Hi, all! Benjamin Intartaglia asked about some rolls. I don't have
the Billings Rollography, which would contain the information on the
QRS rolls, but I can tell you that "Wang Wang Blues", Imperial 91284,
was played by Charley Straight and Roy Bargy, and it was released in
late March 1921.
The other Imperial rolls on Benjamin's list are much later, way after
Imperial had been acquired by QRS and used as their low-budget label.
The vast majority of the Imperials one sees on eBay and so forth are
of the latter vintage.
The word rolls produced by Imperial when it was an independent label
all have numbers starting with 9. When they reached 9999 ("In the Land
of Rice and Tea", played by Charley Straight and Roy Bargy, released
February 1920), they went to 91000 as the next one. ("Venetian Moon",
played by Roy Bargy, was released a few weeks earlier; the release
dates are never quite exactly in the same order as the roll numbers.)
The highest numbered Imperial 9* series roll that I've come across so
far is 91369, "Dapper Dan", played by Charley Straight, from December
1921. This doubtless correlates with the sale of Imperial to QRS.
Best regards,
Bob Pinsker
San Diego, Calif.
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