Vinyl Safari

April 21, 2012

2012-01-29T13:59:00.000-05:00

Show your support for your local independent record store during the 5th annual record store days!

http://www.recordstoreday.com

The Waiting Game

2011-12-28T13:49:00.001-05:00

Sometimes a little perseverance can pay big dividends. Case in point - back in September I read that Peter Gabriel's latest studio album, New Blood was due to be released and would also be available on vinyl. That same day I headed over to Amazon and pre-ordered my copy, since they indicated the vinyl version wasn't due out until early December.

The price I locked in was $15.

Fast forward to the week before Christmas. Still no album. An email from Amazon says they can't find a copy, they don't know when they can get it, if they can at all, and that need my permission to keep looking. I responded - yes, I'll wait. Keep looking.

A few days later and another email from Amazon saying they're still looking but that I can cancel my order at any time. How gracious of them!

Then, finally on Christmas Eve another note from Amazon. This time telling me that they now have a delivery date for my album. Early January. I remained pessimistic.

Yesterday morning found yet another another note, this time telling me that my copy of New Blood was... on it's way! I noted the charges to my card, $15.91 plus shipping and tax.

An online search of eBay netted several copies available, for $45 and up, all across the pond in the UK.

So, Yeah. I think I did OK by waiting, since I'm guessing Amazon lost a bit of money on this sale!

The album arrived today.

-=Dave

2011-12-26T23:37:00.004-05:00

Hi everybody. Hope everyone had a good Christmas. It's been a while since we put anything on, so we figured it was time to get caught up some. These are some of the better additions we've made over the past few months. First off, my daughter wanted to put on some of the stuff she got for Christmas.
Meet The Beatles!- Capitol, 1968 pressing
Hey Jude/The Beatles Again- Apple, 1970
Let It Be- Apple, 1970
The Beatles/1962-1966- Apple, 1973
The Beatles/1968-1970- Capitol, 1976

Led Zeppelin-In Through The Out Door, Swan Song 1979
Grand Funk Railroad-We're An American Band, Capitol 1973
Grand Funk Railroad- Shinin' On, Capitol 1974 (with 3-D glasses & poster)
Georgia Satellites, Electra 1986
We picked up these 5 commemorative Elvis 45's today at HPB.

This was my daughters last Chickenfoot album she picked up a couple of months ago.
Chickenfoot III, Entertainment One (with 3-D glasses and extras)

These are some of the other things we've come up with over the last few months:

The Gregg Allman Tour- Capricorn, 1974
The Beatles- Rock 'N' Roll Music, Capitol 1976
Brook Benton- It's Just A Matter Of Time, Mercury 1959
Brownsville Station- School Punks, Big Tree 1974
Johnny Cash- Man In Black, Columbia 1971
Cream- Wheels of Fire, Atco 1968
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young- 4 Way Street, Atlantic 1971
Joey Dee & The Starliters- Doin' The Twist at the Peppermint Lounge, Roulette 1961
The Kingsmen In Person- Wand 1964
Jerry Lee Lewis-The Session, Mercury 1973
The Ramsey Lewis Trio- The In Crowd, Cadet 1965
Ramsey Lewis- Hang On Ramsey!, Cadet 1966
Mountain-Flowers of Evil, Windfall 1971
Ricky Nelson- Ricky Sings Again, Imperial 1959
Laura Nyro- Eli and the Thirteenth Confession, New York Tendaberry, Christmas and the Beads of Sweat, Gonna Take a Miracle, The First Songs, Smile
Wilson Pickett- The Exciting Wilson Pickett, Atlantic 1966
Quicksilver Messenger Service, Capitol 1968
Lou Rawls Live!- Capitol, 196?
Ten Years After- Cricklewood Green, Deram 1970
Joe Tex- Live and Lively, Atlantic 1968
The Tubes- Love Bomb, Capitol 1985
UFO- Strangers in the Night, Chrysalis 1983
The Ventures Christmas Album- Dolton 1965
Live Johnny Winter And- Columbia 1971
Johnny Winter- Austin, Tex., United Artists 1974

We've picked up several more, but these were the most notable. Thats all for now.

Take Care,

Barry

Vinyl Fix

2011-10-25T23:30:00.000-04:00

Recent notable additions to the stacks...

Savoy Brown - Jack The Toad - Parrot 1973
Joe Walsh - You Can't Argue With A Sick Mind - ABC 1976
Joe Walsh - The Smoker You Drink... - ABC 1973
Blind Faith - Blind Faith - Atco 1969
Bloodrock - Bloodrock 2 - Capitol 1970
Country Joe & The Fish - Together - Vanguard 1968
Country Joe & The Fish - C.J. Fish - Vanguard 1970
Little Feat - Feats Don't Fail Me Now - Warner 1974
Babe Ruth - First Base - Harvest 1972
Poco - Cantamos - Epic 1974
Black Oak Arkansas - Black Oak Arkansas - Atco 1971
Bill Wilson - Ever Changing Minstrel - Columbia 1974
The J. Geils Band - Bloodshot - Atlantic 1973
Steely Dan - Countdown To Ecstasy - ABC 1973
Bad Company - Bad Company - SwanSong 1974
Sweet - Give Us A Wink - Capitol 1975 (die-cut cover)
Cat Stevens - Foreigner - A&M 1973 (w/watercolor insert)
Leon Russell - Best Of Leon - Shelter 1976
Jackson Browne - Saturate Before Using - Asylum 1972
Linda Ronstadt - Don't Cry Now - Asylum 1973
Linda Ronstadt - Different Drum - Capitol 1974
The James Gang - Yer' Album - ABC 1969 (gatefold)
The James Gang - Passing Thru - ABC 1972
Hot Tuna - America's Choice - Grunt 1975
Delaney & Bonnie & Friends w/ Clapton - On Tour - Atco 1970
The Beatles - Beatles '65 - Capitol 1965

