When Day Is Done + Manhattan Serenade (1927 + 28)

WHEN DAY IS DONE ~ (0:00)
Paul Whiteman and his Concert Orchestra {8 June 1927}
MANHATTAN SERENADE ~ (4:19)
Salon Orchestra – Nat Shilkret {1 March 1928}
HMV C.2823 (coupling issued March 1936)

This 12-inch, 78 rpm concert version of When Day Is Done was recorded by Paul Whiteman and His Concert Orchestra for the Victor Talking Machine Company on 8 June 1927 in New York City. There were three Takes. Over the years, Victor issued Takes 2 and 3 in the USA as Catalogue Number 35828.

Take 3 was issued in the UK by HMV. Victor had a major share-holding in HMV, and the companies traded metals of their recordings.

HMV first issued When Day Is Done as C.1460 in April 1928, coupled with Gems from Cocoanuts by ‘The (Victor) Light Opera Company’ (HMV omitted ‘Victor’ from the name). It was in HMV’s catalogue until January 1932. In March 1936 they reissued When Day Is Done as C.2823 but with Manhattan Serenade by ‘The (Victor) Salon Orchestra’ on the reverse, deleting it in April 1950.

It is possible to make-out an X, a D and two Ts embossed in the label. The metal stamper originally had ‘DT’. The X cancels the D and the extra T makes ‘TT’. Why? The letters under the label show tax paid on the disc. On 21 October 1940, during WW2, records were classed as ‘Luxury Goods’ and Purchase Tax was applied at 33⅓% of the wholesale price. It rose to 66⅔% on 15 April 1942; and to 100% on 13 April 1943, which lasted until April 1946. At first, to show payment of tax, stamps were stuck on the labels. Later the major record companies were allowed to press a code into the discs. HMV stamped T to signify 33⅓%; DT for 66⅔%; and TT for 100% (Tax; Double Tax; and Triple Tax, respectively). This copy of C.2823 has both DT (66⅔%), which is cancelled with an X, and TT (100%). A worker may have erroneously stamped DT in the metal and then corrected it; or, more likely, an existing DT stamp was cancelled after April 1943 and TT added to indicate the new higher tax rate. The record you are hearing was stamped-out between April 1943 and April 1946.

Alas, the quality of the sound in the groove leaves a lot to be desired.

Manhattan Serenade was recorded by the Victor Salon Orchestra; a studio group, under Nathaniel Shilkret who was one of Victor's musical directors. Its first outing for HMV was on C.1509 (date not known to me).

The war-time issue is also apparent in the labels. Compare them with those on A Night In Venice, for example. The label is a poor, grainy, low quality paper; and doesn’t have the deep sheen finish of pre-war HMV labels. Also, Nipper and the gramophone lack colour and (on close scrutiny) are printed in a very course matrix of dots.

Видео When Day Is Done + Manhattan Serenade (1927 + 28) канала 6dBperOctave