Rarity is sometimes alluded to, but not uniformly, and it is not always clear which labels (and sub‑labels) had wide distribution and which did not.  For example, the Aeolian‑Vocalion entry talks about the label’s 1916 vertical cut discs and 1920s laterals on equal terms, when in fact the former are quite rare.  The company, like many others, did not become a force in the marketplace until it switched to lateral recording at the end of 1919.

It appears that most of the entries are more a compilation of previously published research than original work by the author.  This is in no way a criticism.  A major shortcoming of many previous articles and books, including Rust’s, is that they did not adequately incorporate the work done by others (one wonders if the authors even knew about it).  All good research builds on what has gone before, and Sutton has taken obvious pains to locate, sift, compare, and use the best that previous authors have uncovered on specific labels.  Thus, this book is laudably free of the old errors that mar so much current work.  For example we now know that Little Wonders were independently recorded, and not dubs of Columbias as once thought; that is clearly spelled out here.  The genealogy of the 1901 Climax label, long a subject of speculation, is carefully explained, and the two related versions of the 1920s Puritan label (one for the Northeast, one for the Midwest and South), which sometimes interlocked and sometimes did not, are nicely disentangled.  To the work of others the author has added his own research, primarily in the field of patents and trademarks, which often reveal useful information about smaller labels.

Those of us who have published research on specific labels will recognize our work here (generally credited), and I for one have no complaint about that.  In fact, I was a little startled by how carefully the author has followed the literature, and how up‑to‑date this 1994 book is.  For example there is an entry for Broome Special Phonograph Records, apparently the first black‑owned label (it predates Black Swan, which is usually accorded that honor, by nearly two years).  The first time that information appeared in print, to my knowledge, was in an article I wrote for The New Amberola Graphic in late 1991.  Other references in the bibliography are as recent as 1993.  In his acknowledgements Sutton gives special credit to the late George Blacker for helping him over the years, but it is clear from the bibliography that he has made wise use of the seminal work of Raymond Wile, Allen Koenigsberg, Carl Kendziora, Stephen Calt and Gayle Dean Wardlow (Paramount), Henry Henriksen (Autograph) and other label researchers.

The only real shortcoming of the book is its lack of illustrations.  I understand the reluctance of commercial publishers to lavish money on limited circulation books, but this one isn’t inexpensive and pictures would have been particularly helpful here.  As it is, the author does his best to describe label designs in words, but you need a lot of words (a thousand, did someone say?) to take the place of a single black and white photo.  The Rust book was illustrated.  Rust and Sutton also differ in their general approach to the label entries.  Rust tended to talk about repertoire and numerical series, whereas Sutton leans more toward corporate ownership, sources of masters and marketing.  There is little information here on record numbering; for that, consult Steven C. Barr’s excellent The Almost Complete 78 RPM Record Dating Guide (1992 edition), which belongs on the shelf next to this book.

In all, the Directory of American Disc Record Brands and Manufacturers is a first class compilation of research which belongs in every library of recorded sound reference materials.  I will use it often, and I suspect others will too.