Author
David Stubbs
Editor
Rob Young
January 2008
Paperback
192 pages
220 b/w and colour ills
27.0 x 22.0 cm
10.5 x 8.5 in
ISBN13: 978 1 906155 03 2
More Praise for Ace Records
David Stubbs' Ace Records has been reviewed on the Leonardo website. Here is a quote from the review:
"Ace Records is a fun book... What shines through is a story of the Ace project's faith in local bands and love of old and new music, of finding a niche and distribution region for licensing deals, and honorably paying royalties to artists even when no longer legally obligated to do so. It is an instructive tale for anyone considering a boutique label; an ambition this reviewer has nursed, before seeing his own cassette archive age and decay beyond listenability."
Leonardo
Read the full review here.
More Praise for Ace Records
Ace Records has been reviewed in American music magazine Under the Radar. Here is a quote from the review:
"Ace Records is and was a labor of love, one for which the most fervent music fans are eternally grateful."
Under the Radar
The Anchorage Press has also called the book 'a breathtaking visual rush', see here.
See More News for this book
Ace Records Labels Unlimited
To read Ace Records is to explore the history of modern music and to discover the stories of the people that made it. Visually stunning and hugely entertaining, the book chronicles this fascinating label and profiles a diverse range of artists including BB King, John Fahey, Lee Hazlewood and Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers.
From humble beginnings at a London market stall, Ace Records has gone on to change the face of popular music. Now the world’s foremost blues, rockabilly, soul and rock 'n' roll reissue label, Ace Records has been responsible for unearthing lost classics and neglected pioneers for over three decades, and provided some of the finest and most influential records of the post-war era. The first comprehensive history of this fascinating label, Ace Records takes in some of the finest and most enduring modern music, rock 'n' roll, soul, funk, blues, jazz, R&B, garage rock and punk.
Based on the core values of reclamation, restoration and research, Ace Records has travelled far and wide—resurrecting the forgotten giants of the American music scene. From the earliest pre-war blues and Cajun recordings made in the Deep South, to the explosion of rock 'n' roll, to the soaring soul sounds of the 1960s and 70s, the label has rescued a rich cultural legacy and preserved this music for generations to come. Signing some of the most exciting young rock 'n' roll bands to come out of the UK, Ace Records christened the burgeoning psychobilly genre as it championed bands like The Meteors and The Cramps.
Illustrated with many unseen archive photographs dating back to the 1920s, rare artwork and newspaper clippings, and written by established music journalist and author David Stubbs, Ace Records is a highly entertaining and visually stunning guide to a pioneering alternative to the mainstream UK music scene.
Some advance praise-
'A shop ran by fanatics for fanatics. Ace Records carries on the tradition. Long Live Rock & Roll.'
Bobby Gillespie
'Ace Records pioneered the meticulously curated, elegantly packaged reissue decades in advance of today’s boom for “salvage” labels like Soul Jazz. Digging deep in the crates to unearth lost gems of soul, rockabilly, rhythm-and-blues, and much more besides, the label delivered these treasures to the world with style and integrity. In the process, Ace has walked the line between art and business as deftly as non-retro labels like Island, Mute and Warp each did in their prime. With this vivid and insightful chronicle, veteran music writer David Stubbs pays glowing tribute to a record company that was ahead of its time in being behind of its time.
Simon Reynolds, author of Rip It Up and Start Again
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