The Story of Perfect Records

The (short) Story of Perfect Records

(Miami, Florida) 

According to researcher John Miller, Perfect Records "made its appearance during the early 1950s and was devoted exclusively to Country and Western music." A sentence which might bear some inaccuracies. Maybe Miller did not knew better when he wrote these words in 1979 for the first volume of the "Miami Rockabilly" LPs but Perfect issued not only country material but also latin jazz. But the label did made its first appearance on the market in the early 1950s.

Perfect Records was one of Harold Doane's labels, owner of the American Transcription and Recording Service, later shortened to ART. Much has been written on this blog about about his other labels Art and AFS. During my intense research over the last few years, I assumed for a long time that Perfect was likely established by Doane in 1955. No records dated earlier than 1955 had surfaced until September 2022, when I discovered that he re-released old-time recordings by the Carter Family, the Coon Creek Girls and Roy Acuff on green labeled 78rpm records in 1953 (how he got hold of these recordings is unknown so far). Therefore, Miller's statement that Perfect was solely intended for country & western material, which I believed to be a falsity, was actually true - at least at the beginning of the label's life. However, the fact that latin jazz records by Machito & his Afro-Cuban Orchestra were released as early as 1955, shows that Doane soon broadened Perfect's repertoire.

After the re-issue of those old-time recordings, Doane set up another 100 series that seem to be country recordings without exception. The 100 series was issued only in the US - or South Florida to be precise. Other discs with different catalog numbers were likely produced for markets outside the US, including Panama and Costa Rica.

By 1956, rockabilly entered the repertoire of Perfect, as it was the case with so many labels in those days. The first recordings in this new style were those by Tommy Spurlin and the Southern Boys, a local Miami country outfit that had developed their own rockabilly tunes by then. West Palm Beach singer Wesley Hardin followed up with two recordings of hits of the day, "Honky Tonk Man" (Johnny Horton) and "Cry! Cry! Cry!" (Johnny Cash). The last known rockabilly release on Perfect was by Mike Shaw, once a member of radio and TV personality Happy Harold Thaxton's popular country band (who also had a release on Perfect). Shaw laid down two rasping recordings of "Long Gone Baby" and "Frankie and Johnnie," which became local hits.

The Perfect label was, however, a rather short-lived affair. After Shaw's record, the last known was by Rit Corso. By 1956 or 1957, the label vanished from the local music scene. In 1957, Doane replaced it with AFS Records, which operated well into the early 1960s.

If anyone can contribute to the discography or can share memories of Harold Doane's operations, artists, or the Miami country music scene in general, please feel free to leave a comment or contact me via e-mail. 

Read more about Miami's musical past:

• ART Records

• AFS Records

• Gold Coast Jamboree

• Old South Jamboree

• The Roxsters

• Happy Harold Thaxton  

 

Discography

16-101
The Carter Family
The Homestead on the Farm (A.P. Carter)

P-49176
Roy Acuff and his Smoky Mountain Boys
Will the Circle Be Unbroken (n.c.)
P-49179
July 1953

16-102
Coon Creek Girls
Pretty Polly (n.c.)
P-49177
The Carter Family

Beautiful Isle O'er the Sea (A.P. Carter)
P-49178
July 1953

Perfect 100

Perfect 101

Perfect P-102

Harold Donelson with the Buckeroos

Hillbilly Waltz (Harold Donelson)

ART-126 A

Eddie Thorpe with the Buckeroos

Rose of San Antone (Bob Wills)
ART-126 B

Perfect 103

Perfect P-104

Happy Harold and his Dixie Millers

Queen of the Smokeys (Cecil Carbonell)

Art 136-A

Mary Peck with Happy Harold and his Dixie Millers

Broken Hearted (Cecil Carbonell)

Art 136-B

Perfect 105

Perfect 106

Perfect 45-C-107

Tommy Spurlin and the Southern Boys

Danger! (Spurlin) / Ain't Had No Lovin' (Since the Last Time It Rained) (Spurlin)

A / B

1955

Billboard C&W review on October 22, 1955

Perfect 45-C-108

Tommy Spurlin and the Southern Boys

There Might Have Been a Love Song (Spurlin) / Tomorrow I'll Be Gone (Spurlin)

A / B

Perfect 45-109

Tommy Spurlin and the Southern Boys

Hang Loose (I've Gotta Rock) (Spurlin; Frost) / One-Eyed Sam (n.c.)
A / B

1956

Billboard C&W review on August 4, 1956

Perfect 45-C-110

Wes Hardin with the Southern Boys

Cry Cry Cry (Cash) / Honky Tonk Man (n.c.)

1 / 2

1956

Perfect 45-C-111

Mike Shaw with Sons of the Drifting Sands

Long Gone Baby (Shaw) / Frankie & Johnny (arr. by Shaw)

1 / 2

1956

Billboard C&W review on October 27, 1956

Perfect 112

Perfect 113

Perfect 114

Perfect 45-115
Rit Corso
I Like You (Beulke-Houseman) / Sweetest Voice on Earth (Beulke-Ax)
45-115-1 / 45-115-2

Perfect TR 45-4000
Machito and his Afro-Cuban Orchestra
Holiday Mambo (Chico O'Farrill) / Si Si - No No (Rafael Blanco Suazo)
ZTSP 24603 / ZTSP 24604 (Columbia)
1955

Perfect 45-4001
Machito and his Afro-Cuban Orchestra
with Graciella & the Rigual Brothers
Hay Que Recordar (Piloto-Vera)
ZTSP 24518 (Columbia)
Machito and his Afro-Cuban Orchestra
Negro Nanamboro (Mariano Merceron)
ZTSP 24519 (Columbia) 
1956  

Perfect No.#
Machito and his Afro-Cuban Orchestra
Adios (Woods-Madriguera)
ZTSP 24093 (Columbia)
Machito and his Afro-Cuban Orchestra / Vocal: The Skylarks
Mambo a la Savoy (Fuller-Machito) 
ZTSP 24094 (Columbia) 
1956 

Perfect No.#
Machito and his Afro-Cuban Orchestra
Bella Mora (Menita Caron) / Sambia (Rene Hernandez)
P 52219 / P 52220