Grey Gull - Biography

Biography - Grey Gull

USA

Boston-based independent label, founded by Theodore Lyman Shaw, active from December 31, 1919-1930.

The label produced mostly contemporary pop music. A few releases featured actual jazz.

The earliest labels (1920-1921) were blue and white with orange, green, or brown-colored scroll work and featured a white sea gull flying in front of a golden sun. The 1920 releases had either H-prefixes, which marked hill-and-dale (vertical-cut) records, or L-prefixes for lateral-cut releases. Some of these issues were so-called Two-in-One (extended play) discs that featured two songs on each side and sold for $1.00. Others had the usual single song per side and retailed for 35 cents. In 1921, Grey Gull switched to releasing only lateral-cut records, and the prefixes were dropped.

In 1922, Grey Gull turned into a budget label and adopted a much more simple label design. Labels now were maroon with golden script. Records sold wholesale for just 11 cents, and dealers could set their own prices for them, usually between 20 and 25 cents. Racks with Grey Gull releases of the newest pop numbers were set up next to news stands.

For a brief time in 1923, labels turned black and gold and were attached to orange brown shellac pressings. Some dark-green labels also exist, but only on black shellac discs.

In 1926, Grey Gull opened up its own recording studio New York City, but the electric recording process they used was probably some kind of contraption of their own, not one leased from General Electric or Western Electric. The resulting recordings sound poorly modulated and distorted, especially on vocals. It didn't help that the company also used gritty, substandard shellac for its pressings.

Labels now were either light blue or a greyish pink, later red. Around 1927, the labels changed again. They became uniformly bright red, with the brand name Grey Gull in a larger, gold-framed white script. For a brief time, they still featured a white gull under the Grey Gull logo, but it was soon dropped.

Steve Barr, "Gull(s) Of My Dreams", New Amberola 39 (1982) 3-12 (pdf)
http://www.centuryoldsounds.com/GreyGull.html
Grrey Gull's GG Masters
Discography

« Discography

Edit This Biography : Biography Credits