Bibliography

• Jazz and Ragtime Records 1897-1942, Brian Rust, Mainspring Press, ISBN 0-9671819-2-5

This is the sixth edition of the canonical discography for jazz records. Everyone who collects vintage jazz should have a copy of this two volume set. It was out of print for several years, but this new edition is available on-line from Mainspring Press.


• The American Dance Band Discography, Volume 1, Brian Rust, Arlington House Publishers, ISBN 0-87000-248-1

This book does for dance bands what Rust's Jazz Records does for jazz bands. This book set is also out of print.

• The Complete Entertainment Discography From 1897 to 1942, Second Edition, Brian Rust and Allen G. Debus, Da Capo Press, ISBN 0-306-76210-2

This book is an odd one, in that its subject matter is poorly defined. I think it's an attempt to cover the areas not covered by the above two books, but it's a patchwork. In the introduction, the authors say that they deliberately exclude jazz, blues, and dance band records, and also "truly prolific" artists like Billy Murray and Henry Burr. So, in a sense, this book covers the leftovers. The book's reputation among serious collectors is not very good, but it's the only book of its kind that I know of.

• The Victor Master Book, Vol. 2, Brian Rust, published by the author, no ISBN
 
This book contains discographical information drawn from the Victor recording ledgers. It covers all popular music recorded by Victor in the years 1925 - 1936. It is cross-indexed by title and performer, and also has a listing that correlates label numbers with matrix numbers.

Rust had originally planned to make a Volume 1, covering years before 1925, but he never did it, so the only volume in this book series is volume 2.
 

• The Columbia Master Book Discography, Brian Rust and Tim Brooks, Greenwood Press, ISBN 0-313-21464-6
 
This is a four-volume set that contains discographical information drawn from the Columbia recording ledgers. It covers the years 1901 through 1934, which is when the Columbia company was sold to the American Record Corporation.
 
• Brunswick Records: a Discography of Recordings, 1916 - 1931, Ross Laird, Greenwood Press, ISBN 0-313-30208-1
 
This four-volume discography covers Brunswick and its sub-labels, including Vocalion and Melotone. It is the most complete label discography I have seen - it covers absolutely everything Brunswick recorded, including advertising and radio programs as well as the more common types of records.


• The Plaza-ARC Discography, Volume 1, U.S. Issues, 1922 - 31, Billie W. Thomas & Allan Sutton, Greenwood Press, ISBN 0-9772735-3-9

• Discography of Western Swing and Hot String Bands, 1928 - 1942, Cary Ginell and Kevin Coffey, Greenwood Press, ISBN 0-313-31116-1
 
This is discography is the only one of its type I know of. It was published in 2001, remarkably late for a form of music that has attracted such public interest.
 
• Moanin' Low: A Discography of Female Popular Vocal Recordings, 1920-1933, Ross Laird, Greenwood Press, ISBN 0-313-29241-8
 
This is the only discography I know that covers popular vocalists. It's nice to be able to look up all of Annette Hanshaw's and Ruth Etting's records. I wish there were an equivalent discography for male vocalists.
 
• Blues and Gospel Records 1890 - 1943, Fourth Edition, Robert M. W. Dixon, John Godrich, & Howard W. Rye, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-816239-1
 
This is a complete discography of early blues and gospel records. The fourth edition was published in 1997.
 
• Blues Records: 1943-66, Mike Leadbitter and Neil Slaven, Oak Publications, ISBN 0-8256-0110-X
 
This book covers blues records starting in 1943, which is where Dixon, Godrich, and Rye leave off. It is a first edition, published in 1968. I would like to get a later edition of this book.
 
• Lissauer's Encyclopedia of Popular Music in America: 1887 to the Present, Robert Lissauer, Paragon House, ISBN 1-55778-015-3

This book lists thousands of songs by title, giving the names of the songwriters, the date of the song's introduction or initial popularity, major recordings and other recordings of interest, and other facts. It is cross-indexed by year of introduction and by songwriter.

• Who Wrote That Song?, Dick Jacobs and Harriet Jacobs, Writer's Digest Books, ISBN 0-89879-639-3

This book is similar to Lissauer's Encyclopedia (above), but is not as complete or as well-researched. It does contain some interesting anecdotes about the music business (Dick Jacobs, the co-author, was a record company executive). I generally only use this book when I can't find what I'm looking for in Lissauer.

• The Complete Encyclopedia of Popular Music and Jazz 1900 - 1950, Roger D. Kinkle, Arlington House, ISBN 0-87000-229-5

This is a five-volume set. The first volume gives a chronological history of songs and recordings, listing musicals, songs, and recordings year-by-year from 1900 through 1950. The second and third volumes have short biographies and abridged output of over 2000 musicians and songwriters. The fourth volume contains indexes and appendices - the indexes organized by song, performer, and musical, and the appendices listing the entire output (by catalog number) of nine major record labels from 1900 through 1950, Academy Award nominees and winners for music, Down Beat and Metronome poll winners, and dating guides for 19 major labels. The fifth volume consists of updates to the biographies.