-=Dave

Happy Birthday John

2011-10-09T16:08:00.001-04:00

Say What?

2011-09-18T12:17:00.001-04:00

So, it turns out that Tim Butler of The Psychedelic Furs has been living down in Liberty, Kentucky for the past four years, after marrying a local woman who had been a long time fan and "groupie".

Say what?!?

Link to story in local paper

Recent Finds

2011-08-30T18:02:00.008-04:00

Hi everybody, hope everyone is doing good. We've picked up a few things over the past couple of weeks. But let me start off with this...

I've mentioned before that my daughter is a big Sammy Hagar fan. She special ordered this and it came in the other day. Chickenfoot 2 record set on 180 gram vinyl.

Then at local GW's, we picked up the following...

Duke Ellington's Greatest, RCA Victor (Silver Label) LPT 1004, 1954

Iron Butterfly-Metamorphosis, Atco (Yellow Label) SD 33-339, 1970

The Moody Blues- Seventh Sojourn, Threshold THS 7, 197? (White Label)

We made a trip to Cincinnati, here's some of the things we found up there...

At a thrift store for a dollar, Yessongs by Yes, SD 3-100 Atlantic, 1973 (3 Record Set)

We stopped at a yard sale and asked her if she had any records...here's some of what we picked up for 1.00 each.

Johnny Cash-The Songs That Made Him Famous, Sun SLP-1235, 196?

Johnny Cash- Original Golden Hits Vol. 1, Sun LP-100, 1969

Nancy Sinatra-Nancy, Reprise RS-6333, 1969

Little Richard's Greatest Hits(Live), Okeh OKS 14121, 1967

The Beatles- The Early Beatles, Capitol ST 2309, 1968

At a Nicholasville GW on my way back from seeing the Doc, we picked these up for .50 each...

Percy Sledge-When A Man Loves A Woman, Atlantic SD 8125,1966

The Dave Brubeck Quartet- Dave Brubeck at Storyville:1954, Columbia CL 590, 1954

Saved the best for last... Jolly What! The Beatles and Frank Ifield On Stage, Vee Jay LP 1085, 1964. In very, very good shape.

Thats all for now. Have fun huntin'!

Vinyl Fix

2011-08-21T01:23:00.001-04:00

127 Yard Sale:

J. Geils Band - "Live" Full House - Atco 1972
Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow - RCA Victor 1967
King Crimson - Lizard - Atlantic 1970
Love - Da Capo - Electra 1967 (mono)
Cream - Heavy Cream - Polydor 1972
Little Feat - The Last Record Album - Warner 1975
The Band - Self Titled - Capitol 1969
Steely Dan - Can't Buy A Thrill - ABC 1972
Hell Comes To Your House (metal) - Music For Nations Compilation - 1984, French pressing, red vinyl
Van Halen - Van Halen - Warner 1978
Van Halen - Women And Children First - Warner 1980
Buck Owens - The Best Of - Capitol 1964
Buck Owens - Open Up Your Heart - Capitol 1966
Merle Haggard - Keep Movin On - Capitol 1975
Fonzie Favorites - Happy Days bootleg - Precision Records (Canada) 1976
Bill Cosby - The Best Of - Warner/Seven Arts 1969

Thrifted:

Wings - Wings - ABC 1968 (Folk Rock, predates McCartney's band by several years)
Booker T & The MGs - Greatest Hits - Stax 1970
Steppenwolf - Early Steppenwolf - ABC 1969
The Firm - Mean Business - Atlantic 1986
The Firm - The Firm - Atlantic 1985
Blackfoot - Strikes - Atlantic 1979
Scorpions - Love At First Sting - 1984 Polygram
Frank Sinatra - Strangers In The Night - Reprise 1966
Frank Sinatra - My Way - Warner/Reprise 1969
Sarah Vaughan - At Mr. Kelly's - Mercury 1957 (still in shrink)
Tony Bennett - I Wanna Be Around - Columbia 1963
Tony Bennett - Tony's Greatest Hits - Columbia 1962
The Animals - Animal Tracks - MGM 1965
The Lovin Spoonful - Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful - Kama Sutra 1966

I hereby declare my dry spell officially concluded!
-=Dave

A Few New Additions

2011-08-17T21:12:00.003-04:00

Hi Everybody,

Well, it seems like things might be looking up some. We've found a few more things lately. Some of the better ones were:

Johnny Cash-The World Of Johnny Cash, GP-29, 1970, Columbia (NM)
Laura Nyro-More Than A New Discovery, FTS-3020(S), 1967, Verve Folkways (NM)

Then, I stopped at a small second hand store in Lebanon today while I was heading back from where I was working. During the 127 yardsale, I met some of the people who ran this shop. They told me to stop by and they would have some LP's there for me to see. They did bring some in for me, but unfortunatly I wasn't interested in any of them. Untill I got to the second from the last in the box. That's when I found this:

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles, MAS 2653 (M) Capitol, 1967. It even had the cutout insert, and the special inner sleeve that was put in the 1st pressings. According to our Guide we use, this is the hardest version of this album to find. The cover and the record are both in good shape. I got it for 1.00!

