Everest 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 ...

based in Bayside, Long Island, started by Harry D. Belock and Bert Whyte in May 1958. It was devoted mainly to classical music.

History

The idea for starting a label was related by electronics inventor Harry Belock (who also worked on sound films in Hollywood in the 1930s) to Roland Gelatt in the February 1959 issue of '' High Fidelity'': "The more of them I heard, the more I felt that nobody had a good stereo library. So I decided to get into the business myself." The plan was to record repertory that was new to stereo. Belock was very ambitious, and told ''High Fidelity'' that "We're out to surpass

Capitol A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity. Specific capitols include: * United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. * Numerous ...

. We're not shooting marbles." Belock Instrument Corporation, a manufacturer of precision equipment (particularly missile electronics) was the parent of the Everest label 1958-1960 (operated as the Belock Recording Company). Everest would issue its recordings on

monaural Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction (often shortened to mono) is sound intended to be heard as if it were emanating from one position. This contrasts with stereophonic sound or ''stereo'', which uses two separate audio channels to reproduc ...

LP (LPBR 6000 series), stereo LP (SDBR 3000 series), and tape. Everest also developed a popular and jazz division that issued albums in the LPBR 5000 series (mono) and SDBR 1000 series that, for several years, had composer/conductor

Raymond Scott Raymond Scott (born Harry Warnow; September 10, 1908 – February 8, 1994) was an American composer, band leader, pianist, record producer, and inventor of electronic instruments. Though Scott never scored cartoon soundtracks, his music is ...

, known for the television series ''

Your Hit Parade ''Your Hit Parade'' was an American radio and television music program that was broadcast from 1935 to 1953 on radio, and seen from 1950 to 1959 on television. It was sponsored by American Tobacco's Lucky Strike cigarettes. During its 24-year ru ...

'', as head and chief A&R man. It was natural for Scott and two of his Hit Parade regulars,

Dorothy Collins Dorothy Collins (born Marjorie Chandler;
''

Gisele MacKenzie Gisèle MacKenzie (born Gisèle Marie Louise Marguerite LaFlèche; January 10, 1927 – September 5, 2003)
Accessed April 2010 ...

, to record for the label. MacKenzie was featured on a popular live recording done during her night club engagement at The Empire Room of The Waldorf-Astoria, while Collins was featured on an ambitious collection of holiday tunes with the Joe Lily Singers and Nathan VanCleve's orchestra (both alumnae from the Bing Crosby film classic '' White Christmas'') titled "Won't You Spend Christmas with Me?" Scott released several instrumental albums for the label, and teamed with Dorothy Collins for a joint effort, "Singin' and Swingin'", which was never released, although initial promotional efforts were made via television appearances by Collins. Other pop and jazz artists on the label included

Nelson Eddy Nelson Ackerman Eddy (June 29, 1901 – March 6, 1967) was an American actor and baritone singer who appeared in 19 musical films during the 1930s and 1940s, as well as in opera and on the concert stage, radio, television, and in nightclub ...

, Randy Van Horne Singers,

Gloria Lynne Gloria Lynne (born Gloria Wilson; November 23, 1929 – October 15, 2013), also known as Gloria Alleyne, was an American jazz vocalist with a recording career spanning from 1958 to 2007. Career Lynne was born in Harlem in 1929 to John and Mary W ...

Woody Herman Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading groups called "The Herd", Herman came to prominence in the late 1930s and was active until his dea ...

Charlie Barnet Charles Daly Barnet (October 26, 1913 – September 4, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. His major recordings were "Skyliner", " Cherokee", "The Wrong Idea", "Scotch and Soda", "In a Mizz", and "Southland Shuffl ...

, Ann Blyth, and

Russ Morgan Russell Morgan (April 29, 1904 – August 7, 1969) was an American big band leader and arranger during the 1930s and 1940s. He was best known for being the one of the composers of the song "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", with Larry Stock ...

, among others. The label also entered the singles market with some non-LP 45 rpm releases by their contracted pop and jazz performers. Gloria Lynne relates in her autobiography, ''I Wish You Love''. how she met Raymond Scott and Harry Belock at the

Brill Building The Brill Building is an office building at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, just north of Times Square and further uptown from the historic musical Tin Pan Alley neighborhood. It was built in 1931 as t ...

in New York's Tin Pan Alley in 1957 where they were on the lookout for a vocalist. According to Lynne: "Harry was the money man and Raymond was the creative guy. They were talking in such technical terms that I didn't understand all of the mechanics of what they were proposing, but they were going to pay me five hundred dollars, and I understood that." Bert Whyte was the producer and

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

. Ruth, his wife, was the assistant engineer. Belock and Whyte decided to record music on 35 mm magnetic film, which they believed was an improvement over half-inch tape.

