Review
`it has been entirely reset, but the page is still a well-filled one ... the chief reason for this edition's greater bulk is the inclusion of something that will save researchers untold time, a song-title index. These 250 pages alone will justify purchase for any frequent user. The 23-year publishing history of BandGR, with its continuous refinement of information and presentation, is a triumph of scholarship in which the blues community should take enormous pride ... handsome and impressive edition.' Howard Rye, Juke Blues No. 39
`this long-awaited revision of a major reference tool is welcome indeed ... The new edition, like its predecessor, is sure to be a "bible" for research.' Gregory Barz, Ethnomusicology
`Robert W. M. Dixon's and John Godrich's discographical efforts for pre World War II ("prewar") blues and black sacred music have received such respect from research peers that no challenger has yet appeared ... The publication of this fourth edition is timely, and its improvements over its predecessors render it timeless ... retains its eminence as a blues reference and discographical model ... the much needed reappearance of Dixon, Godrich, and Rye's grand opus is an improved -- even daring -- guide to recorded sources.' Edward Komara, Notes
`a highly disciplined discography of two African American idioms of international influence ... The volume is handsomely produced and sturdily bound, ready to accept the heavy use it merits.' Dominique-Ren de Lerma, American Reference Books Annual 1999
`this edition is one of the great achievements in discography. Cross-indexing of names is improved, and newly uncovered information from record company files adds depth ... Indispensable for research in this field.' J. Farrington, CHOICE
Product Description
Since its first edition in 1964, Dixon and Godrich's Blues and Gospel Records has been dubbed "the bible" for collectors of pre-war African American music. It provides an exhaustive listing of all recordings made up to the end of 1943 in a distinctively African American style, excluding those
customarily classed as jazz (which are the subject of separate discographies).
The book covers recordings made for the commercial market (whether issued at the time or not) and also recordings made for the Library of Congress Archive of Folk Song and similar bodies--about 20,000 titles in all, by more than 3,000 artists.
For each recording session, full details are given of:
artist credit
accompaniment
place and date of recording
titles
issuing company and catalogue numbers
matrix numbers
alternative takes
There are also short accounts of the major "race labels" that recorded blues and gospel material, and a complete list of field trips to the south by travelling recording units.
Howard Rye has joined the original compilers for this thoroughly revised, enlarged, and reset fourth edition. The scope has been widened by the addition of about 150 new artists in addition to newly discovered recordings by other artists. The compilation now includes recordings by groups such as
the Fisk Jubilee Singers, the Pace Jubilee Singers, and the Tuskegee Institute Singers, who, although they employed African American materials and musical devices, were designed to appeal to a predominantly white audience. Early cylinder recordings of gospel music from the 1890s are included for the
first time.
Previous editions of this work are applauded for their completeness, accuracy, and reliability. This has now been enhanced by the addition of new information from record labels and from record company files, and by listening to a wide selection of titles, and detailed cross checking.
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