That's all for now. We might get to check out a few more places Saturday. Take care and have fun hunting.

Barry

Not Much Until Now...

2011-08-09T20:48:00.011-04:00

We'd have to agree with Dave, this summer has been a dry one for record hunting... for the most part. Over the course of taking a few little short trips to different places checking out thrift stores we did manage to find a few things.

Edgar Winter's White Trash, Epic 1973
Dickey Betts & Great Southern, Arista 1977, 1st Pressing VG+
Mahalia Jackson-Newport 1958, Columbia 1959, 1st Pressing VG+
Grand Funk Hits (with booklet), Capitol 1976, 1st Pressing VG+
Melanie-Stoneground Words (with pictures still intact), Neighborhood 1972, 1st Pressing VG
Melanie-Candles In The Rain, Buddah 1970
Melanie-Garden In The City, Budduh 1971, 1st Pressing VG
Steppenwolf-At Your Birthday Party, Dunhill 1969
CCR-Bayou Country, Fantasy 1969

We found a few more things but that was pretty much about it, until yesterday. My daughter stopped in at a local GW just as they brought a stack of LP's out from the late 70's to early 80's. She got all these for .50 each. All of them range from VG to NM, many with the plastic still on them.

April Wine-Harder... Faster, Capitol 1979
Catholic Girls, MCA 1982
Ray Charles-Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music Vol. 2, ABC-Paramount 1962
Cheap Trick-Dream Police, Epic 1979
The Clash-Combat Rock, Epic 1982
Deep Purple-When We Rock, We Rock, and When We Roll, We Roll, Warner Bros. 1978
Foghat-Stone Blue, Bearsville 1978
The Gang of Four-Another Day, Another Dollar, Warner Bros. 1982
Sammy Hagar-Standing Hampton, Geffin 1983
Michael Jackson-Thriller, Epic 1982
The Kinks-One For The Road, Arista 1980
Led Zeppelin-Atlantic 1977
Led Zeppelin II-Atlantic 1977
Led Zeppelin-Zofo Album, Altantic 1977
Lynyrd Skynyrd's First and... Last- MCA 1978
Montrose-Warner Bros. 1978
Ted Nugent & The Amboy Dukes-Call of the Wild, Discreet 1974
Ted Nugent-Epic 1975
Ted Nugent-Double Live Gonzo!, Epic 1978
Jaco Pastorius-Epic 1976
The Power Station-33 1/3, Capitol 1985
Rockets-Turn Up The Radio, RSO 1979
Rush-Hemispheres, Mercury 1978
Santana-Inner Secrets, Columbia 1978
Santana's Greatest Hits- Columbia 1974
Bruce Springsteen-Darkness on the Edge of Town, Columbia 1978
The Talking Heads-Speaking In Tounges, Sire 1983
Thin Lizzy-Nightlife, Mercury 1976
Thin Lizzy-Bad Reputation, Mercury 1977
The Tubes-The Completion Backward Principle, Capitol 1981
Pete Townshend-Empty Glass, Acto 1980
Pat Travers-Makin' Magic, Polydor 1977
Trickster-Trickster, Jet 1977
Triumph-Rock & Roll Machine, RCA 1977
Robin Trower-Caravan To Midnight, Chrysalis 1978
The Waitresses-I Could Rule The World If I Could Only Get The Parts, Polydor 1982
The Who-Face Dances, Warner Bros. 1981 (with poster)
The Who-It's Hard, Warner Bros. 1982
The Who (and others)-Quadrophenia, Polydor
The Who-Who's Next, MCA 1977
Wing's Greatest Hits-Capitol 1978
Yes-Tormato, Atlantic 1978
Yes-Close To The Edge, Atlantic 1977
Yes-Drama, Atlantic 1980

I guess this kind of makes up for the dry spell. Some were first pressings, some weren't but for .50 each we weren't going to complain any! It's all in being at the right place at the right time! Take care everybody and have fun hunting.

We're Still Alive...

2011-07-07T07:08:00.001-04:00

honest, we are.

It's been slow. I know that I haven't found much to brag about yet this summer, at least not at the thrift stores. The last one I visited, near work had a man and women camped out in front of the store's vinyl shelf and he wasn't about to let anyone else near him. Needless to say I just turned around and left.

That about sums up the season for me so far. Yup.

-=Dave

New Stuff For Us

2011-05-31T21:38:00.007-04:00

Hi Everybody, Hope everybody had a great long weekend. We got to do a little bit of record hunting. Here's some of the stuff we found...

