Canada's Arc Records was a budget label similar to the Crown label in the U.S.
The label was one of the first to promote Canadian music, and several Canadian artists had their first recordings released on Arc, including Anne Murray.
But another of Arc's specialties was releasing 'sound-alike' albums of top pop hits covered by Canadian artists and session musicians, as part of the CRTC's Canadian Content rule.
(ADDENDUM, 8/12/08: Please check comments on this post for some helpful info and clarifications regarding the Arc label and the CanCon rules. Many thanks to folks in the know for sharing!)
Judging by the vintage of 'Wheels' and the other hit instrumental tunes covered on this album, an educated guess places its release somewhere around the end of 1962.
But judging by the back-cover roster of other albums available on the label, it looks like this pressing of the album is from a run issued roughly 6 years later, towards the end of the sixties.
- - Any info regarding this album or about the musicians playing on it as 'The Phantoms' is much appreciated!
Leave a comment, drop a line... Many thanks.
From The Phantoms'
'Wheels... and Other Guitar Hits' LP,
(Arc Records LP, circa 1962), Listen to:
Wheels
Guitar Boogie Shuffle
Walk Don't Run
Shazam
Apache
Ballad of Paladin
White Silver Sands
Crossfire
Peter Gunn
Sleepwalk
Walk On The Wild Side
Ghost Riders In The Sky
(click for audio)
- - OR download all 12 tracks in one 25.1 Mb zipfile.
See also:
- Arc Records listed at The Encyclopedia of Music in Canada
- An entry at WFMU's Beware of the Blog for some further background and discussion
about the Arc label.
Canada's Arc Records was a budget label similar to the Crown label in the U.S.