Westrex The Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering and manufacturing company officially founded in 1869. A wholly owned subsidiary of American Telephone & Telegraph for most of its lifespan, it served as the primary equipment ma ...

built this equipment to their specifications, at a cost then of about $20,000 for each recorder. Neumann

U 47 The Neumann is a large-diaphragm condenser microphone. It is one of the most famous studio microphones and was Neumann's first microphone after the Second World War. The original series, manufactured by Georg Neumann GmbH between 1949 and 196 ...

microphones A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and public ...

were purchased to go with the film recorders. Everest’s recording philosophy was to make minimally-miked three-channel recordings using 35 mm film recorders in the specially designed Belock Recording Studio in

Bayside, New York Bayside is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is bounded by Whitestone to the northwest, the Long Island Sound and Little Neck Bay to the northeast, Douglaston to the east, Oakland Gardens to the south, and Fresh Meado ...

and in a portable version on location in the USA and Europe. In May 1959, Edward Wallerstein (formerly president of Columbia Records) was appointed as a vice-president of the company. Whyte was determined to engage well-known performers in a market loaded with exclusive

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...

artists. Everest managed to engage the services of several major conductors, including

Sir Adrian Boult Sir Adrian Cedric Boult, CH (; 8 April 1889 – 22 February 1983) was an English conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family, he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London ...

Josef Krips Josef Alois Krips (8 April 1902 – 13 October 1974) was an Austrian conductor and violinist. Life and career Krips was born in Vienna. His father was Josef Jakob Krips, a medical doctor and amateur singer, and his mother was Aloisia, née Seit ...

Eugene Aynsley Goossens Sir Eugene Aynsley Goossens (; 26 May 189313 June 1962) was an English conductor and composer. Biography He was born in Camden Town, London, the son of the Belgian conductor and violinist Eugène Goossens (''fils'', 1867–1958) and Annie ...

Malcolm Sargent Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent (29 April 1895 – 3 October 1967) was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works. The musical ensembles with which he was associated include ...

William Steinberg William Steinberg (Cologne, August 1, 1899New York City, May 16, 1978) was a German-American conductor. Biography Steinberg was born Hans Wilhelm Steinberg in Cologne, Germany. He displayed early talent as a violinist, pianist, and composer, ...

Walter Susskind Jan Walter Susskind (1 May 1913 – 25 March 1980) was a Czech-born British conductor, teacher and pianist. He began his career in his native Prague, and fled to Britain when Germany invaded the city in 1939. He worked for substantial periods in ...

and

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his appear ...

. Stokowski signed a contract to record with Everest on September 26, 1958. Among the first Everest recordings were a group with Stokowski conducting the "Stadium Symphony Orchestra of New York" (a

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

for members of the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

) in

Manhattan Center The Manhattan Center is a building in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Built in 1906 and located at 311 West 34th Street, it houses Manhattan Center Studios, the location of two recording studios; its Grand Ballroom; and the Hammerstein Ballroo ...

. (The New York Philharmonic formerly gave summer concerts in

Lewisohn Stadium Lewisohn Stadium was an amphitheater and athletic facility built on the campus of the City College of New York (CCNY). It opened in 1915 and was demolished in 1973. History The Doric-colonnaded amphitheater was built between Amsterdam and Conven ...

.) Stokowski recorded eleven albums for Everest during 1958-59. Six were made with the spurious Stadium Symphony and five with the

Houston Symphony Orchestra The Houston Symphony is an American orchestra based in Houston, Texas. The orchestra is resident at the Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts. History The first concert of what was to become the Houston Symphony took place on June 21, 1 ...

. Stokowski believed that the recording philosophy of Everest was contrary to music making, and more in line with mathematics and engineering. None of the records he made with the company seemed to satisfy him. However, most are still considered technically exceptional. Stokowski discovered pirated recordings of his Everest records being issued on the Tiara label. These included both his name and the name of the Houston Symphony Orchestra. He wrote Bernard Solomon at Everest to ask how this could be possible. In

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, Everest recorded the London Philharmonic Orchestra and

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orc ...

at Walthamstow Town Hall. The world premiere recording of Ralph Vaughan Williams's '' Symphony No. 9 in E minor'' was made by Everest at Walthamstow on the morning of the composer's death, August 26, 1958. The composer planned to attend the Everest sessions just as he had attended the earlier Decca sessions for the first eight symphonies. As before, Adrian Boult conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra, but this time he began by recording a tribute to the composer. Everest also recorded several composers conducting their own works, including

Malcolm Arnold Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold (21 October 1921 – 23 September 2006) was an English composer. His works feature music in many genres, including a cycle of nine symphonies, numerous concertos, concert works, chamber music, choral music and music ...

