Pelican

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Records

Pelican

Records

British Dance Bands

Pelican records were introduced in Autumn 1913, part of the ongoing price-war in records, costing just 1/-.
Initially they were made for The Universal Record Syndicate, and later for J. Blum & Co.
The manufacture of Pelican records seems to switch between Britian (The Disc Record Company) and Germany (Kalliope) though it is not clear how this was organised.
It would seem that the first batch were made in Germany (by Kalliope) using J. Blum masters. Then they were made in England by The Disc Record Company of Harrow, using whatever masters they had in the factory; mainly Blum masters, but also ARC, Jumbo, Favorite, Nicole, Beka &c. It was reported that the DRC were having trouble pressing enough Pelican records to keep up with demand. This is odd, given that the company had reported it could press 3000 records a day. Maybe they took on other pressing work and couldn't cope. Anyway, it seems that the later Pelican records were once again made in Germany, (by Kalliope ?), using mainly Blum's masters.

By early 1914, new Pelican records ceased to be produced, the numbering having run from P-1 to about P-114 (the highest known to date). Old stocks of the records were jobbed off by other dealers. Pelican records overstuck with "Besttone" stickers turn up regularly; these were sold by The Regent Fittings Company.

In 1916, the Pelican trade mark & name passed to Columbia, who never used it for records.

Oddly, despite the name of the label, the obvious trade-mark of the bird, though shown in adverts for the records, never appeared on the label.

Please e-mail me if you can help me fill in the gaps in any of these series. Even if the record you have is in this list, it is worth checking the details (especially the matrix number) is the same as that which I have.

Thanks to the following who have provided extra information: Frank Andrews, Paul Buck, Peter Churcher, John Culley, Bill Dean-Myatt, Graham Farnell, Norman Field, Mike Langridge, Richard Prout, Guy Roles

