The list of country artists who’s masters were lost in a warehouse fire in Los Angeles over a decade ago seems to grow by the day. According to one report, Universal Label Group, to which the Los Angeles warehouse belongs, tried to minimize the damage, claiming it was “relatively minor”, but internal documents later released by The New York Times disputes this account. An updated report from the Times, released this Tuesday, reveals a more accurate extent of the devastation. A memo written in March 2009 states that a “huge musical heritage” was lost and the most recent Times report confirms it. Make no mistake; many artists have unmixed versions of their songs, so all hope is not lost. We probably aren’t going to miss “Fancy” or “I will Always Love you”.
In the case of unreleased songs, though? Who knows. Many of the artists whose work has been affected hadn’t been made aware of the fire or their lost tapes, and Universal itself may never be able to determine the full extent of damages, as the vault which burned held recordings from the 1940’s to the 2000’s. Overall, more than 100,000 masters and an estimated 500,00 song titles burned.
This is a developing story, and credit must be given to Jody Rosen at The New York Times for his impeccable research. For more information, please read his recent report, as well as The Day The Music Burned.
Country Artists Whose Masters Were Affected by the 2008 UMG Fire:
Red Foley
Glenn Frey
Lefty Frizzell
Hank Garland
Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers
Rhett Atkins
Gary Allan
Bill Anderson
John Anderson
Asleep at the Wheel
Hoyt Axton
Owen Bradley Quintet
Glen Campbell
The Carter Family
Mark Chesnutt
Roy Clark
Patsy Cline
Sheryl Crow
Rodney Crowell
Mac Davis
Roy Drusky
The Eagles
Steve Earle
Joe Ely
Don Everly
Donna Fargo
Tompall Glaser
Patty Griffin
Nanci Griffith
Merle Haggard
George Hamilton IV
Freddie Hart
Don Henley
John Hiatt
Jan Howard
Jason & the Scorchers
George Jones
The Jordanaires
Toby Keith
Brenda Lee
Jerry Lee Lewis
Lone Justice
The Louvin Brothers
Patty Loveless
Lyle Lovett
Loretta Lynn
Barbara Mandrell
The Mavericks
Delbert McClinton
Reba McEntire
Roger Miller
Bill Monroe
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
The Oak Ridge Boys
Dolly Parton
Webb Pierce
Marty Robbins
Jimmy Rodgers
Leon Russell
Dawn Sears
Jeannie Seely
Shel Silverstein
George Strait
Hank Thompson
Mel Tillis
Ernest Tubb
Tanya Tucker
Conway Twitty
Leroy Van Dyke
Lee Ann Womack
Faron Young
Amy Grant
Jack Greene
Lee Greenwood
Porter Wagoner
Jerry Jeff Walker
Kitty Wells
Don Williams