, Carlos Chavez,

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later a conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as "the Dean of American Com ...

Morton Gould Morton Gould (December 10, 1913February 21, 1996) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, and pianist. Biography Morton Gould was born in Richmond Hill, New York, United States. He was recognized early as a child prodigy with abilities i ...

, Ferde Grofé, and Heitor Villa-Lobos. In addition, one LP featured historic

Melodiya Melodiya ( rus, links=no, Мелодия, t=Melody) is a Russian (formerly Soviet) record label. It was the state-owned major record company of the Soviet Union. History Melodiya was established in 1964 as the "All-Union Gramophone Record Firm ...

recordings of

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, ...

and

Aram Khachaturian Aram Ilyich Khachaturian (; rus, Арам Ильич Хачатурян, , ɐˈram ɨˈlʲjitɕ xətɕɪtʊˈrʲan, Ru-Aram Ilyich Khachaturian.ogg; hy, Արամ Խաչատրյան, ''Aram Xačʿatryan''; 1 May 1978) was a Soviet and Armenia ...

conducting their violin concertos, each with

David Oistrakh David Fyodorovich Oistrakh (; – 24 October 1974), was a Soviet classical violinist, violist and conductor. Oistrakh collaborated with major orchestras and musicians from many parts of the world and was the dedicatee of numerous violin ...

as soloist. In 1967, Everest issued the first performance of

Shostakovitch Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throughout his life as a major compo ...

's suppressed Thirteenth Symphony, using a live recording smuggled out of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. In the Everest Archive of Piano Music, the company made stereo recordings on a 1929 Steinway piano of

Percy Grainger Percy Aldridge Grainger (born George Percy Grainger; 8 July 188220 February 1961) was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist who lived in the United States from 1914 and became an American citizen in 1918. In the course of a long an ...

playing his own music on the Aeolian Company's

Duo-Art Duo-Art was one of the leading reproducing piano technologies of the early 20th century, the others being American Piano Company (Ampico), introduced in 1913 too, and Welte-Mignon in 1905. These technologies flourished at that time because of th ...

piano reproduction mechanism. Sadly, one composer/performer,

Ernő Dohnányi Ernő or Erno is a Finnish and Hungarian masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Ernő Balogh (1897-1989), Hungarian pianist, composer, editor, and educator * Ernő Bánk (1883-1962), Hungarian painter and teacher * Ernő B ...

(Ernst von Dohnanyi), died in 1960 while recording piano compositions for Everest. Dohnányi made few recordings, not caring much for the process. He was attempting to complete a huge recording assignment in January, 1960 when he fell ill at a session. His condition deteriorated quickly and in a matter of hours he was stricken with a heart attack. Correctly believing that this was his final opportunity to record, Dohnányi continued with the session, and he died two days later. Everest issued a memorial album to the composer, on SDBR 3061. Everest negotiated with

Cetra Records Cetra was an Italian record company, active between 1933 and 1957, the year in which, by merging with Fonit (Fonodisco Italiano Trevisan), it gave birth to Fonit Cetra. Its roster of artists included Maria Callas, Renata Tebaldi, Lina Pagliughi ...

in Italy to issue that label's extensive catalog of complete opera recordings in the United States. Several of these recordings were of obscure or rarely performed operas, many of them issued on records for the first, or only time. Everest prospered for only a few years. The label may have been hurt financially by Whyte's recording the complete Pablo Casals

Festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival ...

in 1960. By this time, Harry Belock owned only 22% of the business and the board removed him from control. Belock (who died in 1999) left the record business and sold his interest in Everest to his accountant, Bernard Solomon, in 1962. The studio and all its recording equipment was sold in 1961 to engineer C. Robert Fine, who used the equipment for

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it i ...

