The History of Vocalion Records
Vocalion was founded in 1916 by the Aeolian Piano Company of New York City, which introduced a retail line of phonographs at the same time. The name was derived from one of their corporate divisions, the Vocalion Organ Co. The fledgling label first issued single-sided. vertical cut disc records, soon switching to double sided, then switching to the more common lateral cut system in 1920.
Aeolian pressed their Vocalion discs on a good quality reddish-brown shellac, which set the product apart from the usual black shellac used by other record companies. Advertisements stated that "Vocalion Red Records are best" or "Red Records last longer". However, Vocalion's shellac was really no more durable than good quality black shellac. Vocalion red surfaces are less hardy than contemporary Victor Records. Audio fidelity and pressing quality of Vocalion records are well above average for the era.
In 1925 the label was acquired by Brunswick Records. During the 1920s Vocalion also released "race records" (that is, records recorded by, and marketed to, African Americans; their famous 1000 Series). The 15000 series continued, but after the Brunswick takeover, it seems clear that Vocalion took a back seat to the Brunswick label. In 1925-26, quite a few Brunswick titles were also issued on Vocalion, and since the Vocalion issues are much harder to find, one can speculate that they were not available for sale in as many stores as their Brunswick counterparts. (By 1928-9, many of the jazz sides issued on the Vocalion 15000 series were extremely rare and highly sought-after.)
In April 1930, Warner Bros. bought Brunswick Records and, for a time, managed the company themselves. In December 1931, however, Warner Bros. licensed the entire Brunswick and Vocalion operation to the American Record Corporation. ARC used Brunswick as their flagship 75 cent label and Vocalion became one of their 35 cent labels (their race/blues series during this time continued to be significant) . Starting in about 1935, the Vocalion label once again became a popular label, signing Billie Holiday, Mildred Bailey, Putney Dandridge, Henry 'Red' Allen and other swing artists. Also, starting in 1935, Vocalion started reissuing titles still selling on the recently discontinued OKeh label. In 1936 and 1937 Vocalion produced the only recordings of the influential blues artist Robert Johnson (as part of their on-going field recording of blues, gospel and 'out of town' jazz groups). From 1935 through 1940, Vocalion was one of the most popular labels for small group swing, blues and country. After the Variety label was discontinued (in late 1937), many titles were reissued on Vocalion, and the label continued to release new recordings made by Master/Variety artists through 1940.
During the 1925-1930 period, outside of the 1000 'race' series, Brunswick apparently used the Vocalion brand as a specialty label for purposes other than general sale. This is assumed due to the relative rarity of the Vocalion popular series, and the fact that some of the regular Brunswick releases were also put out for sale as Vocalions. This seems to also be a possibly explanation as to why the early 1930s Vocalion are relatively rarer than other ARC records.
ARC was purchased by CBS and Vocalion became a subsidiary of Columbia Records in 1938. The Vocalion label was discontinued in 1940, and the current Vocalions were reissued on the recently revived OKeh label with the same catalog numbers. The discontinuance of Vocalion (along with Brunswick in favor of the revived Columbia) voided the lease arrangement Warners had made with ARC back in late 1931, and in a complicated move, Warners got back the two labels which they promptly sold outright to Decca, yet CBS got to keep control of the post-1931 Brunswick and Vocalion masters!
Most Valuable Blues and Jazz Artists on the Vocalion Label
Charlie Patton
Robert Johnson
Memphis Minnie
Leroy Carr
Tampa Red
Jenny Pope
Bukka White
Mississippi Sarah
Mississippi Moaner