Dec. 20, 1963 - Less than a month after his assassination, seven John F. Kennedy memorial record albums have sold a combined total of at least five million copies. Two companies report brisk sales in Dallas, where the President was shot. Most of the albums draw from the same material — speeches or excerpts of speeches delivered by President Kennedy in the last 3½ years. They vary, however, in content and presentation. The best-selling disk is Premier’s “John Fitzgerald Kennedy, A Memorial Album” (pictured). Philip Landwehr, the company’s president, said he had orders from around the country for 4 million copies. The record, selling at about $1, is the only one to contain several major addresses in their entirety. The proliferation of so many records on a similar theme has led to lawsuits and threats of lawsuits. Earlier this week, Premier obtained a temporary restraining order against three California record makers and their affiliated pressing concern, stopping them from producing and selling records of highlights from the speeches. All the companies said they were giving at least a portion of their profits to charity. Premier said its donations would go to the Joseph P. Kennedy Memorial Foundation.
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