Description: A monumental, newly expanded edition that chronicles African American blues and gospel recordings of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
Brief description: John Godrich (1926-1991) was a merchant seaman who became a shipping clerk at Swansea Docks in Wales. He wrote many articles on blues and coauthored Recording the Blues with Robert M. W. Dixon.
Review Quotes: The Godrich and Dixon discography has been the bible of blues and gospel fans and my most treasured reference source for over fifty years. Rye and Smith have added a wealth of later scholarship, expanding and correcting this pioneering work with exhaustive research and meticulous care. I have been waiting eagerly for this new edition, and anyone interested in the history and survival of blues or gospel owes them an immeasurable debt.--Elijah Wald, musician and author of Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues