B.J's Country And Rock'n'Roll 45 rpm Record Collectors Guide, was little more than an idea just four years ago. Around that time there were a number of Price Guides devoted to Rockabilly and Rock'n'Roll recordings as well as those that dealt with 45s in general. But none covered the field of early Country, Hillbilly or Bluegrass music in any depth, and it was obvious that many collectible recordings that would be interpreted as Hillbilly Boppers or even Rockabilly, had been omitted from existing guides.

Of the guides that specifically looked at Rockabilly and Rock'n'Roll, there seemed to be little agreement between writers as to what a great number of key records were worth. For example, Guide A would tell you that an item was worth $75-100, Guide B would show it at $500. Such a disparity leads the reader to wonder if either valuation can be relied upon. Of course, Price Guides are only guides, they are not written in stone. But the price given on any listing should reflect the current market value with reasonable accuracy, naturally this does require a great deal of research on a vast number of collectible recordings. And equally as important, the writer must not be biased by his own opinion, collection or desire to own specific items.

The aim of B.J's guide, is to give the collector a better view of what was released in those halcyon days of the '50s to mid '60s. Not only looking at Rock'n'Roll and Rockabilly, but including all fields of Country music of that period. After all, Hillbilly and Bluegrass are both closely related to Rockabilly, and many of these records have become very collectible.

Most guides tend to give listings discographically by artist. Whilst such an approach is both interesting and serves as a good artist reference, there is always the likelyhood of this method resulting in some omissions, particularly where lesser known performers are concerned. Hence, this guide is orientated by label. There are over 30,000 recordings listed on more than 3,500 different labels, including all the known small regional labels of the period. Many of the minor label listings are complete or nearly so. Some collectors look for recordings from a specific area, so the state of origin is identified if it is known.

Many guides state erroneous release numbers, often giving a matrix number instead, to date a lot of these have been corrected, but unfortunately not all, this work goes on. The year of release of each recording is shown after the title, in many cases this has been hard to establish with accuracy, so some may be listed as (50s) or (60s), or simply unknown. A particularly interesting feature of this guide is the listing of several hundred Custom pressed recordings, such as the Starday and Four Star output. Many are not only highly desirable items, but hard to find due to minimal quantities pressed. As a result, the most sought after tend to command rather high prices.

Which leads to, arguably the most important factor in such a book - the price or market value of each listed record. Much time and effort has been devoted to this aspect, set sale prices are watched, information regarding auctions of scarce items is sought, and respected dealers get pestered with enquiries, my thanks to them for their tolerance and help. All prices quoted in this guide are based upon a record of Mint or M- condition, there is no magic formula for deducing values for items of lesser condition, the ratio is dependant on the desirability of the record, The fact is, in most cases a rarity will fetch a higher percentage of the mint price, than a common record. As the book is designed to be a helpful reference guide to both collectors and dealers, and may be subject to frequent use. Hence the paper quality has been upgraded to book standard.

This guide is by no means the work of one person, many well known collectors have made vital contributions, as well as a number of respected dealers. I am sincerely grateful to the following for their efforts :- Adam Komorowski, Dave Sax, John Dixon, Phil Tricker and 'Big Al' Turner (particularly for their tremendous work on custom pressings), Doug Hanners, Ned Walters, Dave Travis, Tom Sims, Ian Sadler, Terry Gordon, Brian Taylor, Jim Grant, Tom Lincoln, Dick Blackburn and Jeff Krieter, whose advice I sought during the project. And of course there are many others who helped with odd bits of information and some with encouragement. My thanks to all.