Audio Fidelity Records

Audio Fidelity Records
Founded	1954 (1954)
Founder	Sidney Frey
Defunct	1997 (1997)
Genre	Various
Country of origin	U.S.
Location	New York City

Audio Fidelity Records, was a record company out of New York City, most active during the 1950s and 1960s. They are best known for having produced the first mass-produced American stereophonic long-playing record in November 1957 (although this was not available to the general public until March of the following year).

Background

Sidney Frey (1920–68), 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.^[1][2][3] Side 1 was the Dukes of Dixieland;^[4] 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.^[5] 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.^[6]

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). 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.^[7] 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.^[8]

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 London orchestral players and leading instrumentalists including Anthony Pini, Frederick Riddle, Reginald Kell and Marie Goosens.^[6] 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.^[6] 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.

Sid Frey was a well-respected industry maverick. In his speech, "The Role of the Producer", Tom Wilson ^[9]included Frey in an extraordinary list of impresarios: "If we look at the history of our business, at such companies as Kapp, Columbia, Audio Fidelity and Motown, we see that these organizations were led to greatness by great listeners, men who had an ear for music, men who were able to make sound creative as well as financial judgments. I'm talking about men like Sid Frey, David Kapp, Goddard Lieberson and Berry Gordy."

History

Audio Fidelity, Inc. was founded in 1954. A British branch, A-F England, Ltd., was established in 1959.^[10] Sidney Frey sold the company to Herman Gimbel in 1965.^[11] The company's name was changed to Audio Fidelity Enterprises circa 1971. The last known releases under the Audio Fidelity label were circa 1984. In 1997 Audio Fidelity Records was purchased out of bankruptcy by Colliers Media Company. At this date much of the catalog is being re-mastered and re-released digitally by Reach Entertainment and the Copyright Group.

Key employees of the company, who were mostly uncredited on the recordings, included: John Mosley, chief audio engineer; Willy Hamilton, chief audio engineer; Lawrence Frey (brother of Sidney), audio engineer; Rosalind Frey (wife of Sidney), vice president; Carl Shaw, business manager; George Demko, comptroller; Manny Vardi, producer; Claire Orson, Diane Terman, Georganne Heller, publicity; Bill Shuler, Ruth Martin, graphic designers.

Additional labels owned by Sidney Frey included Karate Records, Kinor Records, Dauntless International and Audio Rarities.

Sidney married the former Rosalind Kanon in 1948 and they had two daughters, Andrea and Melanie.

Archives

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 consists of:

• 1,404 different catalog numbers
• 1,176 different artists identified and cross-linked with album details.
• 5,857 different track titles identified and cross-linked with album details.
• 640 different pictures of album jackets cross-linked with album details.

See also

• Albums released on Audio Fidelity Records
• Artists who have recorded for Audio Fidelity Records

References

External links

• Discography of Audio Fidelity Recordings at Syracuse University compiled by Don W. Reichle