the composer's original orchestral score have been donated to the
Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman.
It offers Bachelor of Music ...
's
Sibley Music Library
Sibley Music Library is the library of the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY. It was founded in 1904 by Hiram Watson Sibley in honor of his father Hiram Sibley and is said to be the largest university music library in the US.
History
The li ...
for archival purposes within the
Ruth T. Watanabe Special Collections Department to benefit both
researchers and students.
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Classical compositions
* "''
Allegro''" –
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have le ...
Arr. John Serry Sr. (Accordion Quartette 1954)
* "''
The Golden Wedding
"''La Cinquantaine''" (French "the fiftieth anniversary") is a piece of music which was composed by Jean Gabriel-Marie in 1887.
A swing arrangement of the work by James "Jiggs" Noble, recorded in New York City in late 1940 or early 1941 by Woody ...
(
La Cinquantaine)''" –
Jean Gabriel-Marie Arr. John Serry Sr. (Accordion Quartette 1954)
* "''
Tango of Love''" –
John Serry Sr.
John Serry Sr. (born John Serrapica; January 29, 1915 – September 14, 2003) was an American concert accordionist, arranger, composer, organist, and educator. He performed on the CBS Radio and Television networks and contributed to Voic ...
Arr. John Serry Sr. (Accordion Quartette 1954)
Popular compositions
* "''
Shine On, Harvest Moon'' –
Jack Noworth
John Godfrey Knauff (January 5, 1879 – September 1, 1959), known professionally as Jack Norworth, was an American songwriter, singer and vaudeville performer.
Biography
Norworth is credited as writer of a number of Tin Pan Alley hits. He wr ...
&
Nora Bayes
Nora Bayes (born Rachel Eleonora "Dora" Goldberg; October 3, 1880March 19, 1928) was an American singer and vaudeville performer who was popular internationally between the 1900s and 1920s. She is credited with co-writing the song " Shine On, Ha ...
- Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954)
* "''
My Melancholy Baby''" –
Ernie Burnett &
George A. Norton – Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954)
* "''
Singin' in the Rain
''Singin' in the Rain'' is a 1952 American musical romantic comedy film directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds and featuring Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell and Cyd C ...
'' –
Arthur Freed
Arthur Freed (September 9, 1894 – April 12, 1973) was an American lyricist and Hollywood film producer. He won the Academy Award for Best Picture twice, in 1951 for '' An American in Paris'' and in 1958 for '' Gigi''. Both films were musicals. ...
&
Nacio Herb Brown
Ignacio Herbert "Nacio Herb" Brown (February 22, 1896 – September 28, 1964) was an American writer of popular songs, movie scores and Broadway theatre music in the 1920s through the early 1950s. Amongst his most enduring work is the scor ...
– Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954)
* "''
Nobody's Sweetheart''" –
Elmer Schoebel
Elmer Schoebel (September 8, 1896 – December 14, 1970) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger.
Early life
He was born in East St. Louis, Illinois, United States.
Career
Schoebel played along to silent films in Champaign, Illino ...
/
Gus Kahn
Gustav Gerson Kahn (November 6, 1886October 8, 1941) was an American lyricist who contributed a number of songs to the Great American Songbook, including "Pretty Baby", " Ain't We Got Fun?", " Carolina in the Morning", " Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Go ...
– Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954)
* "''
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
''" –
Fred Fisher
Fred Fisher (born Alfred Breitenbach, September 30, 1875 – January 14, 1942) was a German-born American songwriter and Tin Pan Alley music publisher.
Biography
Fisher was born in Cologne, Germany. His parents were Max and Theodora Breitenb ...
– Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954)
* "''
If You Knew Susie''" –
Buddy DeSylva
George Gard "Buddy" DeSylva (January 27, 1895 – July 11, 1950) was an American songwriter, film producer and record executive. He wrote or co-wrote many popular songs and, along with Johnny Mercer and Glenn Wallichs, he co-founded Capitol Rec ...
&
Joseph Meyer -Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954)
* "''
Somebody Stole My Gal''" –
Leo Wood
Leo Wood ''(aka'' Jack Wood; ''né'' Leopold Wood Lantheaume; 2 September 1882 – 2 August 1929) was an American songwriter and lyricist.
Career
Leo Wood was born in San Francisco to Louis Ferdinand Lantheaume and Hannah Marcuse Wood ''(maiden) ...
– Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954)
* "''
Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay
"Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay" is a vaudeville and music hall song. Its first known public performance was in Henry J. Sayers' 1891 revue ''Tuxedo'' in Boston, Massachusetts. The song became widely known in the version sung by Lottie Collins in London mu ...
''" –
Paul Stanley (composer)
Paul Stanley (né Sonnenberg) (February 8, 1848 – March 14, 1909) was a German-born American composer and vaudeville comedian who some credit (but most do not) with writing the music for the ditty Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay for Henry F. Sayers' 1891 ...
– Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954)
* "''
Old McDonald''" – Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954)
* "''
Beer Barrel Polka
"Beer Barrel Polka", also known as "The Barrel Polka", "Roll Out the Barrel", or "Rosamunde", is a 1927 polka composed by Czech musician Jaromír Vejvoda. Lyrics were added in 1934, subsequently gaining worldwide popularity during World War II a ...
''" –
Jaromir Vejvoda/
Eduard Ingris Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954)
* "''
I Love Louisa''"
Arthur Schwartz
Arthur Schwartz (November 25, 1900 – September 3, 1984) was an American composer and film producer, widely noted for his songwriting collaborations with Howard Dietz.
Biography
Early life
Schwartz was born in Brooklyn, New York City, on Nov ...
/
Howard Dietz
Howard Dietz (September 8, 1896 – July 30, 1983) was an American publicist, lyricist, and librettist, best remembered for his songwriting collaboration with Arthur Schwartz.
Biography
Dietz was born in New York City. He attended Columbia Co ...
– Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954)
* "''
Oh You Beautiful Doll''" –
Seymour Brown/
Nat D. Ayer – Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954)
* "''
Chinatown, My Chinatown
"Chinatown, My Chinatown" is a popular song written by William Jerome (words) and Jean Schwartz (music) in 1906 and later interpolated into the musical ''Up and Down Broadway'' (1910).Ruhlmann, ''Breaking Records''p. 31 The song has been reco ...
''" -
William Jerome
William Jerome Flannery, September 30, 1865 – June 25, 1932) was an American songwriter, born in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York of Irish immigrant parents, Mary Donnellan and Patrick Flannery. He collaborated with numerous well-known composers a ...
/
Jean Schwartz
Jean Schwartz (November 4, 1878 – November 30, 1956) was a Hungarian-born American songwriter.
Schwartz was born in Budapest, Hungary. His family moved to New York City when he was 13 years old. He took various music-related jobs including dem ...
– Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954)
Artistic ensemble
The Bel-Cordions
*
John Serry, Sr. – First Accordionist/ Conductor/Arranger
*
Louis Delmonte Louis may refer to:
* Louis (coin)
* Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name
* Louis (surname)
* Louis (singer), Serbian singer
* HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy
See also
Derived or associated terms
* Lewi ...
– Accordionist
*
Alf Nystrom – Accordionist
*
Ralph Vetro – Accordionist
References
Mass media companies established in 1935
Radio organizations in the United States
Electrical transcription companies