Basic Brass Band History Books


Hundreds of books and thousands of articles have been written about the brass band movement, and it can be a daunting task for those wanting to find out more about the history of brass bands.

The list, below, consists of a selection of some of the major general books written in the last 100 years or so. Many of these are available in public libraries, and selecting a few at random would give anyone a reasonable start to the subject.

A comprehensive Brass Band Bibliography (v.16 - 11, 900 entries) is also available as a PDF download here.
A number of my PDF articles and books are available for download on the Historical Research page.

 
    General history of brass bands - mainly UK focus

  • Bainbridge, Cyril - Brass Triumphant - Frederick Muller, 1980 - ISBN: 0584103727
  • Boon, Brindley - Play the Music, Play! The Story of Salvation Army Bands - SP&S Publications - 1978
  • Brand, Violet - Brass Bands In The Twentieth Century - Egon, 1979 - ISBN: 0905858123
  • Brand, Violet & Brand, Geoffrey - The World of Brass Bands - Egon, 1986 - ISBN: 0905858360
  • Cook, Kenneth - Oh Listen To The Band - Hinrichsen - 1950
  • Cook, Kenneth - The Bandsman's Everything Within - Hinrichsen - 1950
  • Cooper, T.L. - Brass Bands of Yorkshire - Dalesman Books, 1974 - ISBN: 0852061951
  • Hailstone, Alf - The British Bandsman Centenary Book: A Social History of Brass Bands - Egon, 1987 - ISBN: 0905858395
  • Herbert, Trevor - Bands: The Brass Band Movement in the 19th and 20th Centuries - Open University Press, 1991 - ISBN: 0335097030
  • Herbert, Trevor - The British brass band a musical and social history - Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN: 0198166982
  • Hind, Harold Charles - The Brass Band - Hawkes & Son, London, 1934
  • Holz, Ronald Walter and Steadman-Allen, Ray - Brass Bands of the Salvation Army - Their Mission and Music - Vol. 1 - Streets Publishers, Stotfold, 2006 - ISBN: 0955198847
  • Howarth, Elgar - What a Performance! - Robson Books - 1988
  • McLaren, Alan - The History of Midlothian's Brass Bands - The Author, Loanhead, 2016
  • Newsome, Roy - Brass Roots: A Hundred Years of Brass Bands and Their Music, 1836-1936 - Ashgate, Aldershot, 1998 - ISBN: 1859281680
  • Newsome, Roy - The Modern Brass Band: From the 1930s to the New Millennium - Ashgate, Aldershot, 2006 - ISBN: 0754607178
  • Rose, Algernon S. - Talks With Bandsmen: A Popular Handbook for Brass Instrumentalists - Wm. Rider & Son - 1895
  • Russell, J.F. & Elliot, J.H. - The Brass Band Movement - Dent - 1936
  • Taylor, A.R. - Brass Bands - Granada Publishing, 1979 - ISBN: 0246110821
  • Taylor, A.R. - Labour And Love: An Oral History of the Brass Band Movement - Elm Tree Books, 1983 - ISBN: 0241111323
  • Taylor, Dennis - The Heritage of the North East Brass Band Movement - The Author, 2008

    Bands in the U.S.A.

  • Hazen, Margaret Hindle & Hazen, Robert M. - Music Men: Illustrated History of Brass Bands in America - Smithsonian Institute - 1987
  • Smith, Brian F. - Bandstands To Battlefields: Brass Bands in 19th Century America - Corner House Historical Publications, Gansevoort, New York, 2004. ISBN:0879281383
  • Smith, Brian F. - The Town Brass Band - A Popular Movement of Mid-19th Century American Society - Rhode Island Committee for the Humanities, Providence, Rhode Island, 2001

    Recordings

  • Andrews, Frank - Brass Band Cylinder and Non-microgroove Disc Recordings 1903-1960 - Piccolo Press, 1997 - ISBN: 1872203256
  • Gammond, Peter & Horricks, Raymond - Music on Record: Brass Bands - Patrick Stephens, 1980 - ISBN: 0850593662
  • Mutum, Tim - Brass Band Recordings - Egon - 1991