Biograph Records
record label
Biograph Records is a record label founded in 1967 by Arnold S. Caplin. It specialized in reissuing vintage American ragtime, jazz, and blues music. Its catalog includes titles by Bunny Berigan, Bing Crosby, The California Ramblers, Ruth Etting, Benny Goodman, Earl Hines, George Lewis, Ted Lewis, Jimmy O'Bryant, Jabbo Smith, Jack Teagarden, Ethel Waters, and Clarence Williams. The company's label are Melodeon, Center, Regal and Dawn.
In 1970 Biograph bought from QRS Records the rights to release recordings made from piano rolls. These included works by Scott Joplin and Fats Waller. Biography also purchased the catalogs of Melodeon Records and Dawn Records.
In August 2002, Biograph was acquired by Retropolis Entertainment, which in 2003 was renamed Shout! Factory by owners Richard Foos and Robert Emmer, two of the founders of the label. Between 2007 and 2008, Collectables Records reissued forty compact discs' worth of Biograph recordings.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Biograph Records” as record label. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as record label. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 27, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q864385. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1967, 1970, 2002 and 2003.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Biograph Records”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Biograph Records primary sources, Biograph Records archive and Biograph research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Biograph Records”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Biograph Records” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.