Atlantic entered the 33 1/3 rpm long play record business very early, issuing it's first album in March of 1949. Ahmet was well aware that a rhythm and blues album had little chance of success, since 78 rpm records dominated that genre. So even though Atlantic was successful with rhythm and blues recordings, their first foray into the album market was with a poetry album, Walter Benton's This Is My Beloved. John Dall provided the narration and Vernon Duke provided the background music. This 10-inch album carried the number 110 which stood for "one 10 inch disc." The matrix numbers on this disc were TLP 11213/11214. The same material was released simultaneously as three 12 inch 78 rpm discs with the catalog number 312-S. The 312 stood for "three 12 inch discs" and "S" stood for standard speed which at that time was 78 rpm. The individual 78 rpm records were numbered 1201, 1202, and 1203. Atlantic rather quickly dropped this unwieldy numbering system and issued their second and third LPs in May, 1950, as ALS-108 by Joe Bushkin and ALS-109 by Erroll Garner. The first 12 inch LP issued by Atlantic (January, 1951) was ALS-401 which was a recording of scenes from Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" performed by Eva LaGallienne and Richard Waring.

The first Atlantic 10" album, ALS-108, had a grey label with red print and the Atlantic name in white bordered in red, with "FULL RANGE RECORDING" in white under the name (see label at right). Around the top and bottom edge of the label were "LONG PLAYING" and "MICRO-GROOVE RECORD" respectively. (Scan courtesy of Peter Grendysa.)













During the early 1950s the label on most of the Atlantic 10 inch albums and the first few 12 inch albums was yellow with black printing. "ATLANTIC" was over the center hole in black with a thin black line under it, there was a black ring around the perimeter of the label except in the area the Atlantic name was located. At the bottom of the label was "LONG PLAYING" on one side and "UNBREAKABLE" on the other, between the words was a circle with 33 1/3 RPM. This label was used on all 10 inch albums and the 12 inch albums to LP-1211. (Scan courtesy of Peter Grendysa.)


We would appreciate any additions or corrections to this discography. Just send them to us via e-mail. Both Sides Now Publications is an information web page. We are not a catalog, nor can we provide the records listed below. We have no association with Atlantic Records. Should you be interested in acquiring albums listed in this discography (which are all out of print), we suggest you see our Frequently Asked Questions page and follow the instructions found there. This story and discography are copyright 2000 by Mike Callahan.