I think I’m repeating what’s already been written, The Frank Barber material I think you are asking about was commissioned by Bob Chandler (WGAY), along with Greater Media and was never offered in a public distribution, was originally intended for WGAY, and later offered up as”Beautiful Hits” with IBMA members, I was told as an attempt to recover costs, a consortium of companies in a club sort of way affiliated together to gain reach to new material. Clever idea, Bill Wertz of Kalamusic could define all this better than I and my statements here are off the cuff, recollection without digging but the overall is true. Bill did some of his own commissions too, mostly Gregory and a few others such as the Acton Strings, Johnny Arthey, Nick Ingman. John Sbarra was the arranger on most of the Frank Barber, you can really tell on those, Sbarra was a great artiste and some of my very favorite arrangements were produced in this project along with John Gregory. Great stuff. I will add some to my YouTube and you can hear them here.
Funny, I have as of yet to add any Barber tracks to my YouTube page, thus far I’ve avoided more common material. The Barber stuff was shared about 25 years ago from some sub-master reels by a fellow name Don Hobson, they were excellent really but had some high level flaws from the reels BV had in Seattle. A few Gregory arrangements landed on the BV Ultra library 1990. It wasn’t until the masters (mothers) reels were discovered and captured his catalog along with the others were truly preserved. They are astonishing in quality.
This link below must have been from Don’s sub-master captures from BV in the 00’s that were passed around. They are not “complete” as stated but missing several more. We lost a man recently that was obsessed over accuracy in this field. Unfortunately his untimely passing has halted his work. I’m trying to keep his work alive but unfortunately I simply do not have the resources he was accustomed to.
Hello, it's me again, wishing you a prosperous 2026. Honestly, I didn't expect the Frank Barber and His Orchestra music compilation to be so well received. I...
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Maybe if we all work together we can get all this sorted out. The first thing that needs to happen is this underlying fear of legal action by these people that originated its production. Obviously at this point these owners have no interest in its original planned use anymore, so devotion has occurred in the private sector over decades in the making, you will not find any of this material in Gracenote (Shazam). Already there are discrepancies in what’s floating about online. You guys that were there, please add as much as you can to this history.
For me getting past the cranky old-fellow in a dark room with a cane tapping away at his army of lawyers hollering about his legal rights to keep this art he commissioned locked up until its death is certified is a big deal. Not just this catalog, but all of them. They are still out there, and watching. Also some new guys are asserting themselves now. DMCA Fair Use allows me to share materials on YouTube without monetizing, and if the owners speak up they can file thier copyrights which is exactly what I want them to do; but in some cases the music had been preserved but no way to license it so we can offer it to the public. And streaming is impossible because the streaming platforms will not allow files that cannot be verified on Gracenote AI. In the meantime DMCA Fair Use and YouTube will remove them if a copyright owner requests it. There is so much to do. It’s all part of our history and so important.
Some materials from Greater Media
