Commodore Records
{{Short description|American independent record label}}
{{Infobox record label
| name = Commodore Records
| image = Strange-Fruit-Commodore-1939.jpg
| image_size = 220px
| image_alt = Commodore Records label
| caption = Commodore Records label for
Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit" (1939)
| parent =
| founded = {{start date|1938}}
| founder = Milt Gabler
| fate =
| defunct = {{end date|1954}}
| status = Inactive
| distributor =
| genre = Jazz
| country = U.S.
| location = New York City
| url =
}}
Commodore Records was an American independent record label known for producing Dixieland jazz and swing. It is also remembered for releasing Billie Holiday's hit "Strange Fruit".
History
File:Commodore-Music-Shop-1947.jpg
Commodore Records was founded in the spring of 1938 by Milt Gabler,{{cite book |last1=Rye |first1=Howard |editor1-last=Kernfeld |editor1-first=Barry |title=The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz |date=2002 |publisher=Grove's Dictionaries |location=New York |isbn=1-56159-284-6 |page=498 |volume=1 |edition=2nd }} a native of Harlem who founded the Commodore Music Shop in 1926 in Manhattan at 136 East 42nd Street (diagonally across the street from the Commodore Hotel), and from 1938–1941 with a branch at 46 West 52nd Street,{{cite book|last1=Clayton|first1=Peter|last2=Gammond|first2=Peter|title=The Guinness Jazz Companion|date=1989|publisher=Guinness Publishing |location=Enfield |page=65 |edition=2nd }}
Commodore's albums included dixieland music (Eddie Condon, Wild Bill Davison) and swing (Coleman Hawkins, Earl Hines).{{cite web |url=http://www.78discography.com/Commodore.htm |title=Commodore Numerical Listings |date=June 3, 2015 |website=The Online Discographical Project |access-date=February 27, 2018}} Commodore's biggest hit was "Strange Fruit" (backed with "Fine and Mellow") by Billie Holiday, which reached No. 16 on the charts on July 22, 1939.{{cite web |url=http://www.pophistorydig.com/topics/strange-fruit-1939/ |title="Strange Fruit" 1939 |last=Doyle|first=Jack |date=March 7, 2011 |website=PopHistoryDig.com |access-date=February 27, 2018}} The label was most active from 1939 to 1946.{{cite book|last1=Yanow|first1=Scott|editor1-last=Erlewine|editor1-first=Michael|editor2-last=Bogdanov|editor2-first=Vladimir |editor3-last=Woodstra |editor3-first=Chris |editor4-last=Yanow |editor4-first=Scott |title=All Music Guide to Jazz|date=1998|publisher=Miller Freeman Books|location=San Francisco |isbn=0-87930-530-4 |page=1334 |edition=3rd|chapter=Labels}} The roster included Bud Freeman, Bobby Hackett, Edmond Hall, Hot Lips Page, Pee Wee Russell, Willie "The Lion" Smith, Muggsy Spanier, Art Tatum, Fats Waller, Lee Wiley, and Lester Young.{{cite web |last1=Moos Pick |first1=Margaret |title=Riverwalk Jazz - Stanford University Libraries |url=http://riverwalkjazz.stanford.edu/program/milt-gabler-and-commodore-records-story |website=riverwalkjazz.stanford.edu |accessdate=1 August 2019}}
Gabler arranged for recording and pressing to be done by the American Record Corporation (ARC), then Reeves Transcription Services and Decca. In the early 1960s, a series of Commodore albums was compiled by Gabler and released by Mainstream. In the late 1980s, Mosaic issued Commodore's complete recordings in three box-sets (LP).
Billy Crystal, Gabler's nephew, compiled an album of songs dedicated to his uncle titled Billy Crystal Presents: The Milt Gabler Story.{{cite web |title=Billy Crystal: My Uncle Milt |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4601031 |website=NPR.org |accessdate=1 August 2019 |date=15 April 2005}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://archive.org/details/georgeblood?and%5B%5D=publisher:commodore Commodore Records] on the Internet Archive's [http://great78.archive.org/ Great 78 Project]
{{Authority control}}
Category:Record labels established in 1938
Category:American independent record labels
Category:Defunct record labels of the United States