Purpose & Scope Of 45rpmrecords.com

What's Included In This Web Site:

Primary Purpose: To create as complete a discography as possible of original 45 and 78 rpm singles, extended play (EP) 45 and 33 1/3 rpm albums issued with or without covers and long play (LP) 33 1/3 rpm albums that were released on locally owned independent record labels based in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia. These local recordings were typically pressed in quantities of 500 records or less. In many cases, although 500 copies were originally created only a handful were distributed to friends, relatives or local radio stations and the rest were destroyed over the ensuing decades. Documenting some of these releases can be difficult when there's only a few known copies!

Secondary Purpose: To create a complete discography of all records pressed by local pressing plants regardless of where the companies who ordered the records were located in the United States. The pressing plants of primary focus are Rite, King, QCA and Musicol. Other pressing plants who pressed many of the releases from this area are included for documentation but their work for companies outside of this area are not included. These pressing plants may include RCA, Columbia, Capitol as well as some of the pressing plants located in Michigan, Nashville and Chicago among others (see list).

Format and Time Span: Seven inch wide 45 rpm recordings are the primary format but 78 rpm and 33 1/3 LP albums are also included to make the local label and pressing plant data as complete as possible. The inception of the 45 rpm format in 1949 and the birth of rock & roll a year or two later define the beginning of the time span covered. The closing of the Rite pressing plant in 1985 gives an approximate end point to the time span covered by this discography.

Musical Styles: To accurately represent what was created by local artists and produced by local pressing plants, all musical styles are included in this discography. When the musical style of a record is known it is listed in the discography using this list of musical style abbreviations.

Sources of Information: The initial source is my own collection of local label 45's and the discography, "Small Labels Of The Ohio River Valley" privately published by myself in 1991. That offered a foundation of about 5000 listings to start the database. Contributions from interested collectors and discographers have added 1000's more listings and images to that total.

Documentation: Of course, the most reliable source of information is the original record in hand. At least half of the records listed in this database are from records in hand. Next is clear photos of original records or record labels. You can't play them or accurately read the matrix information but much can still be documented. Third is data from reliable sources that does not include visual confirmation. Lastly is information from unknown sources or sources that are known to be unreliable that does not include visual confirmation. Information from this last group is usually set aside until a second source can confirm the data.

Miscellaneous Notes:

Record Labels: The primary field of data for information in this database is Record Label therefore, each record label must be unique. That's why you see some record label names with city or state abbreviations after as part of the label name.

Accuracy: Every attempt is made to include the most accurate information possible including artist name, song titles, matrix #'s, type of music, date of release, documented values as well as label information including original or most common address, owners, affiliated record labels, etc.

Errors: Errors are inevitable and are constantly being corrected. Errors can be typographical, web site design or bad links, or incorrect information. Corrections are always welcome! Please let me know and I will fix mistakes as quickly as possible.

Your Contributions Are Welcome: All contributions are acknowledged at the bottom of each page and under every image that was submitted by someone other than myself. Join the fun - please send all submissions to dan@45rpmrecords.com. I get backed up from time to time but will respond to all inquires and post information to the web site as timely as possible.

Under Construction: This database driven design was launched March 5, 2008. To build the database as quickly as possible, only a sampling of images for each label was initially included. There are still 1000's of on-hand images to be added as time permits. Known record labels were initially added to the site by the musical significance of their individual releases. There are 100's more labels on-hand to be added to the site. Frequently your submissions cause labels to come to the top of the list and be added sooner. Hopefully, the known information on-hand will all be posted to the web site by the end of 2011.

Thank you,
Dan DeClark

PLEASE NOTE: The records listed in this web site are for information/research purposes only.
NO records listed here are for sale or trade.