V-Discs

V-Discs, Volume IX

       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 IX feature selections by the bands of Les Brown, Lucky Millinder, Duke Ellington, and Sammy Kaye.

Also featured are Marion Hutton & The Modernaires, the Les Paul Trio, Igor Stravinsky conducting the New York Philharmonic, Joshua White, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, the Milton Herth Trio, Art Tatum, Fats Waller, and the piano duo of Pete Johnson and Albert Ammons..

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

Track  selections: He'll Have To Cross The Atlantic (To Get To The Pacific), Frankie And Johnny, Parts 1 & 2, Johnny Zero, Savoy, Dark Eyes, Hawaiian Sunset, Circus Polka, Blues In Berlin, Baseball Routine, Whistler And His Dog, Poor Butterfly, Solitude, Cuttin' The Boogie, Boogie Woogie Man, Foot Pedal Boogie, Pine Creek Boogie.

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

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