jabw_vintage/faq7

78rpm FAQ

Frequently asked questions from the new collectors

this page first published by John Wright, 13 Feb 1999
last update 14 March 2006vintage@jabw.demon.co.uk

FAQ 7

What is a discography?

The term discography appears to have come into common use during the early 1930's by record collectors who were searching for all the discs of their favourites artistes and gathering information relating to the recording sessions and other musicians present. By compiling all the known information as a list the result is known as a discography and such lists began to appear in music magazines. For jazz the pioneering discographical work was first published by Charles Delauney in 1936, The 'Hot Discography'. Several other writers have worked on discographies and the greatest contribution has come from Brian Rust whose work has included discographies of jazz, dance bands, music hall as well as individual artistes. The Rust format of discographical documentation is now the most common seen in published discographies. For the new collector it is worth looking at this layout and explaining the abbreviations used.

For example here is an entry from a discography of the singer Johnny Marvin:

Vocalist and ukulele player with Nat Shilkret and the Victor Orchestra
		New York, May 12, 1927
BVE-38399-4	Me And My Shadow	Vic20675

The entry tells us the following:

Johnny Marvin sings and plays on the recordings accompanied by Nat Shilkret and the Victor Orchestra. Rust's entry suggests that the main credit on the record label will be Nat Shilkret, which will probably say in smaller print 'Vocal Chorus and Ukulele by Johnny Marvin'.
The recording session took place in New York on May 12, 1927
The BVE- number is known as a matrix number assigned to each title at a recording session.
The -4 indicates that the fourth 'take' of the song 'Me And My Shadow' was kept for issue.
The recording was issued by Victor (record company) on their record catalogue number 20675

A later entry :

Vocal, acc. by Andy Sannella-cl-as-stg/Milt Rettenberg-p-cel/ Ed Smalle-p-v/Nat Shilkret-cel/own g-u
		New York, May 27, 1927
BVE-38845 -1-2-3-4	Vo-Do-Do-De-O Blues	Rejected
	-cl-stg/pMR/celNS/u

The entry tells us:

Vocal, - indicates that Johnny Marvin is the main credit on the record label.
All other musicians present at the recording session are listed
- Andy Sannella had his clarinet, alto-saxophone and steel guitar with him
- Milt Rettenberg was there to play paino and celeste
- Ed Smalle was there to play piano and sing
- Nat Shilkret was ther to play celeste
- own g-u. This means that Johnny Marvin, as well as singing, brought along his guitar and ukulele
The recording was made in New York on May 27, 1927
BVE-38845 matrix number.
-1-2-3-4 means that four takes were recorded
-cl-stg played (by Andy Sannella)
/pMR/ piano played (by Milt Rettenberg)
/celNS/ celeste played (by Nat Shilkret)
/u ukulele played (by Johnny Marvin)
Rejected. This means that none of the 4 takes were issued commercially.

Brian Rust's discography layout is compact but totally understandable. For each entry he has compressed a lot of information into two or three lines.

At the same session:

BVE-38846- Just Another Day Wasted Away Vic20758, HMV B-2554

as-stg/p-vES/celMR/g

You can work out what went on to record that song, including the fact that this recording features a vocal duet by Johnny Marvin and Ed Smalle. The issued take is not listed. This recording was issued in USA on Victor 20758, and also in Britain on HMV B-2554 (His Master's Voice).

An example of band discography is on this website, Sonny Clay. Go to Sonny Clay discography.

Steve Albin is currently developing his own discography software program affectionately known as 'BRIAN' (after Brian Rust).
Visit Steve Albin's Homepage

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BVE-38846-	Just Another Day Wasted Away	Vic20758, HMV B-2554
	as-stg/p-vES/celMR/g