http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c87087js No online items Fidelity Sound Recordings Collection ARS.0212 Benjamin Bates and Jonah Reidel Archive of Recorded Sound [email protected] URL: http://library.stanford.edu/ars Fidelity Sound Recordings ARS.0212 1 Collection ARS.0212 Language of Material: English Contributing Institution: Archive of Recorded Sound Title: Fidelity Sound Recordings Collection source: McGovern, Janet Identifier/Call Number: ARS.0212 Physical Description: 10 box(es)6 linear feet: (148)12" vinyl disc(s); (57) audiocassette(s); (39) compact disc(s); (10) 10" vinyl disc(s); (5) photograph(s); (3) 7" vinyl disc(s); (1) audiocassette (8-track); (1) 10" shellac disc Date (inclusive): 1950-2000 Access Open for research; material must be requested at least two business days in advance of intended use. Contact the Archive of Recorded Sound for assistance. Source of Acquisition The Fidelity Sound Recordings Collection was donated to the Archive of Recorded Sound by Janet McGovern in 2020. She is the widow of Fidelity Sound Recordings founder and director Reg McGovern. Cite as Fidelity Sound Recordings Collection, ARS-0212. Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, CA. Content Description This collection consists of commercially-released audio recordings created by the independent record company Fidelity Sound Recordings (FSR) based in Redwood City, California. The predominant musical genre featured is marching band music performed by university bands, bands affiliated with the Salvation Army, and miscellaneous ensembles in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, and elsewhere. Notable performing groups include the Ohio State Marching Band, the National Band of New Zealand, the Salvation Army Wellington Citadel Band, the Jugendmusikkorps Bad Kissingen, and others. Restrictions All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head Librarian, Archive of Recorded Sound, Braun Music Center, Stanford, California 94305. Consent is given on behalf of the Archive of Recorded Sound as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s) or assigns. Arrangement Items within the collection are organized in alphabetical order by performer name, followed by publisher issue number and title as it appears. Specific recordings with more than one performer, ensemble, or performing group are filed under the series 'Combined Performers'. They are organized by publisher issue number, followed by title and a note indicating the performers included on the recording unless indicated in the title proper. Biographical / Historical Reg McGovern (1920-2015) had a 36-year career as a newspaper photographer in Redwood City and Palo Alto, and he received many journalism awards for his photography. He had a second, concurrent creative career as the owner of Fidelity Sound Recordings, which specialized in the kind of band music he had loved from his boyhood. McGovern played in the band at Sequoia High School in his Redwood City hometown and, as a teenager, would dial the radio knob searching for band music. McGovern served on a Coast Guard ship in the South Pacific during World War II and, after his return, he found it increasingly difficult to find records to add to his collection. In the early 1950s, he decided to tackle this deficiency himself and formed Fidelity Sound Recordings. He acquired recording equipment, taught himself how to capture marching or concert bands on tape, and how to produce records, most often taking his own photographs for the album covers. He began with local college bands but soon went back to New Zealand and Australia, returning dozens of times over the next decades to record bands, including the National Band of New Zealand and the New Zealand Army Band. In later years, he recorded bands in the United Kingdom and in Europe, including the Band of H.M. Royal Marines and the City Band of Vienna, as well as military, village and youth bands in Germany and other countries. McGovern had a particular love of brass bands, and his company had a long association with the Salvation Army in the United States and abroad, capturing world-class groups on audio tape. Fidelity Sound Recordings enjoyed an equally warm and productive relationship with the Ohio State University Marching Band, producing the all-brass band's first commercial recording in 1958, the first of about two dozen over four decades. In 2005, his contribution to the band was recognized Fidelity Sound Recordings ARS.0212 2 Collection ARS.0212 when he received an honorary life membership in the TBDBITL Alumni Club (The Best Damned Band in the Land) before an audience of 13,000 at St. John Arena in Columbus. McGovern's drive and passion for music resulted in a wide-ranging catalogue of U.S. and international recordings, from Big Ten marching bands to