Audio Fidelity Records

Audio Fidelity Records, was a record company based in New York City, most active during the 1950s and 1960s. They are best known for having produced the first mass-produced American stereophonic long-playing record in November 1957 (although this was not available to the general public until March of the following year).

Audio Fidelity Records
Founded	1954 (1954)
Founder	Sidney Frey
Defunct	1997 (1997)
Status	Bankrupt
Genre	Various
Country of origin	U.S.
Location	New York City

History

Audio Fidelity, Inc. was founded in 1954. A British branch, A-F England, Ltd., was established in 1959.[1] Sidney Frey sold the company in 1965 to Herman Gimbel (né Herman Levy; 1913–1978).[2] Audio Fidelity Records, Inc., changed its name to Audiofidelity Enterprises, Inc., in May 1971.[3] The last known releases under the Audio Fidelity label were circa 1984. In 1997 Audio Fidelity Records was purchased out of bankruptcy by Tom Ficara of Colliers Media Company. As of February 2018 much of the catalog is being re-mastered and re-released digitally by TVS Television Network's Music Division.

Background

Sidney Frey (1920–68), founder and president of Audio Fidelity, had Westrex, owner of one of the two rival stereo disk-cutting systems, cut a stereo LP disk for release before any of the major record labels, several of which had the Westrex equipment but had not yet produced a stereo disk.[4][5][6] Side 1 was the Dukes of Dixieland;[7] Side 2 was railroad sound effects. This demonstration disc was introduced to the public on December 13, 1957, at the Times Auditorium in New York City.[8] 500 copies of this initial demonstration record were pressed. On December 16, 1957, Frey advertised in the trade magazine Billboard that he would send a free copy to anyone in the industry who wrote to him on company letterhead.[9] Frey became known as "Mr. Stereo" during that era.[10]

Stereophonic sound was not entirely new to the public. In 1952 sound engineer Emory Cook developed a stereophonic disk that used two separate grooves and playback needles; the following year he had a catalog of about 25 disks available for audiophiles. Multi-channel sound was integral to the widescreen motion picture processes Cinerama (1952) and CinemaScope (1953). Stereophonic audio tapes had been commercially available to audiophiles, although expensive, since the mid-1950s. After the release of the Audio Fidelity demonstration disks, the other spur to the popularity of stereo disks was the reduction in price of a stereo magnetic cartridge, for playing the disks, from $250 to $29.95 in June 1958.[4] The first four stereo discs available to the general public were released by Audio Fidelity in March, 1958--Johnny Puleo and his Harmonica Gang Volume 1 (AFSD 5830), Railroad - Sounds of a Vanishing Era (AFSD 5843), Lionel - Lionel Hampton and his Orchestra (AFSD 5849) and Marching Along with the Dukes of Dixieland Volume 3 (AFSD 5851). By the end of March the company had four more stereo LPs available.[11]

In the summer of 1958 Audio Fidelity recorded 13 classical LPs in London's Walthamstow Town Hall. The orchestra was the specially-formed Virtuoso Symphony of London, which consisted of London orchestral players and leading instrumentalists including Anthony Pini, Frederick Riddle, Reginald Kell and Marie Goosens.[9] Six of the LPs were conducted by Alfred Wallenstein, who concentrated on the symphonic repertoire (Brahms's 4th Symphony, Tchaikovsky's Pathetique, Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, and so on) and six by Arthur Winograd (both conductors were ex-cellists) who recorded lighter fare, such as operatic marches and popular overtures. The 13th LP (Strauss Waltzes) was conducted by Emanuel Vardi.[9]

Archives

Collector Don W. Reichle compiled a comprehensive database and collection of Audio Fidelity recordings which are now housed at the Syracuse University Library. The collection consists of:

• 1,404 different catalog numbers
• 1,176 different artists identified and cross-linked with album details.
• 5,857 different track titles identified and cross-linked with album details.
• 640 different pictures of album jackets cross-linked with album details.

See also

• Albums released on Audio Fidelity Records
• Artists who have recorded for Audio Fidelity Records

References

1. "Frey, Demko Back From Europe Trip", Billboard, November 21, 1960, pg. 6 (retrieved July 24, 2009)
2. "Audio Fidelity Sold; Gimbel to Head Firm," Billboard, April 10, 1965, p. 1 (retrieved July 22, 2013)
3. "Audio Fidelity Changes Name in New Policy," Billboard, May 22, 1971, p. 3 (retrieved October 31, 2017)
4. ""Audio Fidelity Bombshell Had Industry Agog," Billboard, December 22, 1962, p. 36 (retrieved June 24, 2009)
5. "Audio Fidelity" (discography), Discogs (retrieved July 22, 2013)
6. "The Audio Fidelity Story," Booze Brother Music (website of Booze Bros. Entertainment) (web admin: Bob Cassady, Knoxville) (retrieved July 22, 2013)
7. "A Short History of the Dukes of Dixieland," by Harry R. Porter, additional notes by Bob Byler (né Robert H. Byler, PhD; born 1930) & Antonio Deano Assunto (born 1958), Dukes of Dixieland website (www.thedukesofdixieland.com) (website of Mike Marios, Bentonville, Arkansas, and Antonio Deano Assunto, Metairie, Louisiana), April 21, 2000
8. ""Mass Produced Stereo Disc is Demonstrated," Billboard, December 16, 1957, p. 27 (retrieved June 24, 2009)
9. "The Story of Audio Fidelity - A Pioneering American LP Label," by David Patmore, Classical Recordings Quarterly, Issue 77, Summer 2014, pps. 24–28 (accessible via EBSCO Information Services at connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/96994862)
10. "Personalty of the Month – Sid Frey" The Theatre (monthly magazine), Atlas Publishing Company, Vol. 2 (month not known), 1960, p. 42; OCLC 1781230
11. "CBS Discloses Stereo Step," Billboard, March 31, 1958, p. 9 (retrieved September 24, 2010)

External links

• Discography of Audio Fidelity Recordings at Syracuse University compiled by Don W. Reichle