Cary Ginell – författare

8-page B&W and color photo insert

A few weeks before his death in an auto accident, Milton Brown and his band the Musical Brownies recorded forty-nine songs in a single three-day session. That prolific output was a testament to Brown's enormous popularity not only on record but as head of the premier touring act in the Southwest. Cary Ginell draws on interviews and his own musical knowledge to chart Brown's too-short career. Ginell sees Brown as the first key figure to merge blues, jazz, and country into the genre that artists like Bob Wills and Spade Cooley later popularized as Western Swing. Following Brown from his early years to his rise via the Fort Worth dance hall scene, Ginell traces the evolution of the singer-bandleader's musical innovations like adding vocals to dance music and his band's adoption of a style heavy with rhythm and blues. In 1936, Brown and his band stood at the brink of national stardom when Brown's car hit a telephone pole. He died five days later.

Through its Decca 5000 series of the 1930s and 1940s, the American Decca recording company became the most influential record label in the burgeoning hillbilly music category, the forerunner of today's country and western music. This unique discography provides for the first time in print a systematic numerical listing and cross-referencing of all released recordings in the 5000 and 17000 Cajun series as well as records released under Decca's Champion 45000 and Montgomery Ward series, also devoted to hillbilly music. A total of 1514 discs are covered ranging from records released by such major hillbilly music stars as Jimmie Davis, the Sons of the Pioneers, and Ernest Tubb to those by less well-known solo artists and groups, including the Corn Cob Crushers and the Happy Hollow Hoodlums. Based on painstaking research in the original session books, ledgers, and label copy books as well as interviews with musicians and singers who participated in Decca recording sessions, this discography of one of the most remarkable record series of the 20th century makes a major contribution to the study of contemporary American music.The volume begins with an introduction which traces the early history of the Decca Record Company and its impact on hillbilly music of the 1930s and 1940s. Cary Ginell demonstrates that the Decca 5000 and other hillbilly series had a major role not only in documenting the history of hillbilly music but also in affecting its course by influencing future recording artists in the genre. Following a brief section which describes how to use the discography and the indexes, the discography itself is divided into four separate numerical listings: Decca 5000, Decca 17000, Decca/Champion 45000, and Montgomery Ward recordings. Each listing includes information about recording dates, master numbers, unissued titles, song titles and legends, songwriter credits, and release dates. Five indexes--artist, matrix and location, release dates, composer credits, and title--provide enhanced access to the main listings. Scholars and researchers of American country and folk music, both once included under the hillbilly banner--will find this discography an indispensable resource.

The result of years of research by its authors, this discography strives to identify and trace the recorded development of the musical style now known as western swing from its early years through World War II. The style developed from the Texas string band tradition, growing from a fiddle and guitar duo into full swing band groups, and along the way, it drew from and absorbed a variety of other musical styles, thus making it one of the most diverse genres in American music. Until now, studies have been limited to a few book-length biographies, but through exhaustive research and interviews, Ginell and Coffey have provided the most complete and comprehensive listing of pre-War western swing and hot string band recordings to date.Accessible through a variety of indexes, the information included here comprises four sections. The reader can easily find cross-referenced information on which musicians played with which bands on which songs. Easy-to-follow linear and chronological development of the music is provided as well.

This updated edition of one of the bestselling and comprehensive Broadway reference books, first published in 1985, has been expanded to include many of the most important and memorable productions of American musical theater, including revivals. Arranged chronologically, beginning with musicals from just after the Civil War, each successive edition of the book has added valuable updates about trends in musical theater as well as capsule features on the most significant musicals of the day. The ninth edition documents important musicals produced since the end of the 2012–2013 season through spring 2019.Broadway Musicals, Show by Show features a wealth of statistics and inside information, plus critical reception, cast lists, pithy commentary about each show, and numerous detailed indexes that no Broadway fan will want to be without. Since its original publication, Broadway Musicals has proved to be an indispensable addition to any Broadway aficionado's library.