• The Almost Complete 78 RPM Record Dating Guide (II), Steven C. Barr, Yesterday Once Again, No ISBN

This book allows the reader to figure out in what year a record was made either by catalog number or by matrix number (the numbers on the label and in the shellac, respectively). It is not well printed or bound, but it is the only book of its kind that I know of, and is the result of years of work by Steven Barr. Every collector of 78s should own a copy of this book.

• ARLD - The American Record Label Directory and Dating Guide, 1940 - 1959, Galen Gart, Big Nickel Publications, ISBN 0-936433-11-6
 
This dating guide covers the years between 1940 and 1959, which Barr's book does not cover comprehensively. The format of ARLD is different from that of Barr's book - it is simply an alphabetical listing of labels, with dating guides for each label, as well as information like addresses, type of output, and key executives. There was an explosion in the number of small labels after World War II, so this book contains a lot of entries (I would guess a couple of thousand).
 
• Playback Equalizer Settings for 78 RPM Recordings, Second Edition, James R. Powell, Jr. and Randall G. Stehle, Gramophone Adventures, ISBN 0-9634921-3-6

This booklet consists mostly of suggested equalizer settings for different records, cataloged by label, catalog and matrix number, and date. This book is a great time-saver for me. Although anyone should be able to set their equalizer properly by ear, it is useful to have a reference that suggests an initial setting. My experience has been that their suggested settings are usually right, and when they're not right, they're close.

• Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890 - 1954, Joel Whitburn, Record Research Inc., ISBN 0-89820-083-0

This book is similar to Lissauer, above, but it's not as good. The Whitburn book has a poor reputation among serious collectors - the book is full of inaccuracies, and even some things that Whitburn must have made up from whole cloth. For example, he lists the top-selling records for each year according to the "charts", but for most of the years he covered there were no charts. He also credits Billy Murray with recording Take Me Out to the Ball Game on Victor 5570, yet Murray never recorded the song.

Still, it's worth having the book around. I just don't believe anything it says without verifying it.

• Directory of American Disc Record Brands and Manufacturers, 1891 - 1943, Allan Sutton, Greenwood Press, ISBN 0-313-29200-0

This book gives the history of many different American record labels and record manufacturers, as well as the genealogy of the record companies (it's full of buy-outs, splits, and mergers).

• American Record Labels and Companies, An Encyclopedia (1891 - 1943), Allan Sutton & Kurt Nauck, Mainspring Press, ISBN 0-9671819-0-9

This book is a follow-up to the one above. It's more complete, and it comes with a CD-ROM with a database of labels, with pictures and information about each label's genealogy. It is the best book I know on the subject.

• The American Record Label Book, Brian Rust, Da Capo Press, ISBN 0-306-76211-0

The book covers the same subject as Sutton, above, but doesn't do it as well. Rust's book is not as thorough, and has some inaccuracies, but it is still worth having.

• The New Grove Encyclopedia of Jazz, edited by Barry Kernfield, St. Martin's Press, ISBN 0-312-11357-9

This is one of the better encyclopedias of jazz. It covers performers, styles, instruments, terms, etc.

• Blues Who's Who, Sheldon Harris, Arlington House, ISBN 0-87000-425-5

This is one of the standard texts on blues artists. It covers the years 1900 through 1977, roughly. It contains bibliographies of most of the major blues artists.

• The Blackwell Guide to Recorded Blues, edited by Paul Oliver, Blackwell Publishers, ISBN 0-631-18301-9

This book catalogs blues recordings by era and style. It is not comprehensive, but it is very educational because of the way it categorizes records and performers.

• Popular American Recording Pioneers 1895 - 1925, Tim Gracyk with Frank Hoffman, The Haworth Press, ISBN 1-56024-993-5
 
This book contains biographies of many recording artists from the acoustic era. It is the only such book that I know of. I am also fortunate to own an advance copy of the book, which contains even more information than the eventual published copy. It seems that the editor at The Haworth Press asked Tim Gracyk, the author, to cut things out of the book to lower the price.
 
• Pseudonyms on American Records, Allan Sutton, Mainspring Press, ISBN 0-9671819-1-7
 
This book lists the pseudonyms of hundreds of individual performers and bands. Pseudonyms were used very widely on 78s, and this book really helps you figure out who you're listening to. This book covers many more performers than did the previous edition on Greenwood Press.
 
• Jazz Style in Kansas City and the Southwest, Ross Russell, University of California Press, ISBN 0-520-02363-3
 
This book covers the history Kansas City jazz. Both swing and be-bop came from Kansas City and the southwest, and this book traces the creation of these major forms.