Record label
This article is about a record label. For the Anglo-Saxon poet, see
Cædmon .
Caedmon Audio and HarperCollins Audio are record label imprints of
HarperCollins Publishers that specialize in
audiobooks and other literary content. Formerly Caedmon Records , its marketing tag-line was Caedmon: a Third Dimension for the Printed Page. The name changed when the label switched to CD-only production.
Caedmon history
Caedmon Records was a pioneer in the audiobook business, it was the first company to sell spoken-word recordings to the public and has been called the seed of the audiobook industry.
[1] Caedmon was founded in
New York in 1952 by college graduates
Barbara Holdridge and Marianne Roney (later
Marianne Mantell ).
[2]
The label's first release was a collection of poems by
Dylan Thomas as read by the author. The B-side contained
A Child's Christmas in Wales , which was added as an afterthought; the story was obscure and Thomas himself could not remember its title when asked what to use to fill up the
LP 's
B-side . However, this recording went on to become one of his most loved works, and launched Caedmon as a successful company.
[1] The original 1952 recording was a 2008 selection for the
United States National Recording Registry , stating it is "credited with launching the
audiobook industry in the United States".
[3]
The company went on to record other notable writers reading their own works, such as
W. H. Auden ,
Robert Frost ,
T. S. Eliot ,
Ernest Hemingway ,
Gertrude Stein and many more. The label expanded further to encompass other types of spoken-word recordings, including children's stories, speeches, plus English- and foreign-language classics. Theater performances were also staged for the label, starring either the Shakespeare Recording Society or the Theatre Recording Society, depending on the playwright. These performances included many famous actors and actresses, including
Anthony Quayle ,
Claire Bloom ,
Richard Burton ,
Albert Finney ,
John Gielgud ,
Siobhán McKenna ,
Michael Redgrave ,
Vanessa Redgrave ,
Felix Aylmer ,
Paul Scofield ,
Alec McCowen ,
Donald Pleasence ,
Ralph Richardson ,
Max Adrian , and
Maggie Smith , among others. Other notable readers for the label included
Vincent Price ,
Basil Rathbone , and
Louis Jourdan .
Raytheon , which also owned
D. C. Heath and Company , bought Caedmon in 1971.
Harper & Row (now HarperCollins) purchased the label in 1987.
[4]
Selected discography
This partial discography provides an idea of the range of literary and acting talent that Caedmon was able to record and distribute.
Dylan Thomas Reading, Volume 1 (TC 1002)
Laurence Olivier (TC 1003)
Thomas Mann Reading (German) (TC 1004)
Tennessee Williams Reading (TC 1005)
Katherine Anne Porter Reading Downward Path (TC 1006)
Catcher in the Rye (read by Ray Hagen) (TC 1007)
Chaucer: Nun's Priest's, Pardoner's Tales (Middle English) (TC 1008)
Archibald MacLeish Reading (TC 1009)
Eudora Welty Reading (TC 1010)
Peter Marshall Speaks (TCR 101/TC 1011)
Sean O'Casey Reading (TC 1012)
Osbert Sitwell Reading (TC 1013)
Israel is Born (TC 1014)
Ogden Nash Reading (TC 1015)
Edith Sitwell Reading (TC 1016)
e. e. cummings Reading (TC 1017)
Dylan Thomas Reading, Volume 2 (TC 1018)
W. H. Auden Reading (TC 1019)
Colette Reading (TC 1020)
Hearing Poetry, Volume 1 (TC 1021)
Hearing Poetry, Volume 2 (TC 1022)
The Rubiyat (read by
Alfred Drake ) (TC 1023)
Millay Poetry (read by
Judith Anderson ) (TC 1024)
Marianne Moore Reading (TC 1025)
Wordsworth Poetry (read by
Cedric Hardwicke ) (TC 1026)
Mark Twain (read by
Walter Brennan ,
Brandon deWilde ) (TC 1027)
Edgar Allan Poe (read by
Basil Rathbone ) (TC 1028)
Baudelaire Reading (read by
Eva LeGallienne ,
Louis Jourdan ), (French) (TC 1029)
Wellsprings of Drama (TC 1030)
Everyman (read by
Burgess Meredith ) (TC 1031)
The Second Shepherd's Play (TC 1032)
Dr. Faustus (read by
Frank Silvera ) (TC 1033)
Greek Prose and Poetry (Greek) (TC 1034)
William Faulkner Reading (TC 1035)
Frank O'Connor Reading (TC 1036)
Leaves of Grass, Volume 1 (read by
Ed Begley ) (TC 1037)
Just So Stories, Volume 1 (read by
Boris Karloff ) (TC 1038)
Conrade Aiken Reading (TC 1039)
Red Badge of Courage (read by
Edmond O'Brien ) (TC 1040)
Vachel Lindsay Reading (TC 1041)
Poetry of Byron (read by
Tyrone Power ) (TC 1042)