I know these aren't LP's, but they looked interesting to us. Message In A Bottle: The Complete Recordings Of the Police.

Basie Jam/Montreux '75 by Count Basie, Pablo 1976.

Wade In The Water by Ramsey Lewis, Cadet 1966.

Bill Black's Combo Plays The Blues, Hi 1964.

Songs For Beginners by Graham Nash, Atlantic 1971. (Near-Mint)

Still Stills: The Best of Stephen Stills, Atlantic 1976.

Waiting For The Sun by The Doors, Elektra 1968. (1st Pressing)

A couple of Pink Floyds, Dark Side and Wish You Were Here. (Korean Pressings)

Everybody Loves Somebody by Dean Martin, Reprise 1964

An old Jimmie Rodgers album from 1963 on Dot Records. (Very good condition)

I couldn't find any information on this one, but I bought it because of the label. It's on the old King record label of Cincinnati, Ohio. While King is known for some of the early recording of some of the biggest names in R&B music, they had their start as a hillbilly label.

See What Tomorrow Brings by Peter, Paul and Mary, Warner Bros. 1965. (1st Stereo Pressing)

Three by the Righteous Bros., Soul & Inspiration (1966), Go Ahead and Cry (1966), and Sayin' Somethin' (1967). All on Verve Records.

Long Distance Voyager by The Moody Blues. Threshold 1981, Near Mint.

Excitable Boy by Warren Zevon. Asylum 1978, Near Mint.

Damn The Torpedoes by Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers, a 1987 reissue on MCA. Near Mint

And, she was a personal favorite of mine, three from Charly McClain from the early 80's.

All these were found at thrift stores for .50 cents each. Have fun hunting.

More Sabbath On The Sabbath

2011-05-30T20:08:00.000-04:00

Man, I hope this isn't some kind of bad omen... this was the second consecutive Sunday that I scored some vintage Black Sabbath vinyl.

Sorry for the poor photo, I took it at the thrift store with my iPhone.

Thanks for the heads-up Barry. ;-)

-=Dave

Sabbath On The Sabbath!

2011-05-22T19:17:00.002-04:00

This is the first time I've scored vintage Black Sabbath at a thrift store, and quite frankly I was a little surprised to see it there. I think it's only fitting that I should score a copy their debut Lp (Warner 1970) on a Sunday. Early pressing too.

And you know... I think this is the first time I've listened to the whole record since '77!

Had a pretty bountiful weekend really; found some vintage rock and even a nice punk stash Friday at a couple GW stores. Found some more rock albums early Saturday at a local GW, including some German pressings followed up with a trip to Lexington to visit Pops for their 15th anniversary and a side trip to CD Central on UK's campus. Came home with a couple dozen all tolled.

-=Dave

New Additions

2011-05-15T15:43:00.010-04:00

Hi Everybody, Sorry we haven't been on for a while. We've only went record hunting a couple times since the last post and I've had some computer trouble. Hopefully it's all taken care of now. Here's some of our finds...

Eat A Peach by the Allman Brothers Band, Capricorn, 1972. Found at a Peddler's Mall for 2.99.

Greatest Hits, The Doors 1980 Elektra. HPB for 1.00

A classic. The second album from the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, East-West. 1967 Elektra. Cover's a little rough, but the record's not bad. .50 cents at a Cincinnati Thrift Store.

The Ventures, 1962 Dolton. Cincinnati TS for .50 cents.

Never A Dull Moment, Rod Stewart. 1972 Mercury (Very Good Shape) .50 cents HPB

A couple mint Prince recordings. .50 Cents each from the local SA.

The Pretenders, 1980 Sire (mint) .50cents from a local GW.

This is a Capitol Record Club edition on ABC/Dunhill from 1966. Found at a GW for .50 cents.

From a local GW for 50 cents. 1984 Sire (Mint)

My daughter's a big Sammy Hagar fan. She got this off E-bay. An import, there's only 311 in existence

A couple Chet Atkins .45s from the local SA.

Some classical ones they picked up for my birthday. And, we've saved the best for last. My daughter was at a flea market looking for records when she stumbled across this..

A three record Westwood One Superstar Concert Series recording of Robert Palmer Live. All three for 1.00!, and they play great! There's an great version of Doctor,Doctor on it. Well, that's all for now. Take care and have fun hunting.

Vinyl Fix

2011-05-08T13:07:00.004-04:00

Actually managed to score some decent second hand vinyl a few weekends ago... good enough to brag about. ;-) Nice and minty, clean covers, first pressings, etc...

local flea market @ $4 ea:

Montrose - self titled - Warner 1973
BB King - The Best of BB King - ABC 1973
Nazareth - expect No mercy - A&M 1977
The Eric Burdon Band - Sun Secrets - Capitol 1974 (radio programming copy w/timing chart)
Billy Thorpe - East Of Eden's Gate - Pasha 1982
Elvis Costello and the Attractions - Blood & Chocolate - Columbia 1986

local SA thrift @ 50¢ ea:

