Japan Victor Company Storyteller Album

Previously I have posted about a JVC record that featured Alice songs on one side and Cinderella songs on the other (see Japanese Victor Record - Title Song).  But, did you know there was an entire storyteller album as well?  Well, neither did I until a couple of years ago.  Let's take a look!

This (along with all other "original release" items) was produced in 1953, which was the year Alice came out in Japan.  As with the previously posted record, this is sung and told by Izumi Yukimura, who was a very popular singer in Japan.  Issued as a two-record set in 78 rpm in an illustrated sleeve, 

each disc has illustrated labels, just like on the previous record. I particularly love the labels on these, with art of Alice and the pansies from the garden of live flowers.

The set also comes with a 16-page booklet filled with text, lyrics and black & white illustrations, which I imagine is pretty rare to find intact with the set.  

  

Mercury Records Featuring Roberta Quinlan and Richard Hayes

Mercury Records originally issued records from Alice in Wonderland in 1951 at the time of or slightly before the release of the film, and again in 1954 or 1955 as a part of their Childcraft line.  Songs and narration were performed by Richard Hayes and Roberta Quinlan.

The Story of “Alice in Wonderland”

Issued in 1951 as a standard 78 RPM album (A89) with three 10” discs, and as a single 33⅓ RPM (MG-25096) disc.  The cover of the album has exceptionally unusual art, especially for the time, and looks like it could be from a decade later.  This set is what is referred to as the “complete score” in the campaign book, but it is essentially a storyteller.

 

Childcraft Songs from “Alice in Wonderland” CM-37

Issued in 1955, this 78 RPM record consists of 4 songs from Alice with accompanying narration, basically an abridged version of the album above.  

An Australian release as a 78 RPM exists using the same sleeve just on a different weight of paper, however the labels on that version are quite different from the American version. 

EP-C-2

This 45 RPM version of the Childcraft Alice CM-37 is actually the B side of the Childcraft Pinocchio (non-Disney).  But at least they used the Alice sleeve art on the back of the cardboard cover.

Miscellaneous

There is an additional Mercury record by Quinlan-Hayes that has narration and songs but is not part of any of the albums above.  Mercury 5639 is a 78 RPM record with three of the eight songs contained on the full album, so not quite a storyteller but not just a single either.  It is also available as a 45 RPM record.

There is also what appears to be a single of the title song “Alice in Wonderland” by Roberta Quinlan on the Mercury label, but to date I’ve only found it as a sample record, the kind usually sent to radio stations to be played on-air.

Little Nipper Junior Series Alice in Wonderland from 1953

Y-485 Alice in Wonderland

Likely issued in 1953, this 78 RPM entry in RCA Victor’s Little Nipper Junior series features a vivid yellow cover with new art of Alice and the dancing Tweedles.  Featuring Kathryn Beaumont and Ed Wynn from the original cast, this is an abridged single disc version of the standard Little Nipper storyteller.

EYA-46 Alice in Wonderland

The 45 RPM EP of the Junior series record above is actually the B side of a similar Peter Pan record, hence the 1953 release date.  Surprisingly the cardboard sleeve prints the Alice art on the back which makes this particular record much easier to identify.

Columbia Record Featuring Rosemary Clooney

Rosemary Clooney recorded this record of four songs with the Percy Faith Orchestra for release on the Columbia label in both 78 RPM (MJV-112) and 45 RPM (MJV 4-112) formats.  The cover art is unique to this release, and is more reminiscent of Tenniel than Disney.  Although even that is a stretch.  Best to say it is unique.

I do like the fact that the 45 RPM sleeve has a hole in the middle just like a plain sleeve.

Mayfair Record Featuring June Winters "The Lady in Blue"

The Lady in Blue, a character popularized by singer June Winters, released a number of children’s records beginning in 1947, with the Alice in Wonderland title Songs from Walt Disney’s Alice in Wonderland being released in 1951.

Issue in both 78 RPM (K-128) and 45 RPM (K-128-45) formats, the record includes the songs Alice in Wonderland, I’m Late, All in a Golden Afternoon, and The Unbirthday Song.  The paper sleeve features art inspired by the original John Tenniel illustrations; the art on the 78 RPM label  features Alice, but not based on Tenniel.  The 45 RPM label is just a standard 45 RPM label with no art at all.  Based on this one might assume that the 78 was more targeted at the children's market whereas the newer 45 format more at the adult market.  But who can say for sure.

Founded in 1946 by June Winters and her husband Hugo Peretti, Mayfair Records specialized in children’s records featuring “The Lady in Blue,” June Winter’s character made famous throughout the late 1940s and 1950s.  By 1949 The Lady in Blue's popularity had increased dramatically, with her own fan club, comic strip, and numerous appearance on radio and television.  By 1951 The Lady in Blue radio show was airing nationwide on NBC Radio.

Mayfair was acquired by Roulette Records in 1957, with Hugo Peretti staying on as head of the children’s record division.  The Lady in Blue continued to release records on the Roulette label until June Winters retired in the 1960s.

Luton Girls Choir Medley from Alice in Wonderland (with a friend)

As many of you know, I'm deep into the writing of the book, and part of that involves a LOT of scanning.  The past few weeks have been consumed with the scanning of seemingly endless records of various sizes, speeds, and countries.  Perhaps the most interesting re-discovery is this recording of the Luton Girls Choir singing a medley of songs from Alice, with I'm Late sung by "a friend," who has so far not been identified.  Give it a listen and if you know the singer let me know in the comments!

