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