 | This article includes a list ofgeneral references, butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations. Please help toimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(January 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Argo Records | |
|---|---|
.png) | |
| Parent company | Universal Music Group |
| Founded | 1951 (1951) |
| Founder | Harley Usill Cyril Clarke |
| Distributor | Decca Records |
| Genre | Classical,jazz,folk,world,spoken word |
| Country of origin | UK |
Argo Records is arecord label founded byHarley Usill and Cyril Clarke in 1951 with the intention of recording "British music played by British artists",[1] but the company's releases expanded to includespoken word recordings and other projects.
Argo's first issue,Music from Bali, was dedicated to the Indonesiangamelan (ensemble) recorded at the Winter Garden Theatre,London. The catalogue eventually ran to 1,000 items.
In 1953, Usill was introduced to Indian musicianDeben Bhattacharya, who was responsible forfield recordings of traditional music in India. Bhattacharya had been frustrated by the absence of recordings he could use for hisBBC Radio broadcasts. Around the same time, Walter Harris recorded an amateur Brazilian choir inRio de Janeiro. Such recordings as these appeared in the labels "Living Traditions" series.
Taking advantage of the capacity of the longer playing time ofLP records, Argo embarked on recording the complete works ofWilliam Shakespeare. Cambridge University's Marlowe Players participated in the series, which was the responsibility ofDadie Rylands, a fellow atKing's College, Cambridge. Recording began in 1957 and was completed by 1964. Initially professional actors had been reluctant to work for the project, but in timeJudi Dench,Derek Jacobi andPrunella Scales participated.
"The Poet Speaks" series consisted of contemporary poets reading their work. It includedTed Hughes,Sylvia Plath, andAnthony Thwaite.In 1954, the company recorded theFestival of Lessons and Carols (Christmas) service atKing's College, Cambridge, a venue where the acoustics had previously defeated the abilities of engineers at other companies. A series of the masses ofJoseph Haydn, initially recorded at the same venue, commenced in 1960, though after the first release with theLondon Symphony Orchestra, later recordings were made with theChoir of St John's College, Cambridge and theAcademy of St Martin in the Fields underGeorge Guest. One of their biggest sellers wasUnder Milk Wood featuringRichard Burton in the BBC production ofDylan Thomas' radio drama.
Argo was bought by BritishDecca in 1957. Usill remained in charge and the company was able to maintain autonomy from the parent company.
The company at this time recorded dramatised versions ofAlice in Wonderland (1958) andThrough the Looking-Glass, both directed byDouglas Cleverdon and both starringJane Asher in the title role, with actorsTony Church,Norman Shelley, andCarleton Hobbs, withMargaretta Scott as the narrator;[2] andThe Wind in the Willows (1960), adapted and produced byToby Robertson, withRichard Goolden as Mole,Frank Duncan as Rat, Tony Church as Badger, and Norman Shelley as Toad, withPatrick Wymark as the narrator. Another significant recording from this era is the premiere recording ofBenjamin Britten's one-act opera/miracle play for children,Noye's Fludde (1961).
A series of recordings of steam locomotives (then in the early stages of being phased out in the UK) was masterminded by the film sound recordist and mixerPeter Handford, selling up to 30–40,000 copies per year under the name Transacord. It also did some other unusual pressings such asLondon's Last Trams using early amateur mobile sound recorders.[3]
The repertoire diversified into modernBritish jazz through the poetry and jazz movement of the early 1960s. This meant that recordings by pianistMichael Garrick were particularly well represented. Theradio ballads ofEwan MacColl andPeggy Seeger, originally produced by BBC Radio (1958–64), were leased and issued by Argo from 1965. MacColl and Seeger also issued a 12-volume series of LPs calledThe Long Harvest, which featured variant British and U.S. versions of traditional ballads from the collection ofFrancis James Child. A small cluster of folk artists joined the label around this time, includingTom Paley (with his New Deal String Band), the Druids,the Clutha, the Songwainers, and the Garret Singers.
In the 1970s, Decca extended their children's audiobook seriesthe Railway Stories on the Argo label, with six further books (3 LPs) narrated byWilliam Rushton. In 1974, they produced an abridged, dramatic version ofThe Hobbit, read byNicol Williamson,[4] and released the soundtrack to the filmTarka the Otter (1979), which featuredPeter Ustinov's narration andDavid Fanshawe's music score.
The label passed toPolyGram when the conglomerate acquired British Decca in 1980. Harley Usill left the company and co-foundedASV Records. Argo as an independent entity ceased in 1988.
The label was relaunched in 1990 as an imprint of Decca with the intent to concentrate on choral, organ, and British and Americanclassical music. Releases continued throughout the 1990s. The most recent release was in 1998.
After more than 20 years of dormancy, Decca announced that it revived Argo in July 2020 after partnering withHarperCollins's imprintWilliam Collins to release certain spoken word recordings, recently unearthed from the label's archives, digitally for the first time.[5]
The audio books (in cassette and CD form) continue in the Argo name but under a different logo.
The Argo catalogue is now controlled byUniversal Music Group.
