The CBS Records EZ Cue Library

[Mr]

for Stilhtoe.

US label under Columbia Special Products - who also produced sound effects under "The CBS Sound Library".
Listing sourced from images of the LPs themselves.
XTV/XSV (mono/stereo) matrix codes from labels where I have been able to decipher those - these fit into CBS/Columbia's overall numbering system, and could help pinpoint dates. I will take a look at this later on.
Composers are mostly American or US-based, but some German, French and Belgian composers appear as well. (Licensed?)


EZQ 101
EZQ 102
EZQ 103 - Drama - Documentaries - Fred Steiner/David Buttolph/Lyn(?) Murray/Richard(?) Shores (XTV 133111/XTV 133112)
EZQ 104
EZQ 105 - Comedy - Backgrounds & Bridges - Wilbur Hatch/von Suppé arr. Wilbur Hatch/Bobby Guteska/D. Hildinger/von Suppé arr. Fred Steiner/Lucien Moraweck/D. Elliott/B. Green/Rene Garriguenc/William Lava (XTV 133115/XTV 133116)
EZQ 106
EZQ 107 - Dramatic & Anthology Main Titles - Fred Steiner/David Buttolph/Richard(?) Shores/Wilbur Hatch/Frank Denning (Frank Damico)/Lyn(?) Murray/La Salle(?) (XTV 133119/XTV 133120)
EZQ 108 - ????/Ethnic: Spain (Flamenco Guitar) - ????/Wm. Gomez (????/XTV 133122)
EZQ 109
EZQ 110 - Western Backgrounds - J. Moross (XTV 133125/XTV 133126)
EZQ 111
EZQ 112
EZQ 113 - Dramatic - Dark Backgrounds/Dramatic - Dark Bridges & Strings - Eugene Cines/Rene Garriguenc/Lucien Moraweck/D. Ray/N. Scott/Wm. Barnett/Fred Steiner (XTV 133131/XTV 133132)
EZQ 114 - City Backgrounds/???? - Richard(?) Shores/Wilbur Hatch/Frank Denning (Frank Damico)/???? (XTV 133133/????)
EZQ 115 - Comedy - Main Titles & Bridges/???? - D. Hildinger/Wilbur Hatch/Rene Garriguenc/???? (XTV 133135/????)
EZQ 116 - Dramatic - Dark Backgrounds - Fred Steiner/Wm. Barnett/Nathan Van Cleave/Bernard Herrmann/L. Rosenman/Rene Garriguenc (XTV 133137/XTV 133138)
EZQ 117 - Western Backgrounds/???? - Fred Steiner/Jerry Goldsmith/???? (XTV 133139/????)
EZQ 118 - Western Backgrounds/???? - Jerry Goldsmith/J. Moross/???? (XTV 133141/????)
EZQ 119
EZQ 120
EZQ 121 - Comedy - Farce/???? - Fred Steiner/???? (XTV 133147/????)
EZQ 122
EZQ 123 - Fantasy - Fred Steiner (XTV 133151/XTV 133152)
EZQ 124 - Motion - Metropolitan, Chase - ????/Bernard Herrmann/Fred Steiner/William Lava/Rene Garricueng/Bobby Guteska (????/XTV 133154)
EZQ 125 - Fantasy/???? - Jerry Goldsmith/???? (XTV 133155/????)
EZQ 126 - Space - Fantasy - Fred Steiner/Jerry Goldsmith (XTV 133157/XTV 133158)
EZQ 127 - Dramatic Bridges/???? - Nathan Van Cleave/Wm. Barnett/???? (XTV 133159/????)
EZQ 128 - Dramatic Punctuations/???? - Fred Steiner/???? (????/????)
EZQ 129 - Descriptive - Pastoral, Landscapes/???? - ???? (????/????)
EZQ 130
EZQ 131
EZQ 132
EZQ 133
EZQ 134 - ????/Bugle Calls & Military Backgrounds - ????/No composer listed/Fred Steiner/H. Kay/Robert(?) Drasnin/Faustin Jeanjean/Marcel Jeanjean (????/XTV 133174)
EZQ 135
EZQ 136 - Harpsichord Solos - P.D./???? - No composer listed/???? (????/????)
EZQ 137
EZQ 138
