2012 Winners: ARSC Awards for Excellence
The Association for Recorded Sound Collections is pleased to announce the winners of the 2012 ARSC Awards for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research. Begun in 1991, the awards are presented to authors and publishers of books, articles, liner notes, and monographs, to recognize outstanding published research in the field of recorded sound. In giving these awards, ARSC recognizes outstanding contributions, encourages high standards, and promotes awareness of superior works. Two awards may presented annually in each category—one for best history and one for best discography. Certificates of Merit are presented to runners-up of exceptionally high quality. The 2012 Awards for Excellence honor works published in 2011.
All of the honorees have now been notified, and certificates and one year memberships to ARSC are being produced and distributed. The winners will also be acknowledged at the awards ceremony at the ARSC national conference in Kansas City, Missouri in May 2013.
[ Best Research in Recorded Blues, Gospel, Rhythm & Blues, or Soul Music ]
Best History Mississippi John Hurt: His Life, His Times, His Blues by Philip R. Ratcliffe (University Press of Mississippi) |
Best DiscographyThe Blues Discography 1971-2000: The Later Years: A Selective Discography by Robert Ford and Bob McGrath (Eyeball Productions) |
Certificate of Merit I Feel So Good: The Life and Times of Big Bill Broonzy by Bob Riesman (University of Chicago Press) |
Certificate of Merit The Chitlin' Circuit and the Road to Rock and Roll 
 by Preston Lauterbach (W. W. Norton) |
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[ Best Research in Recorded Classical Music ]
Best History George Szell: A Life of Music 
 by Michael Charry (University of Illinois Press) |
Best Discography Concert Hall: Discography of the Concert Hall Society and Concert Hall Society Record Club by John Hunt (John Hunt) |
Certificate of Merit Richard Strauss: A Musical Life by Raymond Holden (Yale University Press) |
Certificate of Merit Dennis Brain: A Life in Music by Stephen J. Gamble and William C. Lynch (University of North Texas Press) |
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[ Best Research in Recorded Country, Ethnic, or Folk Music ]
Best History Crowe on the Banjo: The Music Life of J. D. Crowe by Marty Godbey (University of Illinois Press) |
Certificate of Merit Jim Reeves: His Untold Story: The Life & Times of Country Music's Greatest Singer by Larry Jordan (Page Turner) |
[ Best Research in Recorded Rock or Popular Music ]
Best History Pop Song Piracy: Disobedient Music Distribution since 1929 by Barry Kernfeld (University of Chicago Press) |
Certificate of Merit Tori Amos: In the Studio, by Jake Brown (ECW) |
Certificate of Merit Everything is an Afterthought: The Life and Writings of Paul Nelson by Kevin Avery (Fantagraphic Books) |
Certificate of Merit Had Me a Real Good Time: The Faces Before and After by Andrew Neill (Omnibus) |
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[ Best Research in Recorded Jazz Music ]
Best History Norman Granz: The Man Who Used Jazz for Justice by Tad Hershorn (University of California Press) |
Certificate of Merit Clark: The Autobiography of Clark Terry by Clark Terry (University of California Press) |
Certificate of Merit What a Wonderful World: The Magic of Louis Armstrong's Later Years by Ricky Riccardi (Pantheon Books) |
Certificate of Merit The Studio Recordings of the Miles Davis Quintet, 1965-68 by Keith Waters (Oxford University Press) |
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[ Best Research in Record Labels ]
Best History The Last Sultan: The Life and Times of Ahmet Ertegun by Robert Greenfield (Simon & Schuster) |
Best Discography Beka Records: A Discography by Frank Andrews and Bill Dean-Myatt (City of London Phonograph and Gramophone Society) |
Certificate of Merit Indestructible and U-S Everlasting Cylinders: An Illustrated History and Cylinderography by Kurt Nauck and Allan Sutton (Mainspring Press) |
Certificate of Merit The Starday Story: The House that Country Music Built by Nathan D. Gibson (University Press of Mississippi) |
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[ Best General Research in Recorded Sound ]
Best History Spoken Word: Postwar American Phonograph Cultures by Jacob Smith (University of California Press) |
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For more information, contact either Roberta Freund Schwartz (University of Kansas).
Winners are chosen by the ARSC Awards Committee: five elected judges representing specific fields of study, plus the ARSC President, and the Book Review Editor of the ARSC Journal. The members of the 2011 ARSC Awards Committee are: Roberta Freund Schwartz (Committee Co-Chair), David Lewis (Committee Co-Chair), Vincent Pelote (ARSC President), James Farrington (Book Review Editor, ARSC Journal), Dennis Rooney (Classical Music Judge), Cary Ginnell (Judge-At-Large), Dan Morgenstern (Jazz Music Judge), William L. Schurk (Popular Music Judge), and Richard Spottswood (Judge-at-Large)
