Ring the Banjar: History of the Banjo, the Banjo in America from Folklore to Factory

Rating:
Summary: Excellent resource for vintage banjo lovers
Review: Among the very few available resources on early banjos I rank this book very highly.

Essentially the catalog of the 1984 banjo exhibition at the MIT Museum, it presents Webb's informative and highly readable brief history of the banjo, and more. I love looking at the excellent photographs of early players, ephemera and banjos from the exhibition, but my favorite part of the book by far is Jim Bollman's information packed section entitled "The Banjomakers of Boston".

This book has proven a reliable and surprisingly complete compilation of hard to find information. I highly recommend it to banjo collectors, historians, players of vintage banjos and anybody interested in the story of "America's instrument" and how it came to be.

Rating:
Summary: History? Well, not quite...
Review: I bought this book hoping it would be more of a textual history of the banjo in America -- its development, construction, artistry, and unique place in American history. This book is NOT a history of the banjo per se; it's the companion book to a museum exhibit that ran at MIT a number of years ago. As such, it does a competent job giving a very general overview of the history of the banjo -- without much detail -- with numbing descriptions of the banjo manufacturers featured in the exhibit. I'm sure it would've done the trick nicely for the exhibit, but there's not much meat for the bone if you're looking for a more comprehensive book. Nice pictures, though.