EZQ 139 - Western Backgrounds (Featuring Harmonica, Guitar & Banjo)/Western Backgrounds (Featuring Harmonica & Guitar) - Jerry Goldsmith/Tommy Reilly/Trad. (no arr.)/Tommy(?) Morgan/Robert(?) Drasnin (XTV 133183/XTV 133184)
EZQ 140 - Romantic Materials/???? - Fred Steiner/???? (????/????)
EZQ 141 - Romantic Materials - Trevor Duncan (Leonard Trebilco)/Fred Steiner/Lucien Moraweck/Bernard Herrmann/Lyn(?) Murray (????/XTV 133188)
EZQ 142
EZQ 143 - Asiatic Indian & Chinese Backgrounds/???? - Jerry Goldsmith/Leon Klatzkin/???? (XTV 133191/????)
EZQ 144 - City Backgrounds - B. Green/Rene Garriguenc/D. Elliott/Wilbur Hatch/Fred Steiner/Wm. Barnett/Nathan Van Cleave (XTV 133193/XTV 133194)
EZQ 145 - ????/Dramatic Backgrounds (Plaintive, Melancholy, Lonely) - ????/Eugene Cines/N. Scott/Fred Steiner/Nathan Van Cleave (????/XTV 133196)
EZQ 146 - Fantasy/???? - Fred Steiner/???? (XTV 133197/????)
EZQ 147 - Western Backgrounds/???? - Fred Steiner/Lucien Moraweck (XTV 133199/????)
EZQ 148 - Western Backgrounds - E. Gold/H. Kay/Fred Steiner/William Lava/Rene Garriguenc (????/XTV 133202)
EZQ 149 - Dramatic - Suspense - Rene Garriguenc/H. Kay/Fred Steiner/Nathan Van Cleave/Lucien Moraweck/William Barnett/Leon Klatzkin/Tommy(?) Morgan/Bernard Herrmann (XTV 133203/XTV 133204)
EZQ 150 - Romantic Materials - H. Kay/Eugene Cines/Rene Garriguenc/Nathan Van Cleave/David Buttolph/Bernard Herrmann/Fred Steiner/William Lava/N. Scott/L. Rosenman/Wm. Barnett (XTV 133205/XTV 133206)
EZQ 151 - Space - Fantasy - M. Constant/???? (XTV 133207/????)
EZQ 152 - Dramatic - Suspense/???? - Jerry Goldsmith/???? (XTV 133209/????)
EZQ 153
EZQ 154 - Fantasy/Fantasy - Space - Fred Steiner/Wilfred Josephs/Jerry Goldsmith (XTV 133213/XTV 133214)
EZQ 155
EZQ 156 - Dance Band/Concert Waltzes - K. Hopkins/Johnny Dankworth/A. North/Strauss (no arr.)/Tchaikovsky (no arr.) (????/XTV 134050)
EZQ 157
EZQ 158
EZQ 159
EZQ 160 -
EZQ 161 -
EZQ 162 -
EZQ 163 -
EZQ 164 -
EZQ 165 - Crime Backgrounds/???? - Peter Thomas/???? (XTV 134192/????)
EZQ 166 - ????/Industrial and Machines - ????/Gerhard Trede/Conny Schumann/Erich Ferstl (????/XTV 134226)
EZQ 167 - ????/Electronical Music - ????/Gerhard Trede/Konrad Elfers/Conny Schumann (????/XTV 134240)
EZQ 168 -
EZQ 169 -
EZQ 170 -
EZQ 171 - Jazz/???? - Karl Barthel(?)/Ernst-August Quelle/Konrad Elfers/???? (????/????)
EZQ 172 - Jazz/???? - Rolf Kühn/Joachim Kühn/Gerhard Trede/???? (????/????)
EZQ 173 - Jazz/Bossa Nova - Cha-Cha/Rhumba - Gerhard Trede/Ernst-August Quelle/Martin Böttcher/Henning Flut (Gerd Luft)/Erich Ferstl/Peter Thomas (????/????)
EZQ 174 - Dance - Latin & Twenties/Rock 'n' Roll - Peter Schirmann/Gerhard Trede/Martin Böttcher (XTV 134331/XTV 134332)
EZQ 175 -
EZQ 176 -
EZQ 177 -
EZQ 178 -
EZQ 179 -
EZQ 180 - Rock Soul 20 Second Spots - W. Lam/Hitchin (????)/P. Marja (????)/S. Bradford/P. Tubbs/S. Lam/A. Shore (XSV 14811/XSV 14812)
EZQ 181
EZQ 182 - ????/Rock Soul 60 Second Spots - ????/William Albimoor (Willy de Moor)/Henry Wyn/Luc Hensill (Luc Gillet)/Christopher Lühr/H. Karr/N. Dubey/A. Shore (????/XSV 148116)

