Birchmount Records

The Birchmount Records Story
The idea for Birchmount Records came out of a want for their parent label “Quality Records” to offload some of their deleted or out of print vinyl records. They’d either create new artwork for an existing release (Earl Mitton, The Guess Who, Guido Basso, The Beau-Marks, etc.), or they’d just make a new compilation record with existing masters they owned by various artists. Though this may have been the initial intention, about half of the first 80 releases were unique Canadian content, exclusive to the label.

In September 1969, the announcement came down in RPM Weekly Magazine, and a few other publications, that Quality Records was launching a new budget line of records. The announcement came from Quality Records’ Assistant Managing Director George R. Struth. He pointed out this new line was 90 percent Canadian content. At the time, this was an unheard of amount as many Canadian labels had a good portion of their function devoted to repressing and/or promoting already popular artists from abroad. They kicked things off by cobbling together an originally “For Broadcast Only” compilation of more pop oriented artists on the label, appropriately titled “A Taste of Birchmount Pop,” which they distributed to radio stations and critics. The minor success of some of this material in certain radio demographics warranted a physical release by the end of 1969.

The label sports an interesting, albeit sparse connection, to some key Canadian songwriters and musicians/bands of the late 60’s. These include Greg and Fergus Hambelton, Jay Telfer, Barry Allen, Alan Thicke, Eugene Amaro, The Shays (backing Wayne Versage on BM-520), and (at least in part) The [Magic] Cycle (providing musical backing on a few unconfirmed albums), among others.

A lot of gaps in information plague the label, but, as a budget line, this is to be expected. A number of the initial albums in the “Canadian Artists Collection” have no production/musician credits and a few are performed by full on “shadow bands” (Candy Rock Fountain, Suzanne, Tuesday’s Children, The Sultan Street Nine, The Rising Sun,etc.) Many of these “shadow bands” (at least the ones based in Toronto) were rumoured to actually be (at least in part) The [Magic] Cycle; a Toronto Psych/Rock group active from 1965 to 1973, who released two albums and multiple singles of their own.

The unshakeable interest in this label which a small few feel is due to the feeling of unearthing a hidden gem. In the case of this label, the musical diversity and quality of releases in that first 80 album run was something to be admired. Lots of great unique Canadian rock, country, psych-pop, vocal pop, jazz and even some funk and reggae releases graced the label.

Unfortunately all releases on the label lacked any sort of meaningful promotion and an unexplained fire at a Quality Records warehouse, affected the stock of a few mid run releases (Wayne McGhie & The Sounds Of Joy, Alan Thicke, and The Friday Afternoon’s ode to Johnny Cash). Many of these releases are hard to come by and some fetch extreme amounts when they do turn up (namely the 3 mentioned above relating to the fire, and a few particularly strong unique albums).

The Canadian releases got less and less frequent as the years wore on, being replaced more and more, by budget reissues of content from popular US acts like The Isley Brothers, Johnny Cash, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Hank Williams and many more. What started as a label releasing 90% Canadian Content in its initial 22 album run, dropped off to roughly 60 of the first 80 albums released, and ultimately by the end of production in 1980, had less than a third of its roughly 300 total releases be Canadian Content.

The fate that befell Birchmount records is one that many other Canadian labels suffered from; Having sky high dreams but not enough money, positive reception from the public, or meaningful promotion to make it happen. Obviously by its very definition, a budget label really wouldn’t garner any real success unless it had some sustained hits from its stable of artists. The quality of the Canadian content on the label cannot be understated. It’s truly a treasure trove for fans of Canadian music history or quality music of any kind (more specifically rock music and its variations). Due to the lack of information on the label, it’s unknown if an official discography list exists. One is currently in the works amongst a few dedicated fans; the legend lives on!
Written & Researched by: Aaron Lusch
Aaronlusch@hotmail.com

Tracks

Comments