Rock Record: I had these books published in the 1980's and have been publishing them myself since 1990. The latest versions are available from my web sit. I also have all the data on a cd rom called RockRom. You can find me on the web by searching for Terry hounsome. I also have old copies of some of these books if you want a signed copy

When I saw the first edition of this, 1983, it looked like a miniature UNIX spreadsheet: tractor-fed 132 column wide paper, shot down and printed sideways in a paperback, COOL! The list went by band, but the index was by artist, ie: Paul McCartney, B4, W12, where B4 and W12 are Beatles and Wings. Very easy to follow, the band code is printed in the main listing right next to the name. A very simple and elegant approach to a large amount of information, very obscure detail (good). Needed updated at the time I saw it, so keeping it new will give this guy a career. Good for him, one of the first with a well-needed database of music.

I am the author of these books and they are still being published.
These books on the amazon site are all from the 80's and i have had 3 out during the 90's
terry hounsome

This book in question, i.e., Rock Record : A Collector's Directory of Rock Albums and Musicians/Side A by Terry Hounsome, is the most comprehensive rock album reference book/tool ever published. It contains information on more than 45,000 different albums and over 7500 bands. Highly Recommended.

"Rock Record" retains a spot on my music reference shelf after 16 years, because no one has duplicated or improved upon Hounsome's approach. The editor uses the standard alphabetical format for listing artists with their album chronologies, but adds a comprehensive list of musicians -- both band members and session players. Each individual is coded according to which record(s) he/she appeared on. A musician index in the rear of the volume makes it a unique cross-reference for tracking career progressions, too.

There are two shortcomings. 1)It was not a high-cost production. Its pages look as though they were typewritten at home and, as one would expect, it needs to be proofread. 2)Its usefulness is limited to fans and/or collectors of pre-1983 records. That fact is fine by me, but this volume truly deserves to be updated.

This Book is a great reference/cross reference of Rock music groups, Albums they produced listed by year released, with actual musicians listed by which album they played on. Cross reference lists which groups musicians played with. Good for determining which albums must be added to your collection to fill in gaps and to trace the migration of specific musicians between music groups. No reviews of actual album contents/quality. Very comprehensive for years covered. I wish it was available with current data.