ARCO Records was a jazz label that evolved from Manor Records, founded in the mid-1940s by Irving Berman, who also owned Regis Records. Manor’s roster featured a range of notable jazz artists, including Dizzy Gillespie, Coleman Hawkins, Tiny Bradshaw, Paul Bascomb, Sid Catlett, Jimmie Lunceford, and the International Sweethearts of Rhythm. The label later moved its headquarters to New Jersey and added artists like Savannah Churchill, The Sentimentalists (later known as The Four Tunes), Luis Russell, Deek Watson and His Brown Dots, and others.
In the late 1940s, Berman rebranded Manor as ARCO Records. However, by 1950, shifts in musical tastes led to declining sales and fewer hits for the label. As a result, Berman shut down operations, and many of the label’s artists moved to other labels. The quality of Manor’s pressings was often poor, likely due to the wartime shellac shortage that affected the entire industry during World War II.
ARCO Records Discography
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