Presented at the Association for Recorded Sound Collections Convention, Syracuse NY, May 22, 1998.
Elliott Everett Oberstein: those of you who are familiar with him know that we could spend the whole morning swapping "Eli" stories but for those who don't recognize the name, I would prefer to introduce him as the tireless Victor executive who created the Bluebird label and produced the vast majority of its early output. He signed Benny Goodman before his band was really very good and signed Tommy Dorsey before he even had a band. e became head of popular Artist & Repertoire for Victor and Bluebird when Ed Kirkeby left in 1936. By the time he struck out on his own in 1939 had added Glenn Miller and Artie Shaw to the Victor roster.
It is rumored that he started at Victor in 1922 as an accountant but that has not been verified. The earliest mention of him in the Victor (now BMG) ledgers from 1929-on is the McKinney's Cotton Pickers session on Dec. 17, 1930. He produced the Fletcher Henderson recordings on Crown in 1931 and was closely involved with the management of the "Two Hits for Two Bits" label. Oberstein was the prime mover behind Victor's 35-cent Bluebird and 25-cent Electradisk labels, that company's first serious price-cutting effort.
He went back to RCA in 1945 after selling his Classic Records to Majestic for over half a million dollars. On his return he completely changed Victor's direction, emphasizing artists like Perry Como and Vaughn Monroe and abondoning the swing music that had generated sales the decade before.
Back at Victor success had been a matter of marshaling vast resources in the most effective manner possible. When he started his own United States Record Corporation in 1939 he began a year-long series of running battles with bankers, publishers and bandleaders. The six months' bankruptcy which followed resembled a divorce proceeding, as his former partners at the Scranton Record Company attempted to purchase the masters from themselves for $16,000 (a little over $10 per side). During the interim Johnny Messner, whose mildly risque recording of "She Had To Go and Lose It At the Astor" had sold well over 100,000 copies, conspired with Eli to produce Tophat records. Although the RIAA never got around to certifying "Astor" for a gold record, Oberstein was convinced that the "swing era" had been replaced by the "double entendre era". Messner's and John Ryan's earlier successes were re-released and new material was recorded pseudonymously.
Somehow he emerged with masters and ego intact and $67,000 in claims against him expunged. In another six months he was back on his feet, recording his first sides for his new Imperial Record Co. on November 11, 1940. Releases were on the Elite label because there was already an Imperial label in Florida. At the end of December he merged with the Classic Record Co. of Pittsburg. By February of 1941 he claimed to be selling 500,000 records a month. None of the Elite sides was very distinguished and by 1942 the 35 cent label was just re-releasing old U. S. Record material.
Pre-war restrictions on vital materials like shellac had most of the smaller labels very worried about production but Oberstein was confident. He had just taken delivery on a shipment of shellac from a torpedoed freighter. A little salt water and shrapnel couldn't make his pressings sound any worse than they did already. In 1942 Classic launched a 50 cent Hit label to beat O.P.A. price restrictions. Eli was also dickering with MGM to start a new label- Tommy Dorsey's Victor contract was up for renewal and it seemed as though a deal might be made until wartime shortages made MGM's management so nervous the plan was shelved.
If there was one event that defined Eli's character, it would have been his response to the strike by the American Federation of Musicians against the record companies in August of 1942. The musicains' union was headed by the powerful, militant and aptly named James Caesar Petrillo. who defied the government, ignored the courts and cowed the big three record companies. Oberstein just kept on making records. Petrillo was outraged when publishers informed him that Eli was applying for licenses on tunes published after the ban had taken effect. The union attempted to intimidate him with an inquisition into his recording activities. "Those masters were made in Mexico", said senor Oberstein. "Call it bootlegging but it's legal." Petrillo was livid but couldn't find any musician stupid enough to admit scabbing for Oberstein. The union asked publishers to refuse to grant licenses, they declined citing restraint of trade laws. Eli attempted to resign from local 802 but angry union officials refused because they wanted to fire him. Eli cited the fact that the major record companies were using imported masters and threatened to sue the union for reinstatement. Hit's generic "Just a Band" sides ceased by the time Decca settled with the AF of M in August. Miraculously, all was forgiven and Eli led all the independent labels to a settlement in November of '43.
As a sidelight, in October of 1942 a small item appeared in Variety announcing that the Continental Record Company had cut six sides in Mexico, including "Der Fuehrer's Face". This was released on the obscure Victory label backed by one of Eli's old Varsity masters. Hmmm. As a sidelight to the sidelight, the Hit release of "Der Fuhrer's Face" credited to Arthur Fields is not by the star of records and radio, who took Oberstein to court over the use of his name. Eli claimed it was just a name picked at random, like all the others, no harm intended. One of the other things that sustained Eli through the ban was a deal with Firestone to lease part of the old Varsity catalog and market Hit albums. Tires were virtually unobtainable for civilians and Firestone had to find something to sell at its many retail outlets. In 1944 MGM was back at Eli's door. Hit recorded and pressed two trial releases on the Lion label. 2,000 were pressed and distributed to the trade then the masters were turned over to Oberstein for release on Hit.
Classic Records, Transcriptions Inc., and the U.S masters that had been re-released on Elite were all sold to Majestic in February of 1945 and by June he had left the company (though litigation continued for months afterward). July saw him back at his old RCA Victor job where he remained for three years. At the end of that time there was another AF of M strike, so it was time for him to do some more recording. He worked for Atlantic Sound Recording which was engaged in supplying "international" masters of instrumental backup music for American vocalists. In July of '48 his new Wright Records reintroduced the old Varsity trademark and in Chicago Oberstein started up the Rondo label.
Columbia contracted with Eli to market the budget Harmony label in July of 1949. The arrangement called for CBS to record and press the discs but there was soon disharmony over delays in recording current hits. Columbia's decision to release a followup to a popular Harmony release on the full-price Columbia label was the final straw and there was much stopping of checks and rending of contracts.
Wright merged with Allegro and Regent to become the Record Corporation of America, which must have pleased the real RCA no end. Oberstein sold out to Pickwick International leaving Rondo as his main interest. He continued the label until his death on July 12, 1960 at the tender age of 58.
As an independent record producer he overcame adversity and thrived on ambiguity. He wanted to make records but he LOVED to SELL records. He never let his attachment to any particular artist or style to cloud his vision of the bottom line. It is sad that Pickwick has discarded all the metal parts from the 78 era and little of his legacy as an independent producer is currently available. Thank you.
