Editing Decca Records (section)

===1930s===
The [[Great Depression]] of the 1930s hit Decca hard. Lewis, although he remained nominally merely a board member, effectively took over the direction of the company and at his instigation Decca made substantial cuts in the prices of its records.<ref name=odnb>Martland, Peter. [https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/49321 "Lewis, Sir Edward Roberts (1900–1980)"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004. {{ODNBsub}}</ref> In 1930 Decca acquired the British rights to the German [[Polydor Records|Polydor]] label, gaining access to a wide range of classical recordings. During the decade Decca also bought the British rights to the {{ill|Fonit|it}} and [[Ultraphon]] catalogues, but sold its French subsidiary to [[Edison Bell]].<ref name=s3>Stuart, p. 3</ref> Decca bought a majority shareholding in the American [[Brunswick Records|Brunswick Record Company]] from the [[Warner Brothers]] film studios; its catalogue contained recordings by leading popular artists such as [[Bing Crosby]], [[Guy Lombardo]] and [[Al Jolson]].<ref name=odnb/><ref>[https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/guy-lombardo-and-his-royal-canadians-emc "Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231205213437/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/guy-lombardo-and-his-royal-canadians-emc |date=5 December 2023 }}, ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. Retrieved 16 December 2024</ref> Decca established an American subsidiary, Decca Records US, in 1934, funded and chaired by Lewis and led by [[Jack Kapp]], [[Milton Rackmil]] and E. F. Stevens.<ref name=bill>[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=liEEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA14&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false "A 20-Year History of Decca"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225074107/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=liEEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA14&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false |date=25 February 2021 }}, Billboard, 28 August 1954, pp. 13–14</ref> American Decca boosted its presence in the popular market by signing the [[Andrews Sisters]] and the [[Mills Brothers]].<ref name=bill/> As the [[Second World War]] loomed, Lewis, foreseeing a freeze of his overseas assets, sold his holdings in the US company.<ref name=bill/>

In 1934, Jack Kapp established a country & western line for the new Decca American subsidiary by signing [[Frank Luther]], [[Sons of the Pioneers]], [[Stuart Hamblen]], The Ranch Boys, and other popular acts based in both New York and Los Angeles. Louisiana singer/composer [[Jimmie Davis]] began recording for Decca the same year, joined by western vocalists [[Jimmy Wakely]] and [[Roy Rogers]] in 1940.<ref>{{Cite web |title=DECCA (USA) 78rpm numerical listing discography: 5500 – 6000 |url=http://78discography.com/Dec5500.htm |access-date=2022-12-13 |website=78discography.com}}</ref>

In 1935, the [[Compo Company]] became the Canadian distributor of American Decca recordings.<ref name="Compo Company Ltd">{{cite web | url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/compo-company-ltd-emc | title=Compo Company Ltd }}</ref>

Between 1929 and 1938 record sales in Britain fell by eighty-five per cent, and Lewis sought new ways of keeping Decca afloat. He signed popular artists such as the singers [[Gertrude Lawrence]] and [[George Formby]], the best-selling dance-band leader [[Jack Hylton]] and the singer [[Vera Lynn]], who later became the first non-American singer to top the [[Billboard charts|''Billboard'' charts]].<ref name=odnb/><ref>Barfe, p. 128; and Décharné, Max. [https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/when-decca-records-were-part-of-everyday-life/ "When Decca records were part of everyday life"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240602111509/https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/when-decca-records-were-part-of-everyday-life/ |date=2 June 2024 }}, ''The Spectator'', 31 August 2019</ref> In 1935 Decca made the first recording of Walton's [[Symphony No. 1 (Walton)|First Symphony]] and in the same year lured [[Sir Henry Wood]] away from [[EMI]], although he later returned there.<ref>Stuart, pp. 55–56</ref><ref>[[Arthur Jacobs|Jacobs, Arthur]] (2001). Notes to Dutton CD CDBP 9707 {{oclc|49517493}}.</ref> Other classical artists recruited by the company included the newly formed [[Boyd Neel]] Orchestra in 1934, followed by the [[Griller Quartet]] in 1935 and [[Clifford Curzon]] in 1937.<ref>Stuart, p. 16</ref> Lewis's biographer [[Peter Martland]] writes that "through a combination of Lewis's adroitness, good luck, and a gradual upturn in the global economy, by the time the [[Second World War]] broke out in 1939, it appeared that Decca had weathered the storm".<ref name=odnb/>

[[File:West Hampstead - Lilian Baylis House (geograph 7396758).jpg|[[Decca Studios]], London (now Lilian Baylis House)|thumb|upright|alt=exterior of red brick building with classical-style columns and pediment]]