Steve, good tip on Billboard! November 20, 1954 issue has article about Livingston licensing
recordings from Atlantic, Esoteric, Riverside, Oceanic and Empirical record labels.

The article mentions that, "whenever possibe, the firm will duplicate its product direct from master
tapes. In a few cases binaural tapes will be introduced."

The article goes on to say that "Livingston will continue to issue its own Connoisseur and
Livingston pre-recorded tape lines." So that indicates to me that they had their own original
recording venture as well as a duplicating operation, at least in the early days.

By the way, question for the old-timers -- did anyone except Magnecord make staggered-head
"binaural" recorders? In the very early days, basically until the day Ampex entered the consumer
player market, duplicators offered both "stacked" and "staggered" versions of their "binaural"
tapes. I have "staggered" versions of Livingston and ConcerTapes titles. I don't think the major
labels ever offered staggered-head tapes, but I do notice that almost all first-generation 2-tracks
from RCA, Columbia, Capitol and Mercury have text indicating they are for "stacked" or "in-line"
heads, so there must have been some confusion in the market.

-- Tom Fine

----- Original Message -----
From: "carlstephen koto" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, November 16, 2012 1:28 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Livingston and early Atlantic 2-track "binaural" reels


Tom,

Still have yet to find any solid link between Livingston and Atlantic, but these Billboard articles
gleans a little light on the connection to Cook and dual cartridge stereo disk playback (I have to
admit that I haven't read all the articles celebrating Livingstons 18th).
Ched Smiley looks to be the fellow responsible for Livingston's early pursuit of tape and stereo
reproduction but I haven't found very much other than the linked Billboard.

http://books.google.com/books?id=NSgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA36-IA3&lpg=PA36-http://books.google.com/books?id=NSgEAAAAMBAJ&q=Livingston+Audio+Products&source=gbs_word_cloud_r&cad=3#v=snippet&q=Livingston%20Audio%20Products&f=false

In case this huge link doesn't work, google Billboard March 14th 1970. The Livingston articles begin
on page 36.

steve koto


On Nov 15, 2012, at 6:50 PM, Tom Fine wrote:

> Hi Steve:
>
> Atlantic's tapes seem to be the connector between Livingston and Cook. They are featured in both
> catalogs. Was Livingston more a duplicating operation than a recording operation? I have a
> Livingston-branded tape of Lenny Herman "mightiest little band in the land." I think they were
> basically a hotel-bar band in the NYC area. Livingston also put out tapes under their own brand of
> Bill Thomson playing a Hammond organ.
>
> So who was behind Livingston, and how did they connect to Cook and Atlantic? Were they one of the
> early self-made duplicating operations? The earliest documentation I've seen of a tape duplication
> operation was in a 1952 Radio & TV News article, about a setup in NY using Ampex 300's modified in
> a way that was strikingly similar to what Ampex ended up doing with their 3200 duplicator system
> two years later.
>
> -- Tom Fine
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "carlstephen koto" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2012 8:55 PM
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Livingston and early Atlantic 2-track "binaural" reels
>
>
> Hey Tom,
>
> A quick check of a couple of my binaural tapes reveals the following text on the back of the
> boxes;
>
> "A Binaural tape of The Atlantic Tape Library
> duplicated and distributed exclusively by
> Livingston Electronic Corporation"
>
> The 2 tapes I checked;
> Paul Barbarin and his New Orleans Jazz is listed in the Atlantic Records discography as lp # 1253
> New Orleans Jazz by Wilbur de Paris and his Rampart Street Ramblers is listed as lp# 1208
>
> I'm not sure about the dates for the Wilbur de Paris but according to the All Music Guide, the
> Barbarin was recorded in 1955 for Atlantic.
>
> steve koto
> On Nov 15, 2012, at 2:51 PM, Tom Fine wrote:
>
>> What was the story with Livingston and Atlantic and their early 2-track reels? The Atlantic
>> titles were listed in both the Livingston and Cook catalogs that were included with Livingston
>> and Cook reels. Did Emory Cook make all of these recordings?
>>
>> -- Tom Fine