Maori choirs, and he enabled musical groups to reach a wider audience. He carved out an underserved niche in the recording industry and preserved the music he loved in various formats from 10-inch records to LPs, 8-track tape, cassettes and CDs, a prodigious output for someone working full-time as a news photographer. Reg McGovern was the son of one of San Mateo County's early sheriffs. His younger brother, Lloyd McGovern, was a Stanford graduate known for his knowledge of college sports who was instrumental in establishing the university's Sports Hall of Fame. Biographical note written by Janet McGovern. Subjects and Indexing Terms Marching bands Sound recording industry -- United States Band music. McGovern, Janet Performers, A-F Albkapelle Dettingen Box 1, disc 1 [FSRS-1331] Fröhliche Blasmusik aus Schwaben Box 2, [FSRC-1331] Fröhliche Blasmusik aus Schwaben audiocassette 1 Allegany High School Band Box 1, disc 2 [FSRS-1326] Allegany Band Stand Box 2, [FSRC-1326] Allegany Band Stand audiocassette 2 Allentown Band Box 1, disc 3 [FSRS-1344] Our Band Heritage Box 2, [FSRC-1344] Our Band Heritage audiocassette 3 Box 1, disc 4 [FSRS-1347] Our Band Heritage Volume Two Auckland Watersiders' Silver Band Box 10, disc 4 [LP-106] Auckland Watersiders' Silver Band of New Zealand Physical Description: 1 10" vinyl disc(s) Band of H.M. Royal Marines Box 1, disc 5 [FSRS-1343] Band of H.M. Royal Marines Box 2, [FRSC-1343] Band of H.M. Royal Marines audiocassette 4 Box 3, [FRSCD-1343] Band of H.M. Royal Marines compact_disc 1 Box 1, disc 6 [FSRS-1350] Brass in Blue Fidelity Sound Recordings ARS.0212 3 Collection ARS.0212 Performers, A-F Band of H.M. Royal Marines Box 2, [FSRC-1350] Brass in Blue audiocassette 5 Band of the New Zealand Army Box 1, disc 7 [LPS-1265] Band of the New Zealand Army Box 3, [FSRCD-1327] Band of the New Zealand Army compact_disc 2 Brisbane Temple Band of the Salvation Army Box 1, disc 8 [LP-1216] Brisbane Temple Band of the Salvation Army Cal Aggie Marching Band Box 1, disc 9 [FSRS-1333] Cal Aggie Marching Band Box 2, [FSRC-1333] Cal Aggie Marching Band audiocassette 6 Central Methodist College Band Box 1, disc 10 [FSRS-1338] Circus Echoes Box 2, [FSRC-1338] Circus Echoes audiocassette 7 Box 1, disc 11 [FSRS-1339] Circus Echoes Encore Box 2, [FSRC-1339] Circus Echoes Encore audiocassette 8 Box 2, [FSCR-1355] Concert Tour audiocassette 9 Chicago Staff Band Box 1, disc 12 [FSRS-1269] The Band with a Sacred Message Box 1, disc 13 [FSRS-1274] Songs of Praise Christchurch Citadel Band Box 10, disc 5 [LP-110] Christchurch Citadel Band of the Salvation Army Physical Description: 1 10" vinyl disc(s) Box 1, disc 14 [FSRS-1283] Christchurch Citadel Band Box 2, [FSRC-1283] Christchurch Citadel Band audiocassette 10 Citadel Regimental Band Box 1, disc 15 [FSRS-1336] Citadel Regimental Band Box 2, [FSRC-1336] Citadel Regimental Band audiocassette 11 Box 3, [FSRCD-1336] Citadel Regimental Band compact_disc 3 College of Pacific Band Fidelity Sound Recordings ARS.0212 4 Collection ARS.0212 Performers, A-F College of Pacific Band Box 10, disc 7 [101] College of Pacific Marching Band Physical Description: 1 10" vinyl disc(s) Box 10, disc 8 [103] College of Pacific Band Physical Description: 1 10" vinyl disc(s) Box 1, disc 16 [LP-1209] College of Pacific Band Box 10, disc 1 [EP-5401] College of Pacific Band presents marches by Isham Jones Physical Description: 1 7" vinyl disc(s) Box 10, disc 6 [7801] College of Pacific Band Physical Description: 1 10" shellac disc(s) Scope and Contents Star-spangled banner ; Gen. Douglas MacArthur (march). Dean Goffin and the Wellington South Band Box 1, disc 17 [FSRS-1313] Dean Goffin and the Wellington South Band Box 2, [FSRS-1313] Dean Goffin and the Wellington South Band audiocassette 12 Destitutes Box 1, disc 18 [5SS-1402] Destitutes Deutscher Jugendchor Box 2, [FSRC-1341] Die Schoensten Alten Volkslieder (Beautiful Old Folksongs in audiocassette 13 German) Box 1, disc 19 [FSRS-1342] Stimmen Der Weihnacht (Voices of Christmas) Fiji Military Forces Band and Male Chorus Box 1, disc 20 [LP-1217] Fiji Military Forces Band and Male Chorus Florida A&M University Marching Band Box 1, disc 21 [FSRS-1286] FAMU Spirit Performers, G-M G.U.S. (Footwear) Band Box 1, disc 22 [FSRS-1282] British Bandstand Hendon Band of the Salvation Army Box 2, [FSRC-1351] Praise! audiocassette 14 Box 3, [FSRCD-1351] Praise! compact_disc 4 Box 2, [FSRC-1352] Salvation Sounds audiocassette 15 Fidelity Sound Recordings ARS.0212 5 Collection ARS.0212 Performers, G-M Hollywood Tabernacle Band and Songsters Hollywood Tabernacle Band and Songsters Box 1, disc 23 [LPS 1258] Brass and Voices from the Hollywood Tabernacle Indiana University Marching Hundred Box 1, disc 24 [LPS-1266] Indiana! Box 1, disc 25 [FSRS-1303] Indiana Our Indiana Box 2, [FSRC-1353] Hail to Old I.U.