Steppenwolf - At Your Birthday Party - Dunhill 1969 (original gatefold w/cover punchout)
Paul McCartney & Wings - Red Rose Speedway - Apple 1973 (program insert w/nudes intact)
Steve Miller Band - Number 5 - Capitol (green label) 1970
Chicago - Chicago VI - Columbia 1973
Sly and the Family Stone - Stand - Epic 1969
Traffic - Last Exit - United Artists (orange and hot pink label) 1969
Bill Cosby - Why Is There Air? - Warner (gold label) 1965
The Ventures - Walk Don't Run - Dolton 1960 ( !!! )

(I've been waiting to score this Lp for years)

-=Dave

Go-Go Boots (Newest Vinyl)

2011-03-30T21:02:00.003-04:00

Picked up the newest from the Drive-By Truckers - Go-Go Boots. A 180 gram, double Lp set. The reviews gave it plenty of praise so I decided to give 'em a try. Actually, this is my first "Truckers" album but since my buddy John turned me onto them a couple years ago (thanks man) I'm no stranger to their music.

And dig that cover art. Wild! I love it.

-=Dave

March (music) Madness

2011-03-19T20:13:00.002-04:00

An Eighties flashback weekend at the local GW evidently and lord help me, I think I'm getting nostalgic. Found (and bought) the following near mint Lps...

Mr. Mister - Welcome To The Real World - 1985
Howard Jones - Human's Lib - 1984
Howard Jones - One To One - 1986
Duran Duran - Seven And The Ragged Tiger - 1983
Berlin - Pleasure Victim - 1982
'Til Tuesday - Voices Carry - 1985
ABBA - Super Trouper - 1980
ABBA - Greatest Hits 2 - 1980

Also scored a nice collection of CDs (Thomas Dolby, Roxy Music, Blues Traveler, 10,000 Maniacs, INXS, Grover Washington, Joe Jackson, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Natalie Merchant). Got 'em mainly to rip onto my iPod for road music during the week.

-=Dave

Vinyl Fix

2011-03-13T13:48:00.007-04:00

Wandered over to the local SA while I was out running errands Saturday morning, arriving just as they were putting out a fresh batch of records and tapes. Thus found and added to the ever growing music library....

Vanilla Fudge - The Beat Goes On - Atco (tri-color label) 1968
Vanilla Fudge - Self Titled - Atco (yellow label) 1967
Quincy Jones - You've Got It Bad Girl - 1973
Shadowfax - The Dreams Of Children - 1984
ABBA - ABBA The Album - 1977
ABBA - Voulez-Vous - 1979
Legend - Motion Picture Soundtrack - 1986
Werner Müller - Hawaiian Swing - 1963
Webley Edwards - Hawaii Calls-Fire Goddess - 1959

Grade wise, all are VeryGood+ to Excellent with the exception of the Vanilla Fudge Lps which are Fair (but listenable).

I also have to note that the Quincy Jones album was an especially welcome find, as it contains not only some great jazz but also the memorable Sanford And Son theme (the full version running over 3 minutes in length). I've been wanting to score this Lp for a long, long time.

While I was browsing the records I noticed one of the staff putting out some new cassettes. The first one said Led Zeppelin on the label. Then another, and another, and another...

All in all, another great day and another great haul.
-=Dave

Vinyl Fix

2011-03-07T22:41:00.004-05:00

Saturday's [Peddler's Mall] flea market finds, average $3 each, all in Good+ to Excellent condition...

Raven - Life's A Bitch - 1987
Tesla - Mechanical Resonance (debut Lp) - 1986
The Clash - Combat Rock - 1982
Johnny "Guitar" Watson - Funk Beyond the Call of Duty - 1977
Metallica - ...And Justice For All - 1988
Joe Walsh - There Goes The Neighborhood - 1981
The Cars - Shake It Up - 1981
Jethro Tull - Songs From The Wood - 1977
King Crimson - Starless And Bible Black - 1974
Bessie Smith - Any Women's Blues -1971
(compilation from her 1920s/30s era 78s)

A trip to the local Goodwill rewarded me with a dozen or so more; Canned Heat, Vanilla Fudge, The Ventures (Guitar Freakout), REO Speedwagon, Toto (IV), the Doobies, Jefferson Starship, BTO, etc. Even snagged some mint cassettes for the car.

The Gods Of Rock were smiling down on me that day to be sure.
-=Dave

A Few New Finds

2011-02-26T21:14:00.004-05:00

Hi everybody, we've been so busy we haven't had a chance to go record hunting lately. But today I had to run to Harrodsburg, so we managed to squeeze in a visit to the GW. Here's what we found...

"Brothers and Sisters" By The Allman Brothers Band from 1973, Capricorn. In very good shape.

"Wild Life" by Wings from 1971, Capitol.

And then, an oddball. A childrens album of fairy tales read by Boris Karloff from 1962.

Thats all for now. Have fun!

Dave's Pink Floyd Collection

2011-02-19T16:31:00.001-05:00

All vintage pressings.
-=Dave

Latest Additions

2011-02-06T21:26:00.005-05:00

Hi everybody, Over the weekend we made a quick trip to Lexington. We hit a couple Goodwills on the way up, but spent most of our time at Half Price Books. Overall we did pretty decent. We found a couple southern rock albums. Marshall Tucker Band's Searchin' for a Rainbow. Also, Wet Willie's Keep On Smilin'.

