Origin and history

Command Records was a

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

founded by Enoch Light in 1959 and, in October that year, was acquired by

ABC-Paramount Records ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels befo ...

. Light produced a majority of the releases in the label's catalog. The company focused on producing records targeted at audiophiles. Light and sound engineer Bob Fine handled the recording and engineering responsibilities, employing the technique of multiple microphone pickups. They used different types of microphones whose characteristics were best suited to reproduce the sounds of a particular instrument. Command Records often featured abstract covers. In the early years all covers were designed by

Josef Albers Josef Albers (; ; March 19, 1888March 25, 1976) was a German-born artist and educator. The first living artist to be given a solo show at MoMA and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, he taught at the Bauhaus and Black Mountain College ...

, whose student Charles E. Murphy served as design director. Several are in the collection of the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

in New York City. Later covers appeared to be imitations of Albers' work.

Recording technique

While the recording industry had made magnetic tape the standard for recording music for release on vinyl, Command's albums were recorded onto magnetic 35mm film. Light used the width of the film strip to create multitrack recordings, as opposed to the more limited two or three tracks offered by most recording studios at the time; the slightly higher linear speed provided an advantage in analog fidelity and the sprocket-driven film limited the "wow and flutter" problems associated with tape recording. This enabled Light to record more instruments individually and adjust their audio input levels, as well as their stereo position.

Command test record

The Command test record (Stereo Check Out) was an LP album produced by Command Records in 1960. It contained recordings designed to allow users to test their stereo equipment.

Album details

Like many other Command records, the Stereo Check Out came in a

gatefold A gatefold cover or gatefold LP is a form of packaging for LP records that became popular in the mid-1960s. A gatefold cover, when folded, is the same size as a standard LP cover (i.e., a 12½ inch, or 32.7 centimetre square). The larger gatefo ...

cover with extensive liner notes and full technical data inside. Charles Stark narrated both sides, providing both technical details and information about the musical instruments used on the tracks on Side Two.

Side one

Side One of this LP consists of turntable tests. An oscilloscope is a useful tool when used in conjunction with these tests: # Stereo Balance Check # Left and Right Channel Check #

Volume Volume is a measure of occupied three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch). Th ...

Reference Check #

Frequency Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. It is also occasionally referred to as ''temporal frequency'' for clarity, and is distinct from ''angular frequency''. Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz) which is eq ...

Run Check # Output Balance Check # Flutter or Wow Check #

Phasing A phaser is an electronic sound processor used to filter a signal, and it has a series of troughs in its frequency-attenutation graph. The position (in Hz) of the peaks and troughs are typically modulated by an internal low-frequency oscil ...

Check #

Acoustical Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician ...

Check # Rumble Check

Side two

Side Two of this LP consists of musical selections from the Command catalogue: #

Hernando's Hideaway "Hernando's Hideaway" is a tango show tune, largely in long metre, from the musical ''The Pajama Game'', written by Jerry Ross and Richard Adler and published in 1954. It was sung in the stage and film versions of the musical by Carol Haney. The s ...

(from Provocative Percussion Vol II) # Cumana (from Provocative Piano) #

Tenderly "Tenderly" is a popular song published in 1946 with music by Walter Gross and lyrics by Jack Lawrence. Written in the key of E as a waltz in time, it has since been performed in 4/4 and has become a popular jazz standard. Notable versions have ...

(from

bongos Bongos ( es, bongó) are an Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. They are struck with both hands, most commonly in an eight-stroke pattern called ''martillo'' (hammer). The ...

) # Enjoy Yourself Cha-Cha (from Pertinent Percussion Cha-Cha's)

Selected Albums

# Enoch Light...And His Orchestra – A Discothèque Dance...Dance...Dance # Enoch Light...And His Orchestra – Paperback Ballet # Enoch Light...And The Light Brigade – Big Bold And Brassy # Enoch Light...And The Light Brigade – Vibrations # Enoch Light...Big Band Bossa Nova – The New Beat From Brazil # Enoch Light...And The Light Brigade - Happy Cha Cha # Enoch Light...Command Performances # Los Admiradores - Bongos/Flutes/Guitars RS 812 SD 1960 # Off Beat Percussion – Don Lamond and His Orchestra # Terry Snyder And The All Stars –

Persuasive Percussion ''Persuasive Percussion'' was an LP album performed by Terry Snyder and the All Stars and released in 1959 by Command Records (run by Enoch Light). The packaging includes the first use of the gatefold cover which, upon being unfolded, lists inf ...

# Terry Snyder And The All Stars –

Persuasive Percussion Volume 2 ''Persuasive Percussion Volume 2'' is a studio album by Terry Snyder and The All Stars. It was produced by Enoch Light and released in 1959 on Light's Command Records label (catalog no. RS 810-SD). The featured musicians included Tony Mottola, Wi ...

# Terry Snyder And The All Stars –

Persuasive Percussion Volume 3 ''Persuasive Percussion Volume 3'' is a studio album by The Command All Stars. It was produced by Enoch Light and released in 1960 on Light's Command Records label (catalog no. RS 817-SD).Liner notes on back cover and inside the gatefold of the a ...

# Enoch Light...And The Light Brigade – Provocative Percussion # Enoch Light...And The Light Brigade –

Provocative Percussion Volume 2 ''Provocative Percussion Volume 2'' is a studio album by Enoch Light and The Light Brigade. It was released in 1960 on Command Records (catalog no. RS 810-SD).Liner notes on back cover and inside the gatefold of the album. The album cover artwork ...

# Provocation Piano – Dick Hyman and His Orchestra # The Man From O.R.G.A.N. – Dick Hyman # Spanish Guitar – Tony Mottola and his orchestra (1962) # Persuasive Trombone of Urbie Green Volume 1 # Persuasive Trombone of Urbie Green Volume 2 # Enoch Light...& The Light Brigade – A New Concept of Great Cole Porter Songs CQD40002 1971 # Doc Severinsen...His Trumpet and Orchestra Fever! CQD40003 1971 # Ravel – Daphnis Et Chloe, Suite No.2 -Pierre Dervaux Command Classics CC33-11005 1961 # Ravel Bolero – Rapsodie Espagnole- Pierre Dervaux Command Classics CC33-11007 1961 # Tony Mottola And His Orchestra – Roman Guitar RS 816 SD

References

{{Authority control Defunct record labels of the United States Jazz record labels American companies established in 1959 Mass media companies established in 1959