Awards

• Winner of <DIV>Winner of an ASCAP Deems Taylor Award, 2005. Winner of the ARSC Award for Best Research in General History of Recorded Sound, 2005. W 2004
• Winner of <DIV>Winner of an ASCAP Deems Taylor Award, 2005. Winner of the ARSC Award for Best Research in General History of Recorded Sound, 2005. W 2005
• Winner of <DIV>Winner of an ASCAP Deems Taylor Award, 2005.  Winner of the ARSC Award for Best Research in General History of Recorded Sound, 2005.  Winner of the Irving Lowens Award, given by the Society for American Music for the best work publishe 2004

Overview

Biographies of the first African-American recording stars, and how they succeeded against tremendous odds. The first in-depth history of the involvement of African-Americans in the early recording industry, this book examines the first three decades of sound recording in the United States, charting the vigorous and varied roles black artists played in the period leading up to the Jazz Age. Applying more than thirty years of scholarship, Tim Brooks identifies key black artists who recorded commercially in a wide range of genres and provides in-depth biographies of some forty of these audio pioneers. Brooks assesses the careers and impacts, as well as analyzing the recordings, of figures including George W. Johnson, Bert Williams, George Walker, Noble Sissle, Eubie Blake, the Fisk Jubilee Singers, W. C. Handy, James Reese Europe, Wilbur Sweatman, Harry T. Burleigh, Roland Hayes, Booker T. Washington, and boxing champion Jack Johnson, as well as a host of lesser-known voices. Because they were viewed as ""novelty"" or ""folk"" artists, nearly all of these African Americans were allowed to record commercially in their own distinctive styles, and in practically every genre: popular music, ragtime, jazz, cabaret, classical, spoken word, politics, poetry, and more. The sounds they preserved reflect the actual emerging black culture of that tumultuous and creative period. T he stories gathered here give a previously unavailable insight into the early history of the recording industry, as well as the racially complex landscape of post-Civil War society at large. Lost Sounds also includes Brooks's selected discography of CD reissues, and an appendix from Richard K. Spottswood describing early recordings by black artists in the Caribbean and South America.

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9780252028502

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Reviews

Winner of an ASCAP Deems Taylor Award, 2005.  Winner of the ARSC Award for Best Research in General History of Recorded Sound, 2005.  Winner of the Irving Lowens Award, given by the Society for American Music for the best work published in 2004 in the field of American music. Tim Brooks received the Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) Lifetime Achievement Award, 2004.— ASCAP Winner of an ASCAP Deems Taylor Award, 2005.  Winner of the ARSC Award for Best Research in General History of Recorded Sound, 2005.  Winner of the Irving Lowens Award, given by the Society for American Music for the best work published in 2004 in the field of American music. Tim Brooks received the Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) Lifetime Achievement Award, 2004.— ARSC Winner of an ASCAP Deems Taylor Award, 2005.  Winner of the ARSC Award for Best Research in General History of Recorded Sound, 2005.  Winner of the Irving Lowens Award, given by the Society for American Music for the best work published in 2004 in the field of American music. Tim Brooks received the Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) Lifetime Achievement Award, 2004.— Society for American Music Winner of an ASCAP Deems Taylor Award, 2005.  Winner of the ARSC Award for Best Research in General History of Recorded Sound, 2005.  Winner of the Irving Lowens Award, given by the Society for American Music for the best work published in 2004 in the field of American music. Tim Brooks received the Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) Lifetime Achievement Award, 2004.— ARSC

Tim Brooks has drawn on a staggering array of primary sources to create this wonderful compendium of information. Lost Sounds makes a significant contribution to the field. -- Norm Cohen, author of Traditional Anglo-American Folk Music: An Annotated Discography of Published Recordings

Winner of an ASCAP Deems Taylor Award, 2005. Winner of the ARSC Award for Best Research in General History of Recorded Sound, 2005. Winner of the Irving Lowens Award, given by the Society for American Music for the best work published in 2004 in the field of American music. Tim Brooks received the Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) Lifetime Achievement Award, 2004. An act of cultural reclamation--the great lost heroes of black performance. --New York Times Brooks brings both passion and compassion to the story of the black pioneers who worked as performers and entrepreneurs in the nascent U.S. recording industry. --Business History Review The authors are ardent scholars . . . the thorough bibliography demonstrates the scope and intensity of the research. This is a welcome contribution to the literature on the African American story, primarily in music but in other disciplines as well. --Choice Lost Sounds is a thrilling book; it is rare to encounter a work of this length that supplies so much new information, causing us to reevaluate and reinterpret our understanding of American music and social history. --Current Musicology A monumental achievement in research and sheds light on overlooked aspects of turn-of-the-century popular culture. --Technology and Culture Tim Brooks has drawn on a staggering array of primary sources to create this wonderful compendium of information. Lost Sounds makes a significant contribution to the field. --Norm Cohen, author of Traditional Anglo-American Folk Music: An Annotated Discography of Published Recordings Brooks has uncovered a wealth of fascinating detail about the record business, its artists, and the range of music they recorded 100 years ago. This engaging work of thorough scholarship is essential reading for anyone interested in the birth of commercial recording and African American music in the early part of the 20th century. --Samuel Brylawski, Head, Recorded Sound Section, Library of Congress

Brooks has uncovered a wealth of fascinating detail about the record business, its artists, and the range of music they recorded 100 years ago. This engaging work of thorough scholarship is essential reading for anyone interested in the birth of commercial recording and African American music in the early part of the 20th century. --Samuel Brylawski, Head, Recorded Sound Section, Library of Congress Tim Brooks has drawn on a staggering array of primary sources to create this wonderful compendium of information. Lost Sounds makes a significant contribution to the field. --Norm Cohen, author of Traditional Anglo-American Folk Music: An Annotated Discography of Published Recordings A monumental achievement in research and sheds light on overlooked aspects of turn-of-the-century popular culture. --Technology and Culture Lost Sounds is a thrilling book; it is rare to encounter a work of this length that supplies so much new information, causing us to reevaluate and reinterpret our understanding of American music and social history. --Current Musicology The authors are ardent scholars . . . the thorough bibliography demonstrates the scope and intensity of the research. This is a welcome contribution to the literature on the African American story, primarily in music but in other disciplines as well. --Choice Brooks brings both passion and compassion to the story of the black pioneers who worked as performers and entrepreneurs in the nascent U.S. recording industry. --Business History Review An act of cultural reclamation--the great lost heroes of black performance. --New York Times

Author Information

Tim Brooks is Executive Vice President of Research at Lifetime Television. He is the author of Little Wonder Records: A History and Discography and other books, as well as past president of the Association for Recorded Sound Collections. Dick Spottswood is a freelance author, broadcaster, and record producer. He is the author of the seven-volume reference work, Ethnic Music on Records.  

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