David Hall (recorded sound archivist)

David Hall (born December 16, 1916 in New Rochelle, New York; died April 10, 2012 in Castine, Maine) was a sound archivist and writer.

Hall's parents were Fairfax and Eleanor Raeburn (Remy) Hall. He married Bernice Dobkin on June 8, 1940. Their children are Marion Hall Hunt, Jonathan Hall, Peter Dobkin Hall, and Susannah Hall.

After graduating from Phillips Exeter Academy, Hall received a B.A. from Yale University in 1939. He was a postgraduate student at Columbia University from 1940-41.

At the urging of family friend, Saturday Review of Literature Editor Norman Cousins, Hall abandoned his graduate studies to write an annotated discography of recorded sound. The book instructed record collectors on "how to lay a solid foundation for a record library, what pitfalls to avoid in the buying of records, whether or not it is advisable to specialize, and how to distinguish between fair and excellent recordings of the same composition" (Hall 1940). The book also provided tips on playback equipment and offered detailed commentary on the whole range of recorded music, from classical through experimental music, jazz, folk, and spoken word. The Record Book appeared in 1940 and was followed by a series of supplements, and international edition (1948). The last supplement appeared in 1950. The series was an immediate hit, selling more than 100,000 copies.

In 1940, Hall began a lifelong involvement with the record business, taking a job as an advertising copywriter with Columbia Records, then located in Bridgeport, Connecticut. In 1942, he became music program annotator for the NBC Symphony Orchestra -- the all-star orchestra conducted by Arturo Toscanini. In 1948, Hall joined forces with fellow Yale graduate John Hammond on a quest to post-war Europe on behalf of Mercury Records, then a Chicago-based produced of "pop" material.

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