Camden LPs

Most collectors are probably familiar with the Camden LPs that RCA Victor released during the fifties. They had pink labels and distinctive artwork on the sleeves. Here's a typical example:

The orchestras on these discs bore such unfamiliar names as Centennial, Cromwell, Warwick, etc. It soon became clear to collectors that these were phony names, and that the performances were recordings issued earlier during the 78 rpm era. A query on one of my recent lists as to the identity of one of these orchestras brought the following response from a friend and customer:

He writes: "Below is a list of the phony Victor Camden orchestras. It is based on several articles that have appeared over the years, plus my own comparisons between discs" (note: SO = symphony orchestra).

Camden Orchestra	Real Identity	Camden Orchestra	Real Identity
Carlyle	Czech Philharmonic	Marlborough	Minneapolis SO
Centennial	Boston SO	Harlan Ramsey Orch.	Henri Rene's Orch.
Century	Chicago SO	Regent	Victor SO, which was mainly the Philadelphia Orch.
Claridge	Danish State Radio Orch	Schuyler	St. Louis SO
Harold Coates Orch.	Al Goodman's Orch.	Seine	Paris Conservatory Orch
Cromwell	Cincinnati SO	Star	Hollywood Bowl SO / Los Angeles Phil.
Danube	Vienna Philharmonic	Stratford	London Philharmonic
Dominion	Toronto SO	Sussex	Indianapolis SO, Fabian Sevitsky conducting.
Festival Concert Orch.	Boston Pops. Fiedler conducting.	Sutton	New York City SO, Stokowski conducting.
Globe	National SO of Washington, DC	Thames	B.B.C. SO
Golden	RCA Victor SO, Bernstein conducting. Probably a put-together orchestra.	Warwick	Philadelphia Orch. Stokowski or Ormandy conducting.
Jewel	London SO	World Wide SO	San Francisco SO. Monteux conducting.

"Exactly why Victor used fake names on the Camden releases has been the subject of several articles over the years. Unfortunately, there is not unanimous agreement on the reasons. We do know that most of these orchestras were no longer under the RCA Victor banner when the works came out on Camden, so legal factors may have been at work, including royalties--or, more accurately, Victor's efforts to avoid paying them. In some cases, the conductor and/or soloist had gone to another label.

"However, in an article I recall from the 70's, one former RCA producer denied that avoidance of potential royalties was the motivation. He said it was a marketing ploy, to try to dupe the public into thinking these were NEW RECORDINGS with new orchestras. Well, it certainly didn't fool anybody; and, in fact, generated hostility from the public and from some of the artists involved. I recall that Stokowski was incensed that his recordings, which he was justifiably proud of, were not truthfully presented; and his anger kept him away from RCA Victor until he returned at the end of his life. Other conductors were also upset, from what I've read.

"Also controversial is whether Victor did well or poorly financially from the Camdens. One article said it did poorly, while another said it did rather well financially. So what is needed is for some insider to tell the story truthfully and fully, I think."

Another friend and customer, Louis Harrison, saw the above article and wrote as follows:

"Thanks for printing the note about the Camden identities. I think I may have the complete classical items released on that label and have been interested in those and similiar reissues for some time. It is my understanding that the pseudonyms were due to royalties. The Boston Symphony/Pops were still under contract to RCA Victor when Camden started; Arthur Fiedler and Leopold Stokowski were still recording for the parent label. Indeed, Stokowski's 'New Orthophonic' version of the Sibelius symphony no.2 was released months after the old Koussevitzky/'Centennial' Symphony was first listed in the Schwann, and the Camden was competing with the official Boston release on Red Seal. Even pop artists like Al Goodman and Henri Rene were still producing new LPs for the company in addition to having their old 78's reissued.

Sometime in mid- to late-1955 RCA negotiated permission from the relevant orchestras to use the actual identities on the records. Even then, some of the Stokowski/Philadelphia discs still said Warwick Symphony at the same time others gave the correct identification. I've always been puzzled by that, but that could be due to what was noted about Stokowski's anger at the reissues. I am a member of the Koussevitzky Recordings Society and recently wrote a short piece on the Camden label for the society journal. I think it may appear this spring, perhaps on the Society web site as well as in print."