Cat No.	Matrix No.	Title	Artists	Notes
P 1		William Tell Overture, part 1 (Rossini) William Tell Overture, part 2 (Rossini)	Royal Guards Band
P 2	1836 1837	Faust - selection part 1 (Gounod) Faust - selection part 2 (Gounod)	Royal Guards Band
P 3	1803 1804	Zampa Overture, part 1 (Herold) Zampa Overture, part 2 (Herold)	Royal Guards Band
P 4	1646 1883	Grizzly Bear Teddy Bears' Picnic	Royal Guards Band
P 5	1616 1620	Imperial Edward March Crusader March	Royal Guards Band
P 6	1617 1618	Manhattan Beach Washington Post, march	Royal Guards Band
P 7		Stars And Stripes March Loyal Legion, march	Royal Guards Band
P 8	1614 .	The Thunderer, march The Gladiator, march	Royal Guards Band
P 9		Carmen, selection, part 1 (Bizet) Carmen, selection, part 2 (Bizet)	Royal Guards Band
P 10	1646 1648	Grizzly Bear The Gaby Glide	Royal Guards Band
P 11	1816 1835	Old Comrades, march Light Cavalry Overture (Suppe)	Royal Guards Band
P 12	1800 1834	Coronation Bells Bells Of St. Malo	Royal Guards Band
P 13	1649 1808	Gipsy Love, Waltz Gold And Silver, waltz	Royal Guards Band
P 14		The Gondoliers, selection part 1 (Sullivan) The Gondoliers, selection part 2 (Sullivan)	Royal Guards Band
P 15		Oh! Oh! Delphine, selection, part 1 Oh! Oh! Delphine, selection, part 2	Royal Guards Band
P 16	1647 ? / 2020 2021	The Wedding Glide That Mysterious Rag	Royal Guards Band
P 17	1883 2032	The Teddy Bear's Picnic Ragtime Violin	The Royal Guards Band	1
P 18	030810 / 5372 031434	St Louis Tickle Bill Simmons	Vess L. Ossman (banjo)	ARC
P 19	E-1786 E-1787	Queen Of The Burlesque Camptown Carnival	Olly Oakley (banjo)
P 20	2566 / 1466-40 2753 / 41153	The Bohemian - selection A Hornpipe	Percy Honri (concertina) (actually British Imperial Military Band) Percy Honri (concertina)	Nicole Beka
P 21		Silver Bells Le Centaur	Charles Lenten (bells) (= Charles I. Lent) C. Penner (xylophone)	Nicole
P 22	030810 030814	St Louis Rag Any Rags, medley	Vess L. Ossman (banjo)	ARC
P 23	1151 1153	Gladiator's Farewell Under Freedom's Flag	Steve Bartle (concertina)
P 24	1977 2653	The Flight Of Ages I'll Sing Thee Songs Of Araby	Sergeant Charles Leggett (cornet)	2
P 25	1907 1912	Lo! Here the Gentle Lark I Hear You Calling Me	The Schumann Quartette (flute, violin, viola, harp)
P 26	031254 031277	Bright Eyes / My Irish Molly-O A Gay Gossoon	Vess L. Ossman (banjo)	ARC
P 27		Queen Of The Earth The Trumpeter	Sergeant Charles Leggett (cornet)
P 28	1910 1911	William Tell Overture (Rossini) Ave Maria (Gounod)	Schumann Quartette (flute, violin, viola, harp)
P 29		The Rosary Mary	Jack Glover (cornet)
P 30		The Birds And The Brook The Birds Of Armenon	Joe Belmont (whistling)
P 31	2482 or 2472 2483	Il Bacio Carmena	Charles Capper & Albert Whelan (whistling duet)
P 32	2168 / 2021 3005 / 2021	The Bedouin's Love Song Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind	Peter Dawson (bass-baritone)
P 33	2320 2661	The Pride Of The Earth Loch Lomond	Peter Dawson (bass-baritone)
P 34	1554 2440	The Vicar Of Bray At The Bottom Of The Deep Blue Sea	Frank Arthur (bass) Peter Dawson (bass-baritone)
P 35	2023 2433	The Pipes Of Pan (Elgar) Unless	Peter Dawson (bass-baritone)
P 36	2662 40715	Somebody's Sailor Boy Eileen Allannah	Peter Dawson (bass-baritone)
P 37	41067 41068	The Vacant Chair The Rustic Bridge	Stanley Kirkby (baritone)	Beka
P 38	40521 ? 41013 ?	When We Went To School Together Don't Go Down The Mine, Dad	Stanley Kirkby (baritone) (or Robert Carr) Stanley Kirkby (baritone) (or Harry Thornton)	Beka ?
P 39	41004 41069	The Miner's Dream Of Home I Wonder If You Miss Me Sometimes	Stanley Kirkby (baritone) (or Harry Thornton) Stanley Kirkby (baritone)	Beka
P 40	40462 41140	Come Into The Garden, Maud The Song That Reached My Heart	Philip Ritte (tenor) Philip Ritte (tenor) (= Stanley Kirkby)	Beka
P 41	40460 40736	Thora Sleep And Forget	Philip Ritte (tenor) G. Wigley (tenor) (= Philip Ritte)
P 42	1860 1869	In Sweet September Sympathy	Jessie Broughton (contralto)
P 43	1871 1874	Your Eyes Have Told Me So Until	Alan Turner (baritone)
P 44	1889 1891	Rocked In The Cradle Of The Deep Out On The Deep	Mr. T.F. Kinniburgh (bass)
P 45	1602 1603	Somewhere A Voice Is Calling I Shall Never Cease To Love You	Robert Carr (baritone)
P 46	1857 1862	The Magic Of Your Voice When All Was Young	Jessie Broughton (contralto)
P 47	1873 1899	O Star Of Eve ("Tannhauser" - Wagner) In Happy Moments ("Maritana" - Wallace)	Alan Turner (baritone)
P 48	1595 .	My Heart Is With You To-Night That's What The Rose Said To Me	Robert Carr (baritone)
P 49	1632 1633	Tustin's Goodbye (Tosti) Annie Laurie	Zara Deane (= Madame Jomelli)
P 50	031127 031267	What A Friend We Have In Jesus When I Survey The Wondrous Cross	Percy Jerome (baritone) (= Frank C. Stanley) Percy Jerome (baritone) (= Howard Blackham)	ARC
P 51	1119 / 031119 1123 / 031123	Sun Of My Soul How Firm A Foundation	Percy Jerome (baritone) (= Frank C. Stanley)	ARC
P 52	1359 / 031359 1360 / 031360	Minstrel Record "A" Minstrel Record "B"	Cambridge Minstrels	ARC
