V-Discs

V-Discs, Volume IV

       V-Disc was a record label produced during the World War II era by special arrangement between the United States government and various private U.S. record companies. The records were produced for use of United States military personnel overseas. 

Many popular singers, big bands and orchestra of the era recorded special V-Disc records. These 12-inch, 78 rpm gramophone recordings were created between 1943 and 1949. The "V" stands for "Victory."

The V-Disc project actually began in June 1941, as a way to improve moral. By 1942, the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) sent 16-inch, 33 rpm shellac transcription discs to troops. Meanwhile, the American Federation of Musicians, under the leadership of James Caesar Petrillo, were involved in a major recording strike against the four major record companies.

Thanks to the efforts of Lieutenant George Robert Vincent, on Oct. 27, 1943, Vincent convinced Petrillo to allow his union musicians to record sides for the military, as long as the records were not offered for purchase in the United States. From that moment on, artists who wanted to record now had an outlet for their productivity  -  as well as a guaranteed, receptive, enthusiastic worldwide audience of soldiers and sailors.

The collected V-Disc recordings on Volume IV feature selections by the bands of Charlie Spivak, Vaughn Monroe, Claude Thornhill, Bobby Sherwood, Jack Jenny, Billy Butterfield, and Tommy Dorsey, who provides musical support for singers Bob Allen, The Sentimentalists, Phil Harris and Cass Daley.

Also featured are Frank Sinatra with Axel Stordahl's orchestra, Helen Forrest, Dick Haymes, The Andrews Sisters, Ginny Simms, Georgia Gibbs, Matt Dennis, and Terry Fischer.

V-Disc recordings are rare and offer a unique musical retrospective of the American home front during World War II.

Track  selections: When Your Lover Has Gone, Falling In Love With Love, I Have But One Heart, I Walked In, Strange As It Seems, I Wish I Knew, Twilight On The Trail, Red River Valley, For All We Know, The Lady In Red, That's What I Like About The South, Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone, Just Squeeze Me, Sherwood's Forest, The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise, Sooner Or Later, Body And Soul, Lover, We'll Be Together Again, I Surrender, Dear, Twilight Song, Please Don't Say No, How Deep Is The Ocean, On The Sunny Side Of The Street. 

V-Discs, Volume IV is $10 plus $2.50 shipping and handling. To order, send e-mail to jazzconnection@hotmail.com  

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