At the GW that was close by my daughter found "A Collection of Great Dance Songs" by Pink Floyd for .50. We found Jethro Tull's "Minstrel In The Gallery" at HP Books.

I've always liked Fleetwood Mac. At HP Books we found "Tusk" and "Fleetwood Mac Live". Both 2 record sets, and we got both for 1.00 each.

We also found this copy of Peter, Paul, and Mary "In Concert" for .50. It was in really good shape.

We found several Red Seals. The Pines and The Fountains of Rome, Arturo Toscanini conducting NBC Symphony Orchestra (1955) and Schonberg's Transfigured Night w/ Vaughan-Williams "Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis" by Leopold Stokowski and His Symphony Orchestra.

We don't find too many of the Red Seals with the Silver and Red labels. We found this one of Schubert's Unfinished Symphony performed by Wilhelm Furtwangler con. The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

Listening to...

2011-01-21T15:45:00.003-05:00

Sir Douglas Quintet + 2 = (Honkey Blues)

Listening to...

2011-01-20T20:28:00.001-05:00

Warhorse / Warhorse - Vertigo 1971, Mexican pressing.

-=Dave

A Couple New Finds

2011-01-18T20:42:00.008-05:00

Hi Everybody, After church was out Sunday, we headed to Nicholasville for lunch. Afterwards we stopped at the GW at Brannon's Crossing. We didn't find too much, but we did come across this 1970 edition of "It's A Beautiful Day". It was originally released in 1969.

At the same store we found this EP by Scandal from 1982 in mint condition.

As far as my stereo goes, just about everything I have is second hand. My receiver is a Soundesign TX 4372. I bought it off a girl I used to work with over 25 years ago. She was a single mom who was needing Christmas money to by presents for her kids. She asked me if I knew anyone who might want to buy a stereo. My little sister was going to college at the time and I first thought it would be good for her to take to school. I was expecting an all-in-one stereo. When she showed it to me I decided to buy it for myself. I've been using it ever since. It seems like it weighs a ton! A couple years ago one of the dial lamps burnt out. That's the only thing wrong with it. I think I paid 25.00 for it and two speakers (that btw I'm still using). The two tape decks (Realistic SCT-60, and Sanyo RDS 22) were both from GW's. The Realistic was 5.50 and the Sanyo was 2.50.

My turntable is a Sansui FR-D25 with an Audio-Technica AT81E Cartridge. In 1981 I traded a friend an old Hondo II Guitar for it, and I've been using it ever since. In addition I've got a Kenwood KX56W and an Ion Profile Pro turntable. I use them with my computer. My daughter picked up an interesting book in Lexington the other day. The Standard Catalog Of American Records by Goldmine, 7th edition. It's really interesting to see what some of these old albums are worth. It also helps in determining what issue your album is. Hopefully we'll get to make another trip soon. Take care everybody.

New Additions and other Items

2011-01-11T20:44:00.008-05:00

Hi Everybody, Hope everybody had a great Christmas and New Years. We haven't been able to do very much record hunting since the last post, but the few times we did get to go we didn't do too bad. We made a trip to Half Price Books in Lexington on New Years Day and found around 40 really nice classical recordings for .25 cents each! We also made a trip to several local Goodwills where we found several nice additions for .50 cents each. We found the Al Jolson and the Temptations in Lexington. Unfortunately the Temptations cover is damaged, but the album itself is in pretty good shape. One of my favorites was Sam and Daves Greatest Hits from 1969.

We found this nice RCA Red Seal set of Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra performing works of Wagner. Not too bad for a quarter!

We also found these nice RCA Red Seals from the early 50's for .25 cents each. They feature two of the greatest classical pianists of all time, Vladimir Horowitz and Artur Rubinstein.

A Columbia Masterworks from 1952.

This was a souvenir album from a tour that George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra did years ago. It's a gold label Epic. All the other classical Epic ones that I've come across have blue labels.

A classic hippie album! I've always been a big Carly Simon fan. I've got almost all of her albums, except the earliest ones that she did with her sister as the Simon Sisters. We found the third one that she did with her sister for .25 cents at HPB in Lexington.

One from the collection. In my opinion, a real classic! In The Court of the Crimson King by King Crimson. H-burg GW for .50 cents.

Another classic from the collection. My daughter found this at the Stanford GW for 1.50. Jefferson Airplane-Bless It's Pointed Little Head. Recorded live at the Filmore East and West. Includes an awesome version of B.B. King's "Rock Me, Baby". It also includes the original artwork.

This was two of my daughters Christmas presents. Emerson, Lake, and Palmer and Grand Funk Railroad. Both live album sets... I think she's got pretty decent taste in music for a 15 year old!

She's also a big fan of The Kinks... here's what she's got so far.

That's all we've got for now... have fun huntin'!

