The American Zonophone Discography II: Preface and Acknowledgments

In late 2011, Mainspring Press reached an agreement to complete and publish the unfinished discographies of the late William R. Bryant. The first offering in this new series was The American Zonophone Records Discography—Volume I, covering the 10" and 12" general-catalog releases of 1904–1912, which has now been converted to a database by the University of California–Santa Barbara as part of their Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) online database.

The current volume covers the earlier American Zonophone output, from 1899 through 1905, which with the exception of one short-lived 10" series, appeared on 7" and 9" discs. Unlike Volume I, no printed edition is planned for this work, which is being produced exclusively in digital form by DAHR.

The discographical data published here is from the final version of Bill’s manuscript, to which we have added the many additions, revisions, and corrections he had not yet entered, as well as newly discovered data.

I am especially grateful to Stephen Harding for making available and granting exclusive publication rights to Bill’s manuscripts and archival materials; to Tim Brooks and Kurt Nauck for initiating the contact that led to that arrangement; and to David Seubert and Sam Brylawski at DAHR for their work in ensuring that this material will be preserved and freely disseminated.

More than one-hundred collectors, researchers, and institutions have contributed their data and expertise to this project since it began in the early 1970s, including Frank Adams, E. G. Anderson, Eric Anderson, Frank Andrews, Arthur Badrock, Chris H. Bailey, Joe Baldwin, Thomas E. Banulski, David Barron, Ernie Bayly, John V. Beck, George A. Blacker, John R. Bolig, Frank Bridges, Tim Brooks, Martin Bryan, Richard C. Burdge, Paul Burgess, John Buscemi, Paul Charosh, Donald W. Chichester, Don Cleary, Robert Cogswell, Jerry Cook, Dave Cotter, John Cowles, Frank Curran, Allen G. Debus, Al Dergin, Peter Dilg, Mike Eert, Tim Fabrizio, Milford H. Fargo, Aida Favia-Artsay, Robert Foote, Stanton Golding, Robert T. Gordon, Tim Gracyk, Oliver Graham, Wilfrid Graham, Russell C. Greschke, Mike Haddock, Reginald Hall, Llewellyn Harding, Howard Hazelcorn, Alvin Heckard, James Hedges, John Heliker, Mardon Hinkel, Larry Holdridge, Geoff Howl, Arnold Jacobson, David A. Jasen, Anton Johannes, Dave Jones, G. V. Jones, Allen Koenigsberg, Albert Kuechle, Henry F. Kurtz, V. Landberg, Edward F. Lafond Jr., S. A. Langkammerer, Peter G. Leavitt, John C. Lemke, Eugene Le Veque, Hal Ljongquist, Kevin LoRusso, Gilbert Louey, Charles G. Mandrake, Rich Markow, Joseph Martel, Leigh Martinet, Earl Matthewson, Eugene McCormick, P. L. Miller, William Moran, Kurt Nauck, Don Nelson, Brevoort Odell, Doug Olds, H. H. Patterson, John A. Petty, M. B. Pope, Barbara Prosser, Kim Rauch, Jack Raymond, Jack Read, Quentin Riggs, Norman A. Schweikert, Joesph Sedlar, Claude Seary, William G. Shaman, Henry M. Shaw, Michael Sims, Fred Smith, William J. Sorice, Brian J. Spector, Richard Spottswood, Byron Lloyd Taylor, Henry A. Tiemann Jr., Ben H. Tongue, Ray Tump, R. J. Wakeman, C. Wallenstein, Jim Walsh, Richard Warren Jr., Don Wetzell, Raymond R. Wile, and Frederick P. Williams; and staff members of the EMI Archives, Library of Congress, New York Public Library, Sony Music Enterprises, and Yale University Library.

 — Allan Sutton