EZQ 1563 - ????/Electronic - ????/Mike Vickers (????/XSV ????)

CSM 928 - "Golden Minutes": City Background/???? - No composer listed/Jean-Claude Pelletier/A. Pop (possibly André Popp?)/Friedel Berlipp/Bert Kaempfert/Gerhard Trede/???? (XTV 147717/????)
CSM 929
CSM 930 - "Golden Minutes": Rock & Roll/Space-Fantasy - No composer listed/André Brasseur/Simille(?)/Shore(?)/J. Albin/G. van de Meerschalf/Gerhard Trede/K. Street/R. Dekers/Pat Prilly (Jean-Marcel Leroy)/Samuel Solomon (Sam Piedel) (XTV 147721/XTV 147722)

[apmnut]

Any idea where the balderdash about this label having about 400 albums in its catalogue come from?

[Mr]

400 sounds like a massive overestimate. I would guess someone made it up? That's often the case.

[Upgrade]

XTV/XSV (mono/stereo) matrix codes from labels where I have been able to decipher those - these fit into CBS/Columbia's overall numbering system, and could help pinpoint dates. I will take a look at this later on.

The rule of thumb is that every 10,000 matrix increment is about one year.

Unfortunately, Discogs is a bit spotty with writing down matrix numbers, but I was able to gather roughly:

XTV 120000 = 1967

XTV 130000 = 1968

XTV 140000 = 1969


This is based on the releases for:

Look Where I Am - Erik - XTV124727

Making Music Your Own: Grade 8 - Record IV - XTV134018

Merry Christmas - Reader's Digest - XSV143702



Columbia truly did a lot of custom pressings...
It might be possible to narrow down the year separations if further matrix numbers can be found. I only got so far with wildcard operators and keywords.

[Mr]

Thanks for picking up the lead on this! That's a very useful bit if info.

These seem to be the mastering/matrix codes of Columbia Recording Studios in NYC - and the fact that the first 50-ish records are seemingly sequentially numbered, likely indicates that they were all prepared and issued at around the same time, c. 1968.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that these LPs consist largely of repurposed material from various CBS productions (The Twilight Zone, etc.) - which would explain how they had so much material ready to go from the very start. as such, the recordings and compositions themselves would probably predate this release date, however.

[Lord Thames]

I understand most (if not) all of the tracks released by Transworld in the UK were from this library.

Oliver Lomax's book says KPM had the rights to loads of music from CBS series like Gunsmoke, which is presumably a reference to Transworld, and these CBS tracks.

[Mr]

Indeed!

... and these, curiously, predate these CBS LPs by several years.

[apmnut]

Thanks for picking up the lead on this! That's a very useful bit if info.

These seem to be the mastering/matrix codes of Columbia Recording Studios in NYC - and the fact that the first 50-ish records are seemingly sequentially numbered, likely indicates that they were all prepared and issued at around the same time, c. 1968.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that these LPs consist largely of repurposed material from various CBS productions (The Twilight Zone, etc.) - which would explain how they had so much material ready to go from the very start. as such, the recordings and compositions themselves would probably predate this release date, however.

As one example:
Most of the Fred Steiner cues featured on EZQ 121 are sourced from the Twilight Zone episode "The Bard".

[Mr]

Thanks for confirming - do you know of any more?