vinyl_dave 26th Dec 2023
| | Matrix nos. on records of this age are far more useful than the catalogue nos. (Cat. nos. were often recycled, as a tune or song may be replaced (updated) to keep it on catalogue.)
Release dates may never be known but the matrix no. provides the date of recording.
In this case, 3547e settles it on early 1906, I'd put my money on February. (About 25 years ago I found a very handy "Record Collector" * booklet, published in the mid-1970s, and made graphs from the known matrix numbers.)
Until late-1903 when Zonophone was acquired by the Gram. Co., Zonophone records only had cat.nos.
The cat. nos. (of Zono. and Gram. Co.) didn't run in a very tidy sequence. Here, X-43100 is the 100th title of a female vocalist. 42000 series was for male vocalists. 44000 was for mixed vocal. 41000 was for spoken word. 40000 was for bands. (Instrumentalists had other series, e.g. 47900 was for violin solos.) The initial 4 (on Gram.Co. was on German records, usually German language, so (?) all Zonos. started with 4 until there was a complete change of numbering about 1930.
From the late Eddie Shaw's book "DATES" (Date About all Those English Seventy-eights), the initial digits on early Gram.Co. releases are as follows : 1, Hebrew language, 2, Russian, 3, French, 4, German, 5 italian, 6, Spanish, 7, Scandinavian, 8, Danish, 9, Dutch, (otherwise - English).
The second digit : 1, Spoken, 2, Male vocal, 3, female vocal, 4, vocal ensemble, 5, piano, 6 ?, 7 ?, 8, string quartet, 9 miscellaneous minor instruments. (77 bagpipes, 78 cello, 79 violin).
Zonophone used a similar sequence but further divided :
1-499 bands, 500- orchestras ... 1000-4000 as above ... 4500 vocal chorus, 4750 choral, sacred, 5000 solo brass, 5500 solo piano, 6000 clarinet, 6250 banjo, 6500 fife and drum, 6700 bugle calls, 6750 xylophone, 7000 trombone, 7350 mandolin, 7450 ocarina, 7550 bassoon, 7700 bagpipes, 7850 cello, 7900 violin, 8000 instr. ensemble, 8500 balalaika, 9000 piccolo, 9100 concertina & harmonica, 9150 flute, 9250 misc., 9800 viola. (This sequence ran from mid-1904 to 1911 - or, I'd say, 1930.)
When they ran out of numbers on reaching the thousand, they would add a prefix. 2- for second series, 3- for third series and so on.
(I once argued with Eddie Shaw that matrix nos. were far more useful with regard to putting a date on these early records. He couldn't see it.)
Also, label designs are not always reliable since old recordings were often issued a decade later.
* The original "Record Collector" began sometime about 1940 for the exchange of old records among collectors. Now 7" Berliners were only just over 40 years old! Other collectables then were mainly jazz and early recordings of opera singers. Caruso, Scotti, Melba, Patti, etc. etc. etc. Remember that record companies were paying pennies for old "worn out" records for recycling during the War. (Oh dear.) |