In-Store Advertising Poster for Walt Disney Presents & Disneyland Records 1959

 Alice in Wonderland has had a love affair with Christmas throughout the years.  Most fans know that Disney's first TV show was One Hour in Wonderland on Christmas Day in 1950, and the film (edited) was broadcast on the second episode of the Disneyland TV show in 1954.  But did you know it was on TV a second time on Christmas Day?  In 1959 on Walt Disney Presents (the next incarnation of the Disneyland TV show), Alice in Wonderland was again broadcast.  And for whatever reason, promotional adverts were created for stores that sold the various Alice records.  This is one such poster, about the size of a lobby card, advertising the show itself on Christmas, and the records for sale in the shop.  

The first record advertised is the "Story-teller Record and Book" for $3.98.  That record is the first pressing of ST 3909 as told by Darlene of the Mouseketeers.  This first pressing is fairly scarce, being replaced by the much more common plaid-cover "Magic Mirror" record a few years later.  Collectors refer to this record as the "Enchanted Circle" cover.

The second record advertised is the "Original Hit Song Sound Track" for $1.98.  That record is the first pressing of DQ 1208 which is identified by this red cover with a back cover featuring 9 color images of other DQ records.  Second pressings have 5 black and white images.  Later pressings of this title have a purple cover of Alice sitting with the Cheshire Cat.  The DQ 1208 record was the successor to the exceptionally rare WDL 4015.

In today's dollars those records would be about $35 for the storyteller, and $17 for the soundtrack.

Little Nipper Giant Storybook Record Album

The large complete storyteller record, called the Little Nipper Giant Storybook Record Album (could they not come up with a shorter name?), was issued in 78, 45 and 33 ⅓ RPM formats.  

The records were located on the inside covers in special paper sleeves that were pasted to the covers.

The 78 version almost always has significant damage to these sleeves as the records are so heavy.  

The 45 version records are much smaller and lighter, and as such these sleeves are almost always intact.  

The 33 ⅓ version has a single record that is about the same size and weight of a 78, so the single sleeve on the inside front cover is also almost always quite distressed too.  So the moral is:  If you are looking for a very nice copy, go for a 45 set.

Alice was the first (and only) Disney storyteller to use this new large book format rather than the familiar album format.  Art by the incomparable Mel Crawford.

For a complete scan of the interior of this book, go visit this amazing site:

Happy New Year!

So another year has come and gone, and while I have taken some major steps forward in preparation for an upcoming project, the blog has suffered.  Looking back at the history of posts over the past few years it is abundantly clear exactly when I started working for myself  - I'm sure you can guess when too!

That being said, I do have things happening on the Alice front and will continue to update the blog with content as I get the chance.  The first being - today!

This year has been a good one for art acquisitions.  I have been fortunate enough to acquire three new Mary Blair pieces, although I did have to part with another to finance them.  But so it goes, you gotta sell to buy!

I was also lucky enough to score an original page by Mel Crawford from the Little Nipper Storybook which I have not posted yet but have mentioned in several posts - mostly about Japanese books.

And the Australian exhibition closed in October, but is now traveling the world, first stop Singapore!  I will post details when I have them.  Happy New Year to all!

Little Golden Records

Given the past two days' posts on the DBR records, it seems only fitting to post about their smaller, much more common cousins, the Little Golden Records.

The Disney series of Little Golden Records was introduced very shortly before Alice was released, as can be seen in some of the S&S catalogs of the day, and by the relatively low product numbers on the Alice series of records (RD18-25).

As with most other Alice items from the original release, S&S went all out on this set, and produced eight records for the series, each with full color cover art!

Interestingly, the title song RD18 was also released in the Peter Puppet Playthings marionette theater set that I've previously posted about here.

Over the years it has become clear that some of these records are much scarcer than others.  In my experience RD22 (All in a Golden Afternoon) is the hardest to find of the set,

followed closely by RD23 (Alice in Wonderland Meets the Caterpillar and the Cheshire Cat).

My assumption is that these titles just weren't as popular with kids and they got thrown out more frequently than the others.

Additionally, all of the titles are difficult to find with their paper sleeves in any kind of decent condition, these were kids records after all, and while the records themselves were designed to suffer a great deal of abuse, the sleeves are just paper.

Big Golden Record DBR-2 Six Songs from Alice in Wonderland - Part 2

Second in the series, and probably rarer still than Part 1, but who can say for sure?  I've only ever seen two copies of each with their sleeves and maybe an additional 4 of part 1 without.  Regardless, insanely rare doesn't even begin to cover it.  I know the WDL-4015 is rare and valuable, but it is way more common than these.

Same additional titles on the back of both parts 1 and 2.  I've seen Peter Pan DBRs too, and a Jiminy Cricket MMC title that escapes me at the moment, but Disney titles in this format are small in number.

Labels for part 2 are blue rather than purple

Big Golden Record DBR-1 Six Songs from Alice in Wonderland - Part 1

What we have here ladies and gentlemen is possibly the rarest of all the Alice records.  Big Golden Record DBR-1, Six Songs from Alice in Wonderland, Part 1.  Together with Part 2, these comprise the rarest recordings (domestically) that I am aware of.

For years no one would believe me that these even existed, as I had no physical evidence, only a single reference in a single printed ad, but I was convinced they did indeed exist.

And lo and behold, about 7 years ago I was finally rewarded when I found both in a single lot of old children's records.  Fantastic!

The recordings themselves are nothing special, just a rehash of the same titles on the Little Golden Records, but the format is different.  The size of a standard 78 RPM record, with illustrated labels, and not too interesting sleeves, these must have been short lived indeed, for though there are literally 100s of LGRs, there is only a tiny number of titles in the BGR series.

I've heard it said that the DBR nomenclature on these titles stands for Disney Big Record, but have no confirmation of that.  Part 2 tomorrow.