The early history of film recordings of African-American vernacular music is a chequered one. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s no systematic attempt was made to film important artists; a reflection of the general lack of interest at that time in these forms of music.The late 1950s and early 1960s saw a huge upturn in the popularity of blues and rhythm & blues. Many new television programmes such as 'Ready, Steady, Go' in England, 'Die Blues' in Germany, and 'TV Gospel Time' in America, contributed to the growing body of film recordings that are catalogued in this book.African-American Blues, Rhythm and Blues, Gospel and Zydeco on Film and Video, 1926-1997 is the first reference work to provide details of film and video recordings by over 2000 artists working in these genres. Information on commercially available videotapes is also given for those wishing to obtain copies of recordings.