The Last Word on Recordings by Enrico Caruso, the Use of "Copy Matrices" by the Gramophone & Typewriter Company and Various Other Discographical Subjects

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Spring 2003 issue of the ARSC Journal included an article,Caruso on Records: A New Discography; In Conversation with John Bolig, by Barry R. Ashpole. (1,2) It was in a question and answer format that allowed me to comment on discography in general, and on the second of two books that I had compiled describing the recordings of Enrico Caruso. I mentioned some unresolved issues concerning how Caruso records were made and I was both cautionary and optimistic about the art of compiling discographies. Mr. Ashpole, the editor of the ARSC Journal, wrote, coincidentally, the history of researching and documenting the recorded legacy of Enrico Caruso parallels the evolution of discography. I was not the first to make an effort to describe the great tenor's recordings, but I did present his recorded output in chronological order with several variations of cross references and I included a decent bibliography. My first effort in 1973 created an enthusiastic reaction by members of ARSC who attended the annual meeting in Philadelphia, many of whom visited a museum in Dover, Delaware, where they purchased copies of the book. I was told later that there was consensus that I had solved many of the problems found in discographies printed prior to 1973. Following the publication of that book, I took thirty years off until the publisher of Mainspring Press, Allan Sutton, made an effort to see if I was still alive and whether I had any thoughts about updating the 1973 opus. Not only did I have ideas about a new book, but I had spent those thirty years compiling lists of Victor records, and I knew exactly how I wanted to present a comprehensive discography of those recordings in a printed format. Mr. Sutton was delighted to publish the updated book, Caruso Records: A History and Discography, but he was not convinced that a discography of Victor records would be practical. We were aware that ARSC members Sam Brylawsky and David Seubert were at work on the Encyclopedic Discography of Victor Recordings at the University of California in Santa Barbara compiling and describing all of the Victor matrices in numerical order, an effort started by the late William Moran and Ted Fagan (see references). I was certain that there were both advantages and disadvantages to the work being done in Santa Barbara and I was convinced that my format would be useful for collectors and museums. I also knew that it could be done much faster and more comprehensively than could be done by the Santa Barbara team. I already had a database of over 100,000 of the matrices that they were surveying, I had a 20 or 30 year head start, and I was aware that a significant proportion of Victor records were not made in the United States. The work in Santa Barbara would never be complete until they accounted for the matrices imported from Europe, Canada and Argentina. Presenting the Victor records by label color and catalog number was much more practical and useful than listing matrix numbers, many of which were never published. I could include the recordings made in other nations, and the greatest advantage was that catalog numbers could be equated with numbers printed in Victor catalogs and on the records themselves. I submitted a manuscript to Mr. Sutton in which I described Victor records in numerical order. I listed detailed information about performers, matrix numbers, dates and recording sites for each side and I worked especially hard to document who wrote the lyrics and the music for each selection. Furthermore, I listed alternate versions of each recording if that recording had been released in Europe, or had been reissued with a different catalog number in America. I had an important self-imposed limitation: I refused to list anything that I could not document. I had access to data in the Victor archive, which is in New York City, and I would not speculate on musicians who may, or may not, have been included in recording sessions. …

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