P 53	2107 2109	The Piccaninny's Lullaby My Old Kentucky Home	Cambridge Minstrels
P 54	Lxo-632 Lxo-636	Tickle Me, Timothy Put A Bit Of Powder On It, Father	Billy Williams	Jumbo
P 55	Lxo-639 / 1668 1669 Lxo-1478	Jean From Aberdeen My Girl From London Town My Girl From Glasgie Toon	Billy Williams	Jumbo
P 56	1946-t / 1670 1947-t / 1665	I Must Go Home To-Night The Old Grey Coat	Billy Williams	Favorite
	I've had two copies of P-56. One has the plain "British Manufacture" label, with "B7" in the wax and was made by the DRC in England, the other has the "Blum" matrix numbers and "Pressed in Prussia" on the label. However, both are identical recordings.
P 57	Lxo-640 or 1949-t Lxo-641 or 1948-t	I'll Meet You One Dark Night Save A Little One For Me	Billy Williams	Jumbo
P 57	41067 41068	The Old Rustic Bridge By the Mill The Vacant Chair	Stanley Kirkby (baritone)	Beka
P 58	41061 H23	I'm Henery The Eighth, I Am [sic] Cover It Up, Matilda [sic]	Harry Champion (comedian)
P 59	41059 H24 BC	Ginger, You're Balmy Let's Have A Basin Of Soup	Harry Champion (comedian)
P 60		I Want To Go To Idaho I Used To Sigh For The Silvery Moon	Harry Fay
P 61		Billy Whitlock's Aeroplane Billy Whitlock's Wedding	Billy Whitlock (comic)
P 62	031080 (1080) 031272 / 1272 / 655	Take A Car Paddle Your Own Canoe	Collins And Harlan	ARC
P 63	031199 031270	Making Eyes In Timbuctoo	Collins And Harlan	ARC
P 64	031391 (1391) 031429 (1429)	Peaches And Cream The Golden Wedding	Len Spencer & Ada Jones	ARC
P 65	031031 031140	Rheumatism Cure At Jayride City Hans Kroussneyen And His Dog Schneider	Len Spencer & company	ARC
P 66	1623 1624	Hitchy Koo The Ragtime Goblin Man	The Ragtime Knuts
P 67	1641 1642	The Burglar Rag How Do You Do, Miss Ragtime?	The Ragtime Knuts	1
P 68	1636 1637	Ragtime Cowboy Joe Waiting For The Robert E. Lee	The Ragtime Knuts
P 69	1622 1625	There's a Girl In Havana Ragging The Baby To Sleep	The Ragtime Knuts
P 70	1644 1659	Way Down South Down In Dear Old New Orleans	The Ragtime Knuts (= Harry Cove & Jack Charman)	1
P 71	1642 1660	How Do You Do, Miss Ragtime? The Wedding Glide	The Ragtime Knuts Jack Charman
P 72	1797 ?	You're A Great Big Blue-Eyed Baby Hello! Hello! London Town	Harry Cove
P 73	1795 1846	When I Get You Alone Tonight Those Ever Loving Wonderful, Beautiful Eyes	Jack Charman (actually Harry Cove) Harry Cove
P 74	1851 1854	Ring Out Those Bells That Mellow Melody	The Ragtime Knuts
P 75	1644 1858	Way Down South Hello, Little Miss U.S.A.	The Ragtime Knuts Harry Cove (comic)
P 76	1863 2046	Goodnight, Mr. Moon On The Mississippi	The Ragtime Knuts	1
P 77	1900 1901	Roaming In The Gloaming The Message Boy	Sandy McGregor (= Vernon Watson)
P 78		The Same As His Father Did Before Him Stop Yer Tickling, Jock	Sandy McGregor (= Vernon Watson)
P 79	1628 1631	Mary Used To Love A Sailor Mary Told The Story To The Soldier	Rose Hayes
P 80	1629 1630	Keep On Swinging Me, Charlie There You Are Again, Mr. Rainbow	Rose Hayes
P 81	1888 1895	Up From The Country She Makes Me Walk In Ragtime	Ben Lawes
P 82	1850 1867	My Boy Have You Seen Our John?	Harry Cove (comic)
P 83	2525 2559	My Heart Has Learned To Love You The Trail Of The Lonesome Pine	Robert Carr (baritone)
P 84
P 85	2451 2452	Take Me In Your Arms And Say You Love Me When The Midnight Choo-Choo Leaves For Alabam	The Ragtime Knuts (= Harry Cove & Jack Charman)
P 86	2046 2467	On The Mississippi Snooky Ookums	The Ragtime Knuts Jack Charman
P 87	2446 2447	The Ragtime Huntsman, part 1 The Ragtime Huntsman, part 2	Ben Albert
P 88	2475 2476	You're My Baby Ragtime Eyes	Will Thompson Harry Cove
P 89	2045 2469	The Ragtime Curate That Raggedy Rag	The Ragtime Knuts	1
P 90	2545 2546	Christmas In Camp, part 1 Christmas In Camp, part 2	Triumph Concert Party
P 91	2542 2543	The Departure Of The Troopship The Wreck Of The Troopship	Military Band
P 92
P 93	B1 ½ B2	The Blind Boy My Fiddle Is My Sweetheart	George Chirgwin
P 94	2046 2472	On The Mississippi You Made Me Love You	The Two Quids Jack Charman
P 95	2048 2472	It's A Long, Long Way To Tipperary You Made Me Love You	Jack Charman
P 96
P 97
P 98
P 99	2499 2527	Nearer, My God, To Thee Holy, Holy, Holy	Tom Kinniburgh (bass) Robert Carr (baritone)
P 100
P 101	2458 2459	The Children's Home Softly Awakes My Heart	Jack Glover (cornet)
P 102	2071 2072	Excelsior, part 1 Excelsior, part 2	Robert Carr (baritone) and Gwilym Richards (tenor)
P 103
P 104
P 105	2043 2048	Dance Your Troubles Away It's A Long Way To Tipperary	Jack Charman
P 106	2101 2103	Meet Me To-Night On The Grand Promenade I'm A Middy In The King's Navee	Will Thompson
P 107
P 108	2547 2548	A Christmas Party, part 1 A Christmas Party, part 2	Jack Charman & Company
P 109	2552 2553	Some Boy Nursery Rhymes In Ragtime	Jack Charman
P 110
P 111	2564 2567	Because I Loved You So Good-Bye Summer, So Long Fall, Hello Wintertime	Jack Charman
P 112	2566 2568	Take Me In A Taxi, Joe You Didn't Want To, But You Did	Harry Cove	1 (Bestone sticker)
P 113
P 114	2563 2572	International Rag On The First Dark Night Next Week	Harry Cove Jack Charman