Vinyl Fix

2011-01-11T16:37:00.004-05:00

Saturday, January 8th - a trip to Lexington to check out some record stores with a friend wound up getting cancelled at the last minute. Decided to check out the thrifts in town instead, since I was already out running some errands. Pickings had been slim lately so I didn't hold out much hope in finding anything noteworthy. I was wrong. *heh*

First stop, the local SA -

Ink Spots - self titled - Crown CST175 (very cool translucent red and black vinyl)
Brenda Lee - self titled debut - Decca DL4039
Peggy Lee - Mink Jazz - Capitol T1850
Soundtrack from Goldfinger - United Artists - UAS5117
Tony Bennett - Tony's Greatest Hits - Columbia CL1229 (red and black 6 eye label)

Then over to the GW where I found more vinyl goodness waiting for me...

Average White Band - AWB - Atlantic QD7308 (4-channel Quadradisc)
Styx - Cornerstone - A&M SP3711 (rare silver cover)
The Rascals - See - Atlantic SD8246
Little River Band - Sleeper Catcher - Harvest SW11783
Little River Band - Greatest Hits - Capitol ST512247
Climax Blues Band - Gold Plated - Sire SASD7523
Christine McVie - self titled - Warner Records 925059-1 (German pressing)
The Alan Parsons Project - Best Of ... - Arista AL88193 (remaster)
Love - Forever Changes - Elektra EKS74013
The Super Groups (1969) - ATCO SD33-279 (Rascals, BeeGees, Cream, Buffalo Springfield, Vanilla Fudge, Iron Butterfly)

Could it get any better? Well, yes it did. I drove up to Harrodsburg to check out the GW there before heading home... and snagged a pile of vintage, mid 70s MAD magazines that were in primo condition (for their age). Too cool!

And to close things on a serious note, with an odd coincidence; Scottish singer Gerry Rafferty passed last week after a lengthy battle with failing health and alcoholism. I had followed his career in the late 70s and early 80s and have long been a fan of his work. After I read the news of his death I was planning on dragging out my tired and worn copy of City To City (Baker Street) and give it a spin. But before I could, I found this near-mint copy at the Danville GW. Weird.

Rest in peace man.

-=Dave

Listening to...

2011-01-02T16:47:00.002-05:00

Old rock and jazz mix tape.

My music library includes dozens of old mix tapes I've picked at sales and off eBay. One thing I've learned over the years... some of the best ones always seem to come out of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. They had plenty of good radio stations back in the day too; a recent acquisition included a couple of reels of blues recorded off air from (now defunct) Seattle station KXRX.

-=Dave

New Year, New Gear

2011-01-02T09:46:00.001-05:00

Got lucky last week and scored a super nice Pioneer RT-707; a low mileage unit that looks to have been well cared for. The heads are absolutely free of wear and shiny clean, as is the whole tape path. You know, it's refreshing to see a deck that doesn't look like it's been run through to hell and back. Heck, even the counter works (the belts are small, thin and notorious for breaking on these late 70s units). This one came with a Pioneer PR-85 light metal take up reel.

Pioneer RT-707: auto-reverse 7" open reel tape deck, three motor direct drive, 4-heads. Manufactured in Japan 1977.

$80 plus shipping.

-=Dave

Vinyl Fix

2010-12-24T14:44:00.005-05:00

Yesterday's thrift store finds (@ 75¢ each)... and some real oddities too, from rap to New Orleans jazz to Calypso to Gleason (still in shrinkwrap). The red and green translucent discs are a 1993 George Clinton promo set with a bunch of different cuts of Martial Law - released by Prince's now defunct private label "Paisley Park Records".

More to come ~~tomorrow~~.

-=Dave

Some of our newer finds!

2010-12-10T23:23:00.011-05:00

Hi Everybody, Here's some of the records we've found lately. I've got a 15 year old daughter and she started asking me about some of the records I used to listen to when I was younger. I told her about some of them, she listened to them and liked them better than the new music out there. She said she wanted to find as many of the old albums I had that she could. So, we've been hunting them for a year or so now. We've found quite a few of them. She wanted to show her Sammy Hagar collection. She's even got some of the concert sets that were released only to radio stations. Her copy of the first Montrose album is a British release. She also found the Janis Joplin ones for me. The Live one came from Half Price Books for .48, and the Greatest Hits was at the Danville Goodwill for .50. We found the first two Deep Purple ones, Blue Cheer, and Canned Heat Living The Blues came from the Lawrenceburg Goodwill. The covers had some wear, but the records were't bad. The Heart one came from Danville Goodwill. It's a 2 record set, the first album is a greatest hits collection but the second one is live. The last song is a cover of the old Led Zep classic "Rock and Roll". She also found The Doors for .50. I found the Julie London one at the SA in Danville. I almost passed it up untill I noticed who played guitar on it, Barney Kessel. He was one of the great jazz guitarist of the 50s and 60s. We're going to Midway tomorrow...maybe we'll get to check out some of the Lexington stores! Hope everybody has a great weekend!

Parting Shots

2010-11-24T15:00:00.002-05:00

Boston picture disc (self titled-1976) found at an area SA for 25¢ about twelve years ago.

-=Dave

Vinyl Fix

2010-11-23T15:01:00.004-05:00

Boston's second and third albums, found consecutively at two different stores, on two different days this past week. This is in addition to the debut album that I found up last week. My guardian angel must be a big Boston fan. I'd almost forgotten that I was too...

