Four 78-rpm record album P-168 "Cowboy Classics," consisting of RCA Victor 20-2076, 20-2077, 20-2078, 20-2079.
Album released with either a blue or a red spine.
A ("Cool Water"): recorded Hollywood, CA, August 8, 1945. Originally released on RCA Victor 20-1724.
B ("Chant Of The Wanderer"): recorded Hollywood, CA, August 15, 1946. From the Columbia picture "Texas Stampede."
C ("Tumbling Tumbleweeds"): recorded Hollywood, CA, March 15, 1946. Originally released on RCA Victor 20-1904.
D ("The Everlasting Hills Of Oklahoma"): recorded Hollywood, CA, August 15, 1946. From the Republic picture "Home In Oklahoma."
E ("Cowboy Camp Meetin'"): recorded Hollywood, CA, March 15, 1946. Originally released on RCA Victor 20-1904.
F ("Blue Prairie"): recorded Hollywood, CA, August 15, 1946.
G ("The Timber Trail"): recorded Hollywood, CA, August 8, 1945. Originally released on RCA Victor 20-1764.
H ("Trees"): recorded Hollywood, CA, August 21, 1946.
Billboard, Apr. 12, 1947, page 31: Advance Record Releases (Week ending April 4)
Most 78s have only a single song on each side. The discussion below is about the question whether the records that originally came with this album would all have had the album catalog number P-168 on the label, or whether the album came straight from the factory with a mix of labels that showed partially the album number, partially only the catalog numbers of the individual records. Based on the fact that one of the records (20-2077) has one label side with, another without the album catalog number, it seems that all the records here shown could have been part of the original assembly.
The simultaneous existence of "album" and "single" versions of the same disc makes anything at least possible. If demand was high enough and "album" labels were for some reason not immediately available, RCA could have thrown together hybrid albums using "single" versions to fill the empty pockets and even putting "single" labels on the back of "album" sides to keep the product flowing. The titles and numbers and the masters used were the same, so nobody's expectations would be short-changed. It would be sloppy, to say the least, by RCA's usual standards and undoubtedly would not have pleased the quality control guys, but I doubt that many of the record-buying public would have even noticed it. The "hybrid" version of 20-2077 is the strongest argument in favor of that scenario. It at least makes it plausible.
Personally, I still think replacement records are the most likely explanation for the two wholly "single" versions. Unfortunately, we will probably never know the answer unless we find someone who has owned this exact set of records since they bought it new without having replaced any of the discs. On the plus side, it is an interesting, but hardly critical discographical issue. We can have some fun with it and nobody needs to be greatly disappointed if it's never resolved.
It appears we have a mixed batch of records here, suggesting that two of these discs are not original to the set. Note that the illustrated copies of 20-2076 and 20-2078 have no reference to album P-168 on their labels, while the other two do. I know from photos in my own database that a version of 20-2076 was issued with the reference to P-168, and would assume that to be the case with 20-2078 as well. The two discs without the album reference were probably purchased as singles to replace original album-version discs that broke or wore out. It seems likely that "single" versions were also issued for 20-2077 and 20-2079.
The two sides of 20-2077 illustrated here pose an interesting question. Both sides of 20-2079 have the same "album" format. Why is that not true of 20-2077? Are these labels from different exemplars, or did this copy actually have an "album" label on one side and a "single" label on the other? If the latter, was that done deliberately or by accident?