Audio Fidelity Records - Background

Background

Sidney Frey (1920–1968), 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. Side 1 was The Dukes of Dixieland, 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 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.

That move generated a great deal of publicity and launched a revolution in the way the world listens to music: on two channels, for two ears, in stereo. Frey promptly released four additional stereo disks. The equipment dealers had no choice but to demonstrate on Audio Fidelity Records. Frey became known as "Mr. Stereo" during that era.

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). And 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. 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.

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 top London orchestral players and instrumentalists. However, once these recording sessions were over, it was never heard of again. 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. The LPs were expensively produced and retailed at a very high price but reviews of the time were divided between critics who found the stereo sound immensely vivid and others for whom it was over-modulated to the point of distortion.

During the period of Sidney Frey's ownership (1954-1966), this amazing independent label went on to record a fantastically varied and talented group of artists including: Louis Armstrong, Al Hirt, Lalo Schifrin, Oscar Brand, Lionel Hampton, Elmo Hope, Pat Moran, Larry Adler, Johnny Puleo, Patachou, Mohammed El-Bakkar, Leon Berry, Fernando Sirvent, Eddie Cantor, Myron Cohen, Jo Basile, The Teemates, The Sounds of the Nickelodeons at Paul Eakins' Gay Nineties Village, classical music, and sound effects.

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 entails:

* 1404 different catalog numbers * 1176 different Artists identified and cross-linked with album details. * 5857 different Track Titles identified and cross-linked with album details. * 640 different pictures of album jackets cross-linked with album details.