V-Disc ( "V" for Victory) was a record label that was formed in 1943 to provide records for U.S. military personnel. Captain Robert Vincent supervised the label from the Special Services division. Many popular singers, big bands, and orchestras recorded V-discs.

History

Under the leadership of James Caesar Petrillo, the American Federation of Musicians ( AFM) was involved in the

1942–44 musicians' strike Year 194 ( CXCIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Septimius and Septimius (or, less frequently, year 947 ''Ab urbe co ...

in which there was a recording ban on four companies. On October 27, 1943 V-Disc Records (1943-1949) Victory Music
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George Robert Vincent George Robert Vincent (July 17, 1898 - November 13, 1985) was a pioneer in the field of sound recording and archiving.Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

Coleman Hawkins Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969), nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Yanow, Scot"Coleman Hawkins: Artist Biography" AllMusic. Retrieved December 27, 2013. One of the first p ...

, and

Art Tatum Arthur Tatum Jr. (, October 13, 1909 – November 5, 1956) was an American jazz pianist who is widely regarded as one of the greatest in his field. From early in his career, Tatum's technical ability was regarded by fellow musicians as extraord ...

recorded concerts that were released as V-Discs. Captain Vincent ran the program from the Special Services Division.

Artists and repertoire Artists and repertoire (colloquially abbreviated to A&R) is the division of a record label or music publishing company that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists (singers, instrumentalist ...

responsibilities were handled by Steve Scholes and Walt Heebner, both of

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

, Morty Palitz of

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

, and Tony Janak of

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. The program started for the Army, but soon music was provided for the Navy and Marines. Many V-Discs contained spoken-word introductions by bandleaders and musicians wishing good luck and prayers for the soldiers.

Glenn Miller Alton Glen Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band founder, owner, conductor, composer, arranger, trombone player and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Arm ...

in December 1943, introduced a record by saying, "This is Captain Glenn Miller speaking for the Army Air Force's Training Command Orchestra and we hope that you soldiers of the Allied forces enjoy these V-Discs that we're making just for you." The ''Jubilee'' series, hosted by comedian Ernie "Bubbles" Whitman, was provided for black servicemen. The banter between Whitman and guests sometimes ventured into risque and racial humor, including the use of the ethnic slur " ofay" to refer to whites. In addition to a window into black entertainment styles, the Jubilee series chronicled the development of swing music on the cusp of bebop. V-disc recordings provide important archives of the

Billy Eckstine William Clarence Eckstine (July 8, 1914 – March 8, 1993) was an American jazz and pop singer and a bandleader during the swing and bebop eras. He was noted for his rich, almost operatic bass-baritone voice. In 2019, Eckstine was posthumously ...

Orchestra and the

International Sweethearts of Rhythm The International Sweethearts of Rhythm was the first integrated all-women's band in the United States. During the 1940s the band featured some of the best female musicians of the day. They played swing and jazz on a national circuit that incl ...

. The "V" stands for "Victory" although Vincent said the "V" stood for "Vincent". The V-Disc program ended in 1949. Audio masters and stampers were destroyed. Leftover V-Discs at bases and on ships were discarded. On some occasions, the FBI and the

Provost Marshal Provost marshal is a title given to a person in charge of a group of Military Police (MP). The title originated with an older term for MPs, '' provosts'', from the Old French ''prévost'' (Modern French ''prévôt''). While a provost marshal i ...

's Office confiscated and destroyed V-Discs that servicemen had smuggled home. An employee at a Los Angeles record company served a prison sentence for the illegal possession of over 2,500 V-Discs.

References

External links

American Music Research Center
University of Colorado
Recorded Sound Archives
Florida Atlantic University

Collector's database
Audio files
Internet Archive {{Authority control American record labels Record labels established in 1941 Record labels disestablished in 1949 Jazz record labels American Forces Network

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links