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2008 Finalists (ARSC Awards for Excellence)

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The Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) is pleased to announce the finalists for the 2008 ARSC Awards for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research. Begun in 1991, the awards are presented to authors and publishers of books, articles, liner notes, and monographs, to recognize outstanding published research in the field of recorded sound. In giving these awards, ARSC recognizes outstanding contributions, encourages high standards, and promotes awareness of superior works. A maximum of two awards is presented annually in each category-one for best history (H) and one for best discography (D). Certificates of Merit are presented to runners-up for works of exceptionally high quality.

Begun in 1991, the ARSC Awards are given to authors of books, articles or recording liner notes to recognize those publishing the very best work today in recorded sound research. In giving these awards, ARSC recognizes the contributions of these individuals and aims to encourage others to emulate their high standards and to promote readership of their work.

Winners are chosen by an ARSC Awards Committee consisting of five elected judges representing specific fields of study in addition to the editor of the ARSC Journal and the President of ARSC. The members of the 2008 ARSC Awards Committee are: Robert Iannapollo (Awards Committee Co-Chair); Roberta Freund-Schwartz (Awards Committee Co-Chair); Sam Brylawski (ARSC President); Brenda Nelson-Strauss (ARSC Past-President); Jim Farrington (Book Review Editor, ARSC Journal); David Hamilton (Classical Music Judge); Kip Lornell (Judge-At-Large); Dan Morgenstern (Jazz Music Judge); William L. Schurk (Popular Music Judge); Dick Spottswood (Judge-at-Large).

The following works, published in 2007, have been nominated:

Best Research in Recorded Blues, Rhythm & Blues, or Soul Music

  • Big Boss Man: The Life and Music of Bluesman Jimmy Reed, by Will Romano (Backbeat) (H)
  • Cross The Water Blues: African-American Music In Europe, ed. by Neil Wynn (University of Mississippi Press) (H)
  • The Gospel Discography: A Discography of Post-war African-American Gospel Records from 1943 to 1970, by Cedric Hayes (Eyeball Productions) (D)
  • How Britain Got the Blues: The Transmission and Reception of American Blues Style in the British Isles, by Roberta Freund Schwartz (Ashgate) (H)
  • Kennedy’s Blues: African-American Blues and Gospel Songs on JFK, by Guido Van Rijn (University of Mississippi Press) (H)
  • Soul Covers, by Michael Awkward (Duke University Press) (H)

Best Research in Recorded Classical Music

  • Guide to the Euphonium Repertoire: The Euphonium Source Book, by Lloyd E. Bone, Eric Paull and R. Winston Morris (Indiana University Press) (D)
  • Isolde Ahlgrimm, Vienna, and the Early Music Revival, by Peter Watchorn (Ashgate Press) (H/D)
  • Joan Tower: The Comprehensive Bio-Bibliography, by Ellen K. Grolman (Scarecrow) (D)
  • Kna: Concert Register and Discography of Hans Knappertsbusch, 1888-1965, by John Hunt (Short Run Press) (D)
  • Moondog: The Viking Of 6th Avenue: The Authorized Biography, by Robert Scotto (Process) (H)
  • Sigmund Romberg, by William A. Everett and Geoffrey Holden Block (Yale University Press) (H)

Best Research in Recorded Country Music

  • Charlie Monroe: I’m Old Kentucky Bound: His Recordings, 1938-1956, liner notes by Dick Spottswood (Bear Family) (H)
  • Country Music Originals: The Legends and the Lost, by Tony Russell (Oxford University Press) (H)
  • Public Cowboy No. 1: The Life and Times of Gene Autry, by Holly George-Warren (Oxford University Press) (H)
  • The Selling Sound: The Rise of the Country Music Industry, by Diane Pecknold (Duke University Press) (H)
  • Whiskey River (Take My Mind): The True Story of Texas Honky-Tonk, by Johnny Bush with Rick Mitchell (University of Texas Press) (H)

Best Research in Recorded Folk, Ethnic, or World Music

  • Dub: Soundscapes and Shattered Songs in Jamaican Reggae, by Michael E. Veal (Wesleyan University Press) (H)
  • Global Minstrels: Voices of World Music, by Elijah Wald (photos by Jack Vartoogian and Linda Vartoogian) (Routledge) (H)
  • Hawaiian & Hawaiian Guitar Records, 1891-1960, by T. Malcolm Rockwell (Mahina Piha Press)
    (D)
  • Music From Behind the Bridge: Steelband Spirit and Politics in Trinidad and Tobago, by Shannon Dudley (Oxford University Press) (H)

Best Research in General History of Recorded Sound

  • Complete Guide To Vintage Children’s Records: Identification and Value Guide, by Peter Muldavin (Collector’s Books) (D)
  • The Soundtracks of Woody Allen: The Complete Guide to the Music and Songs in Every Film, by Adam Harvey (McFarland) (D)

Best Research in Record Labels

  • Beltona: A Label Listing and History, by Bill Dean-Myatt (City of London Phonogram Society) (D)
  • Horizons Touched: The Music of ECM, ed. by Steve Lake and Paul Griffiths (Granta) (H)
  • The Label: The Story of Columbia Records, by Gary Marmorstein (Thunder’s Mouth Press) (H)

Best Research in Recorded Jazz

  • Lennie Tristano: His Life in Music, by Eunmi Shim (University of Michigan Press) (H)
  • The Original Hot Five Recordings of Louis Armstrong, by Gene H. Anderson (Pendragon) (H)
  • Ragtime: An Encyclopedia, Discography and Sheetography, by David Jasen (Routledge) (H)
  • Subversive Sounds: Race and the Birth of Jazz in New Orleans, by Charles Hersch (University of Chicago Press) (H)

Best Research in Recorded Popular Music

  • The Complete New Zealand Music Charts, 1966-2006: Singles, Albums, DVDs, Compilations, by Dean Scapolo (Maurienne House) (D)
  • Lonely Avenue: The Unlikely Life and Times of Doc Pomus, by Alex Halberstadt (Da Capo) (H)
  • Tearing Down the Wall of Sound: The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector, by Mick Brown (Knopf) (H)

Best Research in Recorded Rock Music

  • The Beatles Swan Song: “She Loves You” & Other Records, by Bruce Spizer (498 Productions) (D)
  • Everybody Wants Some: The Van Halen Saga, by Ian Christie (Wiley) (H)
  • Inside The Music of Brian Wilson: The Songs, Sounds and Influences of the Beach Boy’s Founding Genius, by Philip Lambert (Continuum) (H)
  • Jimmy Page: Magus, Musician, Man: An Unauthorized Biography, by George Case (Hal Leonard) (H)
  • Sweat: The Story of the Fleshtones, America’s Garage Band, by Joe Bonomo (Continuum) (H)

 

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