, Command Classics and other recordings. A Mercury CD release by Robert Fennell of Gershwin and Cole Porter (434 327-2/1993) contains the following information on the inside of the booklet: "The songs of Cole Porter were recorded in the Bayside Studio of Fine Recording, N.Y., on November 20 and 21, 1961, on 3-track 35mm film, 3-track half inch tape, and 2 track quarter-inch tape..on this CD the 3-track half inch master was used as the 35mm was unavailable." This would indicate, if true, that Mercury Records had commenced 35mm recording using at least some of the Belock equipment in late 1961. The studio operated for a few more years as Fine Recording Bayside but was closed in the mid-1960s. The 35 mm equipment was absorbed into Fine Recording's main facility in Manhattan. One of the original machines was used by Wilma Cozart Fine to remaster Mercury 35 mm recordings for CD in the 1990s. When Everest was being sold off, the popular recordings were purchased by Liberty Records, who issued some of them on their budget Sunset label, titles by Gisele MacKenzie, Randy Van Horne Singers,

and Raymond Scott. Much of the pop and jazz masters remained in the Liberty vault, until the label was purchased by EMI. The classical catalogue comprising all the original 35mm film masters and half inch magnetic tapes are currently archived under controlled conditions in the Hamburg vaults of Countdown Media/BMG Music who purchased the copyright from Grammercy in the 1990s. Prior to that the copyright was owned, it is believed, by

Omega Omega (; capital: Ω, lowercase: ω; Ancient Greek ὦ, later ὦ μέγα, Modern Greek ωμέγα) is the twenty-fourth and final letter in the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numeric system/ isopsephy ( gematria), it has a value of 800. The ...

Vanguard Records Vanguard Recording Society is an American record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York City. It was a primarily classical label at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, but also has a catalogue of recordings by a n ...

who undertook the first modern digital remastering released by Vanguard Classics. King Records in Japan are currently in the process of releasing all titles on SACD discs. A previous all tube reissue and remastering by Classic Records in the 1990s of a small number of 35mm film masters to both high quality vinyl repressings and DVD-Audio did unfortunately suffer from some wow and flutter issues. The plan now is for one further digital remastering using modified Westrex record/playback machines with added laser guidance to eliminate these problems in the age of the masters. The 35mm film masters and magnetic tapes are reported to be in a very good condition due to only light use to date. The rights to the Jazz and Popular catalogue are now also held in Japan, though reissues using excellent remastering from the original tapes continue to be released by Universal Music and Essential Media. A number of Everest recordings were also issued by the World Record Club, both on LP and on tape. These were mono at 3 ips. but very high quality. Collectors have determined that the only Everest LPs worth having are those that were recorded and pressed while Belock was at the company. Identifying these records is relatively easy: the first issues sport a silver/turquoise label (with the earliest of these having a wood dowel on the outside edge of the inner sleeve). The silver paper used on these covers usually becomes brittle and deteriorates with age. The second label is a purple mountain. The entire classical catalog of Belock Everests is relatively small, fewer than 100 LPs.

Reissues

The Everest masters were located in a

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

vault in 1993 by Seymour Solomon, president of Omega Records and founder of

Vanguard Classics Vanguard Recording Society is an American record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York City. It was a primarily classical label at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, but also has a catalogue of recordings by a nu ...

. In recent years, some of Everest's audiophile recordings of the Belock/Whyte era have been reissued on

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Oc ...

Collectables Records Collectables is a reissue record label founded in 1980 by Jerry Greene. Jerry Greene formed Lost Nite and Crimson record labels. Soul Survivors gained the hit "Expressway to Your Heart" (1967) while on Crimson Records. History It maintains a ca ...

, DCC Compact Classics, Omega, and

and on CD,

DVD-Audio DVD-Audio (commonly abbreviated as DVD-A) is a digital format for delivering high-fidelity audio content on a DVD. DVD-Audio uses most of the storage on the disc for high-quality audio and is not intended to be a video delivery format. The st ...

and LP by Classic Records

Selected acquisitions

In 1965, Everest acquired

Period Records Period Records was an American record label that was founded in 1949. History Period Records was the label of Period Music Company. Period had a large catalog of classical and operetta recordings, as well as jazz and popular music. In 1956, ...

References

*"Belock Appoints Head of Recording Division", New York Times, May 23, 1959, page 36 *Gelatt, Roland, "Music Makers" High Fidelity, November 1958, page 53 and February 1959, page 47 *Harry D. Belock on imd

*Kiszely, Deborah "An Analysis of Ernő Dohnányi's Ruralia hungarica" in Studia Musicologica: Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 1995, page 79. *Robinson, Paul. Stokowski. New York: Vanguard Press, 1977 *"Stereo Concern Organized", New York Times, May 8, 1958, page 49 *Verna, Paul. "Everest Masters Restored from 35mm via SBM System", Billboard, October 8, 1994, page 90. * "The Journal of The Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers," August, 1965, Vol. 74. {{Authority control Record labels established in 1958 Classical music record labels Defunct record labels of the United States 1958 establishments in New York (state)

History

Reissues

Selected acquisitions

See also

References