Tiffany Transcriptions Discography

The Tiffany Music Company kept records of the recordings sessions and what songs were recorded, the union contracts, studio receipts, and even cashed checks. The studio reciept dates correspond to the acetate masters that have survived (the masters have not been found for two of the sessions). Even though it has been stated elsewhere that the sessions started in 1945, there has been no evidence found to support that any recordings were made prior to March 26, 1946.

This discography is based on the discography by Jeff Alexson and Tom Diamant published in the February 1988 Western Swing Newsletter. There are still unanswered questions and it is still being researched and updated.

A complete listing of all of the known Tiffany Transcriptions recordings appear here in alphabetical order. The masters for two sessions have never been found, so there are probably more recordings.

Those viewing this on small screens such as phones, click on the  +  sign next to the title for information on the recording.

DATE is the recording date. TRANS means which Tiffany Transcription disc (16 inch discs distributed to radio stations) it was released on and the letter is the track number. Issued is where is was issued since the demise of the Tiffany Transcription Co.

KAL means Kaleidoscope with the following prefixes “F” means LP, “C” means cassette and “K” means CD. Both Rhino (who purchased Kaleidoscope Records), Edsel Records in England, and Collectors Choice issued the Kaleidoscope albums unaltered, their catalog numbers do not appear here.

RGM stands for Real Gone Music who issued one LP and a 2 disc CD set in 2014.

BACM has a CD out that has unissued Tiffany material on it. It’s a shoddy production of material mostly from the Tiffanys, most at the wrong speed (sped up), some that had been released on Kaleidoscope and some not Tiffanys at all. It also has a lot of mis-information on it.For more information o… There have been other re-issues on various labels but all come from the earlier releases listed here.

8 Responses

  1. I imagine that it is very likely visitors to this site are already aware of the Digital Archive of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum having a collection of the Tiffany Transcription recordings (minus two of the sessions from 1947) including incomplete tracks and false starts. There are even 3-4 tracks of studio atmosphere! The recordings, which seem to be arranged in chronological order are of between 5 and 15 minutes in length and can be streamed. The collection comprises 16 pages of 10 files with the 11 pages containing music and those following the radio show patter from Bob Wills and Cactus Jack. The individual tracks are varied in their condition but certainly convey an excellent idea of the remaining transcriptions to be restored and one day presented as part of a complete collection – fingers crossed.

    Apologies if I am repeating a previous message.

    1. No, we were not aware of this! Thank you for informing us of this. This is fantastic! I will be writing a blog about it soon. Not only are all the Tiffany Transcriptions masters (that haven’t been lost) available but many more Bob wills items.

    1. As far as I can tell Tommy Duncan never sang on any Wills recording of Faded Love and he did not record it on his own. All the versions of Faded Love recorded when Duncan was in the band were instrumentals including the version on the Tiffanys. The first recording with vocals that I’m aware of is the Wills April 27th, 1950 version on MGM with Rusty McDonald on vocals. Is there a radio transcription or airshot floating around somewhere with Duncan singing Faded Love with or without the Wills band?

  2. I have been a big fan of Western Swing and enjoy the music. Can I get a complete Tiffany Transcription set on CD? Also, is the Faded Love recording on the transcription the very first recording of this song?

    1. The tune faded love was written by Bob Wills and his father John. Later Bob’s brother Billy jack Wills added lyrics. It was first recorded as an instrumental on April 8, 1946 for the Tiffany Transcriptions. It was first recorded with lyrics on April 27, 1950 for MGM.

      A complete set of the Tiffany Transcriptions has never been reissued and is therefore not available.

  3. I have sheet music for Stars and Stripes on Iwo Jima Isle. This was “ghost written” by Cliff Sundin, my grandmother’s cousin. It says Bob and Cactus Jack wrote it, but…….I also have Cliff’s handwritten initial lyrics for this song. Anyone with knowledge of what they’re worth let me know via the e-mai address above. The lyrics are probably the first attempt at the words Cliff wanted to write and are in pencil on letterhead for Sun-Starr Music, a collaboration between Cliff and Henry Starr. Anyone interested please contact above e-mail

    Tim Howe

    1. Hi Tim, pretty cool. If you wanted to scan them, I’d put it up on the site here. I’ve got a recording somewhere from the radio of Cactus Jack announcing a new song by “the big three in song writing; Cliff Sundin, Bob Wills and Cliff Johnson” (Cactus Jack). I’ll post it when I find it.

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