Abbey Records

Abbey was founded by Pete Doraine{{cite news |title=Paradise Distrib set by Doraine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XygEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA8 |newspaper=Billboard |date=September 16, 1967 |page=8 |access-date=August 27, 2013}} and originally operated in the Forest Hills, Queens, section of New York City but soon moved to 10th Avenue in the Manhattan borough in mid-1949 with Doraine serving as president.{{cite book |title= The American Record Label Directory and Dating Guide, 1940-1959|last=Gart|first=Galen|year=1989|publisher=Big Nickel Publications|location=Milford, New Hampshire|isbn=0-936433-11-6|page=1}}{{cite news |title=Nickelodeon & Hand Organ Are Latest "Sound" Finds|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OR8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA14 |newspaper= Billboard Magazine|date=March 17, 1951 |page=14 |access-date=27 August 2013}} In 1950 Abbey's experienced its first (and biggest) hit in a recording of The Old Piano Roll Blues by J. Lawrence Cook. This disc, catalog number 15003, reached a peak position of 13, and had staying power for eleven weeks.{{cite book |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |title=Pop Memories 1890-1954 |year=1986 |publisher=Record Research, Inc. |location=Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin |isbn=0-89820-083-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/joelwpopmemories00whit/page/101 101] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/joelwpopmemories00whit/page/101 }} Cook had recorded it in 1949, and then sold it to Abbey.{{cite book |last=Dolan |first=Brian |title=Inventing Entertainment: The Player Piano and the Origins of an American Musical Industry |url=https://archive.org/details/inventingenterta00bria |url-access=registration |access-date=August 27, 2013 |year=2009 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |isbn=9780742564619 |page=[https://archive.org/details/inventingenterta00bria/page/164 164]}} Billboard had reviewed this record in its "Billboard Picks" as "spontaneous" and "rollicking" with "guts and drive," and evidently the public agreed.{{cite news |title=Billboard Picks |newspaper=Billboard |date=March 11, 1950}} Abbey's next issue in the 15000-series was a Country hit. Slippin' Around With Jole Blon by Bud Messner and His Skyline Boys reached number 7 on the Country juke box charts in June 1950.{{cite book |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |title=The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eKicir5sZr4C&pg=PA489 |access-date=August 27, 2013 |year=2006 |publisher=Random House |isbn=9780823082919 |page=230}} By mid-year they had again moved headquarters, this time to 49th street, and had added two distributors to handle increased demand for their records.{{cite news |title=Music - As Written|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MQEEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA21 |newspaper=Billboard |date=September 2, 1950 |page=21 |access-date=August 27, 2013}} The year 1951 saw another hit by Cook, although minor, a cover of Down Yonder (catalog number 15053) that placed a position #22 on Billboard's charts. In 1951 the company located an operational nickelodeon in Richmond Hill, Queens on the advice of Cook, and signed a contract to record the machine. Because there was no extant rolls for the nickelodeon, Cook hand-produced rolls of two songs written specifically for the record. Executive Don Reed left for Europe in the summer of 1951 to acquire recordings for issue in the LP format.{{cite news |title=Music As Written |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K0UEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA14 |newspaper=Billboard |date=August 18, 1951 |page=14 |access-date=August 27, 2013}} By 1952 Abbey was producing LP records, including a history of the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth II.{{cite news |title=Abbey to Release "2d Elizabeth" LP |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hx4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA49 |newspaper=Billboard|date=March 22, 1952|page=49|access-date=August 27, 2013}} Not entirely content with standard sales channels, Abbey signed a deal with the Pacquin company to record songs subtly promoting a hand cream product without directly naming the brand.{{cite news |title=Lotion Maker Plugs Discs |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hR4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA41 |newspaper=Billboard |date=May 31, 1952|page=41 |access-date=August 27, 2013}}

Besides Doraine, other executives of the company were Carlton "Kelly" Camarata (who was part-owner){{cite news |title=Pittsburgh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QgEEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA24 |newspaper= Billboard|date=September 16, 1950 |page=24 |access-date=August 27, 2013}} as vice-president of Sales and Promotion, and Rudolph Toombs and Gus Statiras as A&R men.{{cite journal |title=none|journal= International Association of Jazz Record Collectors Journal |volume=19 |pages=29}} Camarata left in late 1950 to join MGM Records.{{cite news |title=Music As Written |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5x0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA18 |newspaper=Billboard |date=November 18, 1950 |page=18 |access-date=August 27, 2013}}

Abbey issued records in many genres, including popular, country, gospel, R&B, jazz, and classical. The label dedicated numerical sequences to "Rhythm and Blues" (3000), Jazz (5000), "Spiritual" (7000), and Calypso (9000).{{cite news |title=Big Abbey Winners (advertisement) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PQ4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT35 |newspaper=Billboard |date=October 1, 1949 |page=36 |access-date=August 27, 2013}}

{{Main|J. Lawrence Cook}}

Abbey's best-selling artist was Lawrence Cook, who did not directly record for the label, but through an arrangement with QRS Piano Rolls would make rolls by "cutting" the roll while playing the song, and then punching extra holes in the paper producing sounds not possible from a single pianist.{{cite news |title=Abbey Cuts a Player-Piano Disk? Are Rolls Coming Back?|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WykEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT13 |newspaper=Billboard |date=March 4, 1950 |page=16 |access-date=August 27, 2013}} These rolls would then be recorded, sometimes as a solo instrument, and often with other instruments such as a saxophone or with a vocal group dubbed the "Jim Dandies".

Other artists who appeared on Abbey include:

• Charlie Barnet{{cite news |title=New York|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8h0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA43 |newspaper=Billboard |date=February 23, 1952|page=43 |access-date=August 27, 2013}}
• Stuart Foster
• Nellie Hill{{cite news |title=Sex Appeal Set to Song Makes Nellie Hill Hit With Males |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jboDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA61 |newspaper=Jet Magazine |date=February 5, 1953 |publisher = Johnson Publishing Company|access-date=August 27, 2013}}
• Bob Howard{{cite news |title=Record Reviews|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LfYDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA33 |newspaper=Billboard |date=July 9, 1949 |page=33 |access-date=August 27, 2013}}
• King Odum
• Jesse Perry{{cite news |title=New York|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lg4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT17 |newspaper=Billboard|date=October 22, 1949 |page=18 |access-date=August 27, 2013}}
• Ben Smith
• Charlie Spivak

Abbey Records also had a music publishing arm named Margold Music Corp.{{cite news |title=Mail Carrier Has Own Tune Put on Disk |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=MLwyAAAAIBAJ&pg=4367,7130389 |newspaper=The Miami News |date=October 29, 1950 |page=7–D |access-date=August 27, 2013}}

In Canada, several Abbey recordings were released on the Quality Records label.{{cite web |url=http://www.globaldogproductions.info/q/quality-ca-k-series.html |title=Singles Discography for Quality Records - CA - K series |date=2008 |website=Global Dog Productions|access-date=August 27, 2013}}

{{reflist}}

• [http://zaydesturntable.wordpress.com/tag/allen-records/ Zaydes Turntable - Lawrence Cook: "Mason-Dixon Boogie" and "San Antonio Rose]
• [http://www.78rpmrecord.com/labelview.cfm?whichTask=Search&searchFor=Abbey Gallery of Abbey 78rpm record labels]
• [https://archive.org/details/georgeblood?and%5B%5D=publisher:abbey Abbey Records] on the Internet Archive's [http://great78.archive.org/ Great 78 Project]

{{Authority control}}

Category:Record labels established in 1949

Category:Record labels disestablished in 1953

Category:Defunct record labels of the United States