Gary B. Reid has been given the Best Discography award by the Association for Recorded Sound Collections for his 2015 release, The Music of the Stanley Brothers, published by the University of Illinois Press. The award was given in the Association’s Best Historical Research in Recorded Country Music category.
The Association has been active since 1966, describing themselves as “a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and study of sound recordings—in all genres of music and speech, in all formats, and from all periods.”
Reid’s book was indeed a mammoth undertaking, laying out a detailed history and discography of all the recordings made by The Stanley Brothers during their 20 year career in bluegrass. It represents Gary’s 40 years of research into their lives and music, and will exist as a testament to their importance in our music long after all of us have passed on.
The book also garnered Reid the Print Media Person of the Year award from the International Bluegrass Music Association in 2015.
There is no way that we could properly thank him for all his work studying the minutiae and arcana of The Stanley Brothers’ pursuits in early country and bluegrass – and this book is only part of that – but this ARSC award is certainly a well-deserved honor from people who know.
Congratulations, Gary Reid!
