Dear all on the list,

Hi, Happy New Year from Tokyo, Japan - hope you all will have another great
year.

I've been trying to identify the exact Down Beat issue which includes
a review on EmArcy 16003 "Package For Peggy c/w Leon The Lion"
by Leon Sash (Jazz Accordion player).

I have a copy of Mercury/Polygram PSPS 1#101 (Special Product for
Collectors),
and its front cover is a facsimile of the review (five stars on both sides
of
the 78 rpm release) by Nat Hentoff.

http://microgroove.jp/mercury/PSPS1-101.shtml

I guess the 78 rpm was released sometime in 1954, but I would like to
know the exact Down Beat issue to know more precisely around when
the actual disc was released.

The very first EmArcy 78 rpm release, EmArcy 16001
("Alone Together c/w This Is My Night To Cry" by Helen Merrill),
was recorded in February 1954. March 24 1954 issue of Down Beat
magazine has a special article on the startup of the Mercury's
Jazz subsidiary label named EmArcy. So ordinary thinking leads
the guess that the early EmArcy 78 rpm releases started
in April or May 1954.

On the contrary, Bob Shad himself writes "...since our first release in
October 1954, EmArcy has started to emgerge as a definite asset..."
on Jan. 25, 1956 issue of Down Beat magazine.

I would like to have many more facts and data that would suggest
more precise release period of the very early EmArcy issues.

In case you find the Down Beat issue that includes the review on
EmArcy 16003, or you find other magazines that help identifying
the release period (such as advertisement of EmArcy releases),
please let me know.

Sincerely yours, Kohji
http://microgroove.jp/mercury/