Caedmon Audio: Difference between revisions

'''Caedmon Audio''' and '''HarperCollins Audio''' are record label imprints of [[HarperCollins Publishers]] specialisingthat specialize in [[audiobook]]s 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 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.<ref name=npr>{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=866406 |title=Caedmon: Recreating the Moment of Inspiration |work=NPR [[Morning Edition]] |author= |date=December 5, 2002 |accessdateaccess-date=March 6, 2014}}</ref> Caedmon was formedfounded in [[New York City|New York]] in 1952 by college graduates [[Barbara Holdridge]] and Marianne Roney (later [[Marianne Mantell]]).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=866406|title=Caedmon: Recreating the Moment of Inspiration|website=NPR.org}}</ref>

TheirThe 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 couldn'tcould not remember its title when asked what to use to fill up the [[LP record|LP]]'s [[A-side and B-side|B-side]]. - butHowever, this recording went on to become one of his most loved works, and launched Caedmon intoas a successful company.<ref name=npr/> 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".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/registry/nrpb-2008reg.html |title=The National Recording Registry 2008 | access-date=| accessdate=9 January 2012 | work=National Recording Preservation Board of the Library of Congress | publisher=The Library of Congress}}</ref>

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]], whowhich also owned [[D. C. Heath and Company]], bought Caedmon in 1971. [[Harper (publisher)|Harper & Row]] (now HarperCollins) purchased the label in 1987.<ref>Mitgang, Herbert. “Recorded Books Help Make the Ear Faster than the Eye” (August 27, 1987). Retrieved from [https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/books/recorded-books-help-make-the-ear-faster-than-the-eye.html?scp=4&sq=caedmon%20records&st=cse&pagewanted=2 Recorded Books Help Make the Ear Faster Than the Eye] ''The New York Times.com]'' on June 14, 2009.</ref>

This partial discography (first 100 recordings) provides an idea of the range of literary and acting talent that Caedmon was able to record and distribute.

* ''Chaucer: Nun's Priest's, Pardoner's Tales'' (Middle English) (TC 1008)

* ''Rootabaga Stories'' (read by [[Carl Sandburg]]) (TC 1089)<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.worldofproper.com/16334578/2008/02/22/caedmon-records-discography/# |title=Archived16 copy33 45 78 |access-date=2010-12-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718114015/http://www.worldofproper.com/16334578/2008/02/22/caedmon-records-discography/# |archive-date=2011-07-18 |deadurl-url=yes |dfstatus=dead }}</ref>

* ''Alice in Wonderland'' (read by [[Joan Greenwood]], [[Stanley Holloway]], Cast.) (TC 1097)