The Columbia Master Book Discography

This detailed compilation of Columbia recordings gathers information about every Columbia disc record made between 1901 and 1934 and designed for American use. The listings also include recordings that were never issued. Recording dates, including re-makes, titles, composers, artists, and catalogue numbers (when allocated for issue) are shown. Where available in the original company files, the details of accompanists to soloists, the vocalists on dance records, and the pseudonyms often employed by certain artists are all shown in detail. A history of the Columbia Phonograph Company to 1934, and analysis of its recording programs and printed matter is also included. The work is divided among four volumes. The first volume covers the Matrix Series 1 through 4999 spanning the years 1901 to 1910. The second volume covers the Principal U.S. Matrix Series spanning the years 1910 to 1924. The third volume covers the Principal U.S. Matrix Series spanning the years 1924 to 1934. The fourth volume covers the 12-inch U.S. Matrix Series spanning the years 1906 to 1931. Some 28,000 titles are included that trace the changes in popular taste during the first third of the 20th century.

Record collectors, music historians and researchers will appreciate the vast amount of titles and detailed information about the Columbia recordings catalogued in these four volumes. Separately or as a complete set, this work contains valuable historical accuracy and exhaustive research.

BRIAN RUST is the author of the Discography of Historical Records on Cylinders and 78s (Greenwood, 1979) and Brian Rust’s Guide to Discography (Greenwood, 1980). He has worked in the Gramophone Library of the BBC (London) and has frequently broadcast programs of recorded nostalgia.

TIM BROOKS is a television executive and past president of the Association for Recorded Sound Collections. His articles about the history of the record industry may be found in the ARSC Journal, Record Research, The New Amberola Graphic, Storyville, Goldmine, Hillandale News, and The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.