The
International Directory
Of Label Research
The aim of the project is to provide an index of all pre-microgroove label-related research, regardless of language or national origin. It is an alphabetical list further subdivided by the country and approximate era in which the label appeared. This should help the reader to sort among label names which were recycled by unrelated companies over time or utilized in various places. Specialized formats like cylinders and Electrical Transcriptions are specified. Some very useful resources that are too general to list under specific label names will be found under the country, region or continent name (England and the United States of America are listed as U.K. and U.S., respectively, other country names are anglicized for the convenience of the linguisitically-impaired editor).
Tim Brooks has generously allowed entries of specific interest to 78 RPM-era label research to be extracted from his "Current Bibliography" column in The Association for Recorded Sound Collections Journal, a regular feature since 1978. It provides excellent coverage of magazines of interest to collectors and researchers of vintage recordings. The annotated bibliography also covers Country, Folk and Ethnic; Classical; Popular; Jazz, Blues, and Gospel; Rock and R&B; Phonographs; and Sound Preservation. IMHO it is, by itself, worth the $36 membership in ARSC.
The scope of this work is inclusive: books; periodicals; on-line resources; unpublished works circulated among collectors; and recording ledgers held by archives or other institutions offering public access will be noted as will other special collections relevant to label research. The Internet provides an arena for visual gratification as well as research and a number of remarkable 78 RPM-era label galleries are listed in the Images section. Finally, there are a few items whose coverage is so broad as to exceed the structure of this index in the General section.
Not included in this work are the many discographies devoted to specific personalities or genres although each may contain useful information. One such does deserve special mention, however. The seven-volume Ethnic Music on Records by Richard Spottswood devotes an entire volume to label and matrix number indices.
Given that the editor resides in the State of Texas (once a country unto
itself) it is inevitable that the majority of sources herein are from the
western world, primarily North America. It is anticipated that the index will
gradually evolve into a truly international resource. This can only be achieved
with the involvement of the worldwide collecting community so "Hello world!"
drop me a line at ddiehlusa@netscape.net
Please address all correspondence to ddiehlusa@netscape.net
To Issue No. 1
To Issue No. 2