The Record Label Guide for Domestic LPs

This book was first published back in 1986 by Mr. Joe Lindsay. The intent was to produce a work that would help identify if the record you held in your hands was a first pressing or not. This is a limited quantity seventh printing of that monumental effort.

This book is a 200 page 8.5 by 11 inch trade paperback. It contains the images, technical data, and historical information on over 275 of the major (and some minor) labels that released record albums. It covers those records released from the beginning of the LP (early 1950s) till the publishing date (1986).

Also included in this guide:

1. The Life and Untimely Death of Quadraphonic Sound - by Gene Arnspiger.
This article provides a brief explanation of what quadraphonic sound was, how it came about, how it worked, and why Quad failed.

2. The Delta Method for Disc-Dating.
This two page article describes how to tell when a disc was pressed by the Monarch Record Manufacturing Co. by looking at the number that was etched/pressed into the run-off area (dead wax) of an LP.

In addition to those two main articles is information on Promotional LPs, Label logos vs. Jacket logos, LP labels vs. 45rpm Labels, and oddities, specialty, and custom labels.

Again, there are over 275 labels represented in this book. All labels have been reproduced in Black & White – page examples are shown in the to the right (all images are hyper linked to higher quality images however, they are large!). So whether your interest is in Soul, R&B, Jazz, Rock, Pop, or virtually any other music form, this guide is for you.

Some of the 275 labels contained in this work are:

Ace, Acta, Ampex, Apple, Argo, Asylum, Atco, Atlantic, Bang (no the LP 'Feel of Neil' by Neil Diamond on the clouds label is NOT a first pressing), Bell, Big Top, Blue Note, Bluesway, Blue Thumb, Brunswick, Buddah, Cadence, Cadet, Cameo, Capitol, Capricorn, Casablanca, Checker, Chess, Chrysalis (the original green label was not used after 1976), Colgems, Colpix, Columbia, Coral, Cotillion, Cub, Dark Horse, Date, Decca, Deram, Diamond, Dolphin, Dolton, Dot, Duke, Dunhill, Dynovoice, Electra, Emarcy, EMI, Famous, Fantasy, Flick Disc, Fontana, Gee, Geffen, Gone, Gordy, Grunt, Harvest, HBR, Hi, Hickory, Immediate, Imperial, Impulse, I.R.S., Island, Jad, Jamie, Janus, Josie, Jubilee, Kama Sutra, Kapp, Keen, King, Kirshner, Liberty, London, Mainstream, Mar-V-Lus, MCA, Mercury , MGM, Monument, Moonglow, Motown (the map on the label changed in 1963), Musicor, Ode, Okeh, Pacific Jazz, Paramount, Parkway, Parrot, Paula, Philips, Philles, Polydor, Press, Prestige, Probe, Rare Earth, RCA, Red Bird, Reprise, Riverside, Roulette, RSO, San Francisco, Savoy, Scepter, Shelter, Sire, Smash, Soul, Speciality, Stax, Straight, Sue, Sun, Swan, Tamla, Tollie, Top Rank, Tower, Track, Unart, UNI, United Artists, Vanguard, Vee Jay, Vertigo, Verve, Virgin, Volt, Wand, Warner Bros., White Whale, Wing, Wooden Nickel, X, and Zephyr.

The 7th printing is now sold out. To see the status of our research on the 2nd edition and to assist with donation of images, please click HERE to go to the labels page.