Dylan Thomas Reading, Volume 3 (TC 1043)
Wilde Fairy Tales (read by
Basil Rathbone ) (TC 1044)
T. S. Eliot Reading (TC 1045)
Walter de la Mare Reading (TC 1046)
William Carlos Williams Reading (TC 1047)
Poetry of Browning, Volume 1 (read by
James Mason ) (TC 1048)
17th Century Poetry (read by
Cedric Hardwicke ,
Robert Newton ) (TC 1049)
Gertrude Stein Reading (TC 1050)
Sermons of Donne (read by
Herbert Marshall ) (TC 1051)
Book of Judith, Ruth (read by
Judith Anderson ,
Claire Bloom ) (TC 1052)
Psalms and David (read by Judith Anderson) (TC 1053)
Cambridge Treasury of English Prose: Malory to Donne, Volume 1 (TC 1054)
Cambridge Treasury of English Prose: Burton to Johnson, Volume 2 (TC 1055)
Cambridge Treasury of English Prose: Defoe to Burke, Volume 3 (TC 1056)
Cambridge Treasury of English Prose: Austen to Bronte, Volume 4 (TC 1057)
Cambridge Treasury of English Prose: Dickens to Butler, Volume 5 (TC 1058)
Poetry of Shelley (read by
Vincent Price ) (TC 1059)
Robert Frost Reading (TC 1060)
Dylan Thomas Reading, Volume 4 (TC 1061)
Grimm's Fairy Tales (read by
Joseph Schildkraut ) (TC 1062)
Joyce's Ulysses (read by
Siobhán McKenna ,
E. G. Marshall ) (TC 1063)
Frank Lloyd Wright Speaking (TC 1064)
Diego Rivera Speaking (Spanish) (TC 1065)
Robert Graves Reading (TC 1066)
Lorca (read by
Maria Douglas ,
Raul Dantes ) (Spanish) (TC 1067)
Wallace Stevens Reading (TC 1068)
Noel Coward Duologies (read by
Noël Coward ,
Margaret Leighton ) (TC 1069)
Ecclesiastes (read by
James Mason ) (TC 1070)
E. B. Browning Sonnets/Barretts of Wimpole Street (read by
Katharine Cornell , Anthony Quayle) (TC 1071)
German Lyric Poetry (read by
Lotte Lenya ) (German) (TC 1072)
Andersen Fairy Tales (TC 1073)
Reluctant Dragon (read by Boris Karloff) (TC 1074)
Pied Piper/Hunting of the Snark (read by Boris Karloff) (TC 1075)
The Book of Job (read by
Herbert Marshall ) (TC 1076)
Child's Garden of Verses (read by
Judith Anderson ) (TC 1077)
Nonsense Verse (read by
Beatrice Lillie ,
Cyril Ritchard ,
Stanley Holloway ) (TC 1078)
Juan Ramon Jimenez Reading (Spanish) (TC 1079)
Poetry of Tennyson (read by
Sybil Thorndike ,
Lewis Casson ) (TC 1080)
Poetry of Yeats (read by
Siobhán McKenna , Cyril Cusack) (TC 1081)
Henry Mencken Speaking (TC 1082)
Jean Cocteau Reading (French) (TC 1083)
Stephen Spender Reading (TC 1084)
Song of Songs/Heloise & Abelard (read by Claire Bloom,
Claude Rains ) (TC 1085)
Joyce's Finnegans Wake (read by
Siobhán McKenna , Cyril Cusack) (TC 1086)
Poetry of Keats (read by
Ralph Richardson ) (TC 1087)
Just So Stories, Volume 2 (read by Boris Karloff) (TC 1088)
Rootabaga Stories (read by
Carl Sandburg ) (TC 1089)
[5]
Moll Flanders (read by
Siobhán McKenna ) (TC 1090)
Mother Goose (read by Cyril Ritchard, Boris Karloff,
Celeste Holm ) (TC 1091)
Poetry of Coleridge (read by Ralph Richardson) (TC 1092)
Boswell's London Journal (read by Anthony Quayle) (TC 1093)
Apple Cart and Poems by Noël Coward (read by Noël Coward,
Margaret Leighton ) (TC 1094)
Picture of Dorian Gray (read by
Hurd Hatfield ) (TC 1095)
Genesis (read by Judith Anderson) (TC 1096)
Alice in Wonderland (read by
Joan Greenwood ,
Stanley Holloway , Cast.) (TC 1097)
Through the Looking Glass (read by Joan Greenwood, Stanley Holloway, Cast.) (TC 1098)
Gulliver's Travels (read by
Michael Redgrave ) (TC 1099)
Kipling's Jungle Books: How Fear Came (read by Boris Karloff) (TC 1100)
The Bab Ballads of
WS Gilbert and
The Cautionary Tales by
Hilaire Belloc , (read by
Stanley Holloway and
Joyce Grenfell ), (TC1104)
Jeeves: (
PG Wodehouse ), 'Indian Summer of an Uncle'. 'Jeeves Takes Charge': readings by :
Judith Furse ,
Miles Malleson ,
Terry-Thomas ,
Rita Webb , and
Roger Livesey , (TC-1137) (mono), 1958, and (TC01137-S), stereo, 1964
Poems and Songs of Middle Earth (read by
J. R. R. Tolkien ) (TC 1231)
What is Puerto Rico? (read by
Geraldo Rivera ) and So Far (read by Miguel Robles) (TC 1431)
Alligator Pie and other poems (read by
Dennis Lee ) (TC 1530)
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears and Other Tales (read by Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis) (TC 1592)
Churchill in His Own Voice: and the Voices of His Contemporaries (read by
Laurence Olivier and
John Gielgud ) (TC 2018)
See also
References
External links
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