Prestige in Europe

Some with liner notes still printed in English. Prestige Records had a number of licensing agreements to distribute Prestige recordings simultaneously in Europe. Much of the Prestige catalogue of the 50s and 60s  are to be found in local country versions, with alternative covers printed in local language, often alternative cover artwork. Uniquely, some European versions were pressed with US-originating  stampers (Esquire, Metronome, Artone known examples), hence they are effectively indistinguishable from US pressings, sharing the same master and mother metalwork. Some specific titles are preferred over the US pressing.

Separate licensing agreements covered the UK (Esquire, changing to Transatlantic in the mid 60s), France (Barclay), Holland (Artone), Scandinavia (Metronome), Germany (SABA) and Italy (Music Depositato).

(Reader Note: if you have any Prestige European pressings, you would be very welcome to add to this limited selection by emailing a presentable photo of the label (800 x 800 pixel or higher) to the email address at the foot of the “ABOUT” page. Full credit given,  thanks.  LJC)

(Updated Nov 2012 with UK XTRA, Stateside and Dutch Artone trident)

1. Scandinavia: Metronome  (Pictures courtesy of Sven)

Metronome Records was founded in 1949 in Sweden by the brothers Lars and Anders Burman together with their friend Börje Ekberg, to release jazz. In 1950, Mats Bjerke, together with Bent Fabricius-Bjerre, opened an office in Denmark, Metronome Records A/S. and in 1954 they expanded to West Germany, founding Metronome Records GmbH.

Prestige 7109, Miles Davis Bags Groove –  made in Denmark:

Note the AB engraving in the run-out – indicating it was pressed from US -supplied stampers from Prestiges main pressing plant, Abbey Manufacturing Company.

A full listing of known Prestige Metronome editions is here, courtesy of Rudolf

2. United Kingdom:  Esquire, and Transatlantic

More on the Esquire page

EMI Stateside

EMI (Evil Music Industries) introduced the short-lived Stateside label to release US Prestige and other jazz  recordings under license in the UK. From the date of production (1964) EMI was successor organisation to the failed Esquire, before Prestige it was eventually taken on by Transatlantic around 1967.

With their own gant engineering and pressing facilities in Hayes Middlesex, EMI would have been very comfortable with remastering and dispense with US-supplied stampers.

Transatlantic

From around the mid-Sixties, Nat Joseph’s Transatlantic label took over the license to release Prestige in the UK from the defunct Esquire label and EMI. Transatlantic did not use US mastered stampers, but worked from copy tapes to make their own pressings. For reasons that are unclear to me, as well as the white/purple above, Transatlantic also used the “XTRA” label shown below. Pressing quality also excellent.

3. Barclay, France -  Prestige releases

Alternative cover

French Barclay Prestige alternative cover to Mobleys Message PRLP 7062

4. Music Depositato, Italy – Prestige releases

Alternative cover

Music Depositato are extremely rare; there being only two or three sold according to Popsike: Below is another where you can see some of the label design.

1956 ORIGINAL ITALIAN EDITION ON MUSIC PRESTIGE LABEL LPM-2047 MONO EDITION

5 Germany – SABA Prestige releases

SABA, the predecessory of BASF/ MPS,released Prestige in Germany in the late 50s-early 60′s. Seen below, the purple SABA/Prestige label, in this case a stereo recording remastered locally and not from Prestige stampers

Alternative cover to go with a purple SABA label

6. Holland – Artone

Like the UK Esquire, this Dutch Artone Prestige release was pressed with US-supplied stampers, bearing the familiar original master signature RVG, large open-hand written catalogue number and initials AB,  Abbey Manufacturing, close to which is a  type-faced local code.

More as they come to light…

Modern Prestige (Fantasy Records) Europe

European edition modern reissues of Prestige recordings, like the German pressing below. Sadly, not even the famous quality of German engineering can make anything of these flat thin sounding records, which have the characteristic of a digital transfer at some point not close to the source tapes, if they still exist.

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