The Banjo on Record - A Bio-Discography

The appeal of the banjo has been shown to be timeless and universal---adaptable to almost any form of popular music. It was one of just a few instruments that could be faithfully reproduced in the early days of sound recording, and its recording history dates back to 1889. Heier documents that history on cylinders and 78-rpm disks in the pre-LP era ending in the mid-1950s. The book offers a comprehensive compilation of all such recordings on which the banjo plays a solo role or dominant part. Organized by performer or performing group, the recordings are listed chronologically with location, date, matrix number, and take-digit as available, as well as manufacturer and catalog number. Biographical information on the banjoist is provided wherever possible, and all performers anywhere in the world known to have recorded any type of music on banjo are included even if no data on the actual disks is available.

Introduced in a foreword by British discographer Brian Rust, the discography also includes a narrative account of the banjo in phonograph recording history by Lowell Schreyer and an essay on the history of the banjo itself by Robert Lloyd Webb. In addition to the discography proper, the editors have provided a preface, A Quick Look at the Banjo Family, identifying the instruments; an extensive bibliography of sources; an index of all tune titles; and reproductions of 92 recording labels. These elements all combine to make this volume a true discopedia of the banjo.

List of contents

Foreword by by Brian Rust
Preface
The Banjo in Phonograph Recording History by Lowell Schreyer
Confidence and Admiration: The Enduring Ringing of the Banjo by Robert Lloyd Webb
A Quick Look at the Banjo Family
Discography
Addenda and Corrigenda
Bibliography
Index to Titles

About the author

Uli Heier, Rainer E. Lotz

Product details

• Authors: Uli Heier, Heier Uli, Rainer E. Lotz, Lotz Rainer E.
• Assisted by: Uli Heier (Editor), Rainer E. Lotz (Editor)
• Publisher: Bloomsbury
• Languages: English
• Age Recommendation: ages 7 to 17
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 21.06.1993
• EAN: 9780313284922
• ISBN: 978-0-313-28492-2
• No. of pages: 664
• Weight: 1077 g
• Series: Contributions in Criminology a; Discographies: Association for Recorded Sound Collections Discographic Reference; Contributions in Criminology a
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Music > General, dictionaries; Non-fiction book > Dictionaries, reference works > Dictionaries, encyclopaedias; 20th Century, REFERENCE / Bibliographies & Indexes, MUSIC / Musical Instruments / Strings, c 1800 to c 1900, 19th century, c 1800 to c 1899, 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999, String instruments, Bibliographies, catalogues, Popular Culture: Music and Performing Arts