THE AURA 45 SINGLE SERIES

© James A. Harrod, COPYRIGHT PROTECTED; ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The AURA RECORDS imprint was the last brand devised by Dick Bock for releases under the World Pacific umbrella.  Bock assigned this imprint interchangeably on several numerical series.  It appears that Bock did not restrict the AURA RECORDS name to a singular numerical series although the 4500 numbers come close to a sustained use of the name.  

Many of the artists represented on AURA / World Pacific 45 RPM releases achieved fame beyond their credit listing as performer, arranger or producer of the 45 single.  The listing will separate these credits with a back slash in each case: performing artist or group / arranger / producer. The artists represented in this group of releases include: The Lewis Sisters (Helen & Kay Lewis) / Jimmy Mack, Teddy Reynolds / Lala Wilson, The Furys / Gene Page / Jimmy Mack, Sonny Knight, Clifford Scott / Victor Harris, The Sandells / Jimmy King / Richard Bock, Barbara Wilson / Arthur Wright / Jimmy King, The Delegates / Richard Bock, Sonny Knight / Bobby Smith Orchestra  / Bock-Knight, Rick & The Ravens / Ray Daniels / King-Cobra, Richard Moorehead / Benny Golson / Lew Futterman and Sonny Knight Quartette / Richard Bock.

The 300 45 single series had at least two releases using the AURA RECORDS name and these are listed once again in this examination of the AURA RECORDS line.

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The 400 45 single series had at least three releases with the AURA RECORDS imprint.  The three singles listed below fill in gaps that were noted in the blog entry devoted to the 400 45 single series.

There are gaps in the numerical progression of the 4500 series. Missing numbers include 4503, 4507, 4509 and 4511.  This last number appears to be the last number assigned in the 4500 series and it has been rumored that it was another release by Rick & The Ravens performing SOUL TRAIN and GERALDINE.  The association of Rick & The Ravens to The Doors has placed a premium price on copies of these AURA releases that are listed on auction sites like Ebay for hundreds of dollars. Most of the releases in the AURA line did not have a separate matrix number associated with the release number.  One exception, seen below, is 4505 which had matrices (A-420) and (B-420) assigned to it. This release fills another gap in the 400 45 single series where 420 was noted as missing in that blog entry.

The AURA RECORDS imprint next appears on releases in the 88000 45 single series.  AURA RECORDS 88120 was also issued as PACIFIC JAZZ 88120 as will be noted in the blog entry for the 88000 45 single series.  This release picks up PIGMY PART 1 originally issued on AURA RECORDS 4504 and THE PEEPER from AURA RECORDS 4510-A.

Lastly, an odd release and number:

ALL LABELS © EMI CAPITOL MUSIC

The AURA RECORDS imprint was also used for three releases in a 12” LP line that will be examined in a separate blog entry.

WORLD PACIFIC 45 RPM 

77800 / 77900 SERIES

PART SEVEN – 77921 / 77937

© James A. Harrod, COPYRIGHT PROTECTED; ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

The 77800 45 single series began when the release designation for the 400 45 single series was reassigned to a matrix series with the release of 77800 that carried matrix numbers WP-429-B and WP-430. The second release in the 77800 series, 77801, had matrix numbers WP-432 and WP-433.  The 77800 series would be the final 45 RPM single series for the World Pacific/Pacific Jazz/Aura line and would be a mixed bag of musical genres, drawing from the new Pacific Jazz PJ series, the World Pacific 1400 and 1800 LP series, the Aura LP series and random single releases not drawn from an LP release. 

Many of the artists represented on these World Pacific 45 RPM releases achieved fame beyond their credit listing as performer, arranger or producer of the 45 single.  The listing will separate these credits with a back slash in each case: performing artist or group / arranger / producer. The artists represented in this seventh group of releases include: Craig Hundley / Don Sebesky & Allyn Ferguson / Richard Bock, The Carnival / Bob Alcivar & Bill Holman & Bones Howe / Bones Howe, Satya Sai Baba / Richard Bock, Jimmy Scruggs / Arthur Wright / Lee Young & Wayne Henderson, Cannery Row / Larry Goldberg, The Houstons / Nozomi Aoki, Geraldine Stevens / Dana Reisdorff, The Baker Street Philharmonic / Mike Vickers & Mike Sloman, Geraldine Stevens / Al Capps / Vic Dana, The California Earthquake / Jimmy Langford / Tommy Oliver & Tony Scotti, Cannery Row / Danny Kootch / John Fischbach, The Fortunes / Garry Sherman / Noel Walker & Billy Davis.

All labels © EMI Capitol Music

IMAGE NEEDED WP-77933

All labels © EMI Capitol Music

The WP 77900 series appears to end with WP-77937.  The next numerical series uses 88000 beginning with 88120.  The AURA imprint was also intermixed with this numerical series as well as other numerical series.  This will be examined in the next post to this blog that examines the AURA 45 single series.