‘JIEN-O-PHONE RECORD’
Proprietors: Janki Nath Kumar & Bros., Anarkali, Lahore

From:  ‘The Michael Kinnear Collection’

The history of  ‘JIEN-O-PHONE RECORD’ taken from:
‘The 78 rpm Record Labels of India’

‘JIEN-O-PHONE RECORD’ DISCOGRAPHY
Unpublished –  from the ‘Michael Kinnear Archives’

Pakistan 

Prior to the partition of India in 1947 and the creation of Pakistan (East and West), Lahore was a major recording centre for the North-west region, with the earliest recordings being taken there in 1905 by The Gramophone & Typewriter, Ltd. 

Over the next couple of decades regular recording sessions were held at Lahore, providing a large selection of recordings in the Urdu, Punjabi, Multani, Pushto, Sindhi dialects along with Persian and Afghani repertoires, were added to the catalogues of “His Master’s Voice” releases. By the early 1930’s Columbia Graphophone Company, Ltd., had undertaken recording sessions at Lahore and The Gramophone Co., Ltd., had signed up a number of their clients to the ‘Private Recorders’ scheme which considerably enhanced the variety of recordings available of the North-West region. 

Among these ‘Private Recorders’ were Janki Nath Kumar & Bros., of Lahore (“Jien-o-phone Record”); The Frontier Trading Co., of Peshawar (“Banga-phone Record”); Bajaj & Co., of Peshawar (“Gulshan”) the West End Phono, of Lahore (“New Excelsior Record”) and a couple of smaller traders.

In 1942, The Gramophone Co., Ltd., acquired a record factory at Chehharta, near Amritsar, which supplemented the supply of discs from the Dum Dum factory intended for the North-west region. By 1947, the Chehharta factory had been abandoned, and shortly afterwards The Gramophone Co., Ltd., had acquired the rights to the recordings of the “Jien-o-phone Record”, “Banga-phone Record”, and “Gulshan” labels, the bulk of which they reissued on the “His Master’s Voice” label.

JP-501  Series:     Jien-o-phone Record  Red   [10-inch]      December 1933
JP-515  RAJKUMAR DRAMATIC CLUB {Satyaran Savitri}  [URDU]

COLUMBIA RECORDS CATALOGUE  – 1946

‘JIEN-O-PHONE RECORD’
DISCOGRAPHY

**There are several unidentified recording artists included in this discography as the recording registers and published catalogues and supplements, with details of the performers names, had not been kept or have long since been destroyed or lost.  Another “Private Recorders” ledger was used for this period but only detailed the matrix numbers and coupling numbers.  ** 

‘Jien-o-phone Records’ transferred to ‘Columbia’

With the impending partition of India in 1947, The Gramophone Co., Ltd., decided to purchase the business of Janki Nath Kumar and Bros, in early 1946, via their sister company, Columbia Graphophone Co., Ltd.  The most popular titles from the ‘Jien-o-phone Record’ label were reissued on the ‘Columbia’ label in their GE-5000 series, and the K.L. Saigal recordings in a VE-1501 series, from June 1946 onwards along with some titles that had not been previously issued.

Transfers

Columbia         GE-5095 to GE-5160     {Green}         Hindustani                     June 1946
Columbia         GE-5182 to GE-5198     {Green}         Hindustani              October 1946
Columbia         GE-5457 to GE-5484     {Green}         Punjabi                 November 1946
Columbia         GE-5485 to GE-5491     {Green}         Multani                 November 1946
Columbia         GE-5503 to GE-5540     {Green}         Punjabi                 November 1946
Columbia         GE-5557 to GE-5571     {Green}          Punjabi                      August 1948
Columbia         GE-18004 to GE-18007  {Green}         Hindustani        December 1949
Columbia         VE-1501 to VE-1503      {Violet}         Hindustani                     June 1946

COLUMBIA RECORDS CATALOGUE  – 1946

The ‘Jien-o-phone Record’ label scored great success with the recordings of songs from the films ‘Khazanchi’ – ‘Khandhan’ – ‘Zamindar’ and ‘Poonji’ produced by Pancholi Art Pictures, Proprietor: Dalsukh M. Pancholi, Muslim Town, Lahore (established in 1937), between 1942-43, and the film ‘Dassi’ produced by Pardhan Pictures, Ltd. Muslim Town, Lahore in 1944.

‘KHANDAN’ – 1942, JP-1038, JP-1030, JP-1031, JP-1032, JP-1033
‘ZAMINDAR’ – 1942,  JP-1045, JP-1047
‘KAISE KAHOON’ – 1945, JP-1089, JP-1090, JP-1096, JP1097, JP-1098
‘KHAZANCHI’ – 1942, JP-999, JP-1002, JP-1003, JP-1000, JP-1001
‘VILLAGE GIRL’  1945, JP-1093, JP-1094
‘DHAMKI’ – 1945, (Not on Jien-o-phone)
‘POONJI’ – 1943, JP-1071, JP-1972, JP-1063, JP-1064

ASSOCIATED ARTICLES

BANGA-PHONE RECORD – Discography. The Frontier Trading Company, Peshawar.
In 1932, The Gramophone Co., Ltd., in India introduced a scheme known as ‘Private Recorders’ whereby local talking machine and record traders could have discs produced by the company, on their own labels.   […]

GULSHAN – Discography. Bajaj & Co., (Nowshera) Peshawar.
Prior to the partition of India in 1947 and the creation of Pakistan (East and West), Lahore was a major recording centre for the North-west region, with the earliest recordings being taken there in 1905 by The Gramophone & Typewriter, Ltd. […]