SA @ 25¢ ea. -

Boston - Don't Look Back - 1978 second album
The Isley Brothers - 3+3 - 1973
Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Want To Have Fun- 1983
(extended version remix - 12" single)

Peddler's Mall (Radcliff, Ky) @ $1 ea. -

Boston - Third Stage - 1986
Ramsey Lewis - Solar Wind - 1974

-=Dave

Vinyl Fix

2010-11-18T00:44:00.003-05:00

Decided to stop by the local GW thrift on the way out to dinner this evening, on a whim. Ended up scoring some nice vinyl, all early pressings - and another lot that looks as though they were only played once or twice. The jackets have normal shelf wear, a couple are near mint. Was especially pleased to find these two among the batch since I didn't have either in my library, with the Boston album being especially legendary:

Goodwill @ 50¢ ea. -

Boston - self titled - 1976 debut album
Toto - self titled - 1978 debut album
Atlanta Rhythm Section - A Rock And Roll Alternative - 1976
Chicago - Chicago X - 1976
Chicago - Hot Streets - 1978
Kenny Loggins - Alive - 1980 (x2)
Peter Pringle - self titled - 1976 debut album (Canadian singer/songwriter)
Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique - Charles Munch & Boston Symphony Orchestra (1962, RCA Red Seal)

SA @ 25¢ ea. (Saturday 11/13) -

Roberta Flack - self titled - 1969 debut album
Elton John - 21 at 33 - 1980 (promo)
Elton John - Breaking Hearts - 1984
Radio Days movie soundtrack - 1987
Stand By Me movie soundtrack - 1986

-=Dave

Pioneer's CS-99A

2010-11-06T13:21:00.004-04:00

I won't bore you with a lot of specs here, and I'm not going to write some long critique giving my opinion on how these babies perform and compare to other speakers. There are plenty of others who've already done that. What I will say is that I've lusted after these vintage monsters for a long time, and I've been trying to score a set of my own for many years. Unfortunately, most of them that I've seen have been way overpriced; nice sets on eBay will fetch upwards of $500. Way out of my league needless to say, but I always hoped that one day I could find a used pair that was battle scared but working, at a much more reasonably price.

Friday I finally got lucky.

Now, I'm not ashamed to admit that I've always thought that these speakers looked good just standing still, heck, that's what grabbed my attention all those years ago when I first saw them. And yes, they do perform... quite nicely. Throw on some Black Sabbath, turn up the volume a bit, crank the bass then put your face in front of the 15 inch woofer. You'll feel the air pressure change.

This set is complete, even the delicate latticework grilles are intact and in nice shape, surprising since the cabinets have seen better days (I plan on refinishing the walnut veneer to freshen them up a bit). In a way the battle scars are a testament to how well these speakers were built, that they could take a beating for 40 years and still sound so good. But they've got a good home now, where they'll be taken care of.

CS-99A - 5way 6 speakers. Rated at 100 watts. Weight 55lbs. Made by Pioneer in the early 70s.

-=Dave

Black Sabbath...

2010-11-02T19:40:00.002-04:00

My Black Sabbath Collection...

Listening to...

2010-10-31T17:51:00.003-04:00

Listening to Pantera/Vulgar Display of Power Side One Side Two...

Vinyl Fix

2010-10-30T17:00:00.009-04:00

Some of today's haul, rescued from an area Goodwill:

Sidney DeParis - DeParis Dixie - 1969 (Blue Note, stamped Audition Copy)
The Strawbs - Hero and Heroine - 1974
Kenny Loggins - Nightwatch - 1978
Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Self Titled - 1971 (Cotillion)
Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Trilogy - 1972 (Cotillion)
Allman Brothers Band - Eat A Peach - 1972, 2 discs (wild artwork, poster!)
Roy Orbison - More Of... Greatest Hits - 1964 (Monument MLP-8024, mono)
Soundtrack Hits From Hometown USA - 1979 (K-Tel)
Stan Kenton - Sophisticated Approach - 1961

Haydn - The Creation - 1978, 2 disc set (Angel SB-3859 QUAD)
Stanley Black - Russia - late 60s (London SP-44075 Phase 4 Stereo)
Shubert (Deutsche Grammophon SLPM 139103)
Tchaikovsky (Deutsche Grammophon 415 855-1)
Albinoni-Pachelbel-Boccherini-Respighi (Deutsche Grammophon 2530 247)

Most of these are nice and clean, covers included and look as though they've hardly ever been played.

-=Dave

Some Rare Vintage Vinyl

2010-10-24T01:45:00.000-04:00

Some of my stash of retro fifties and early sixties stuff that I've scored this summer. John Lee Hooker needs no introduction, nor does Satchmo, Louis Armstrong and Dakota Staton and Dinah Washington will just take your breath away.

So kick off those wingtips, grab a martini, spin up the Hi-Fi and relax.

-=Dave

Vinyl Fix

2010-10-24T01:24:00.002-04:00

From my favorite dealer of used books and records. Scratch free and shiny of course, and a buck each.

I scored some vintage, 60s era MAD magazines from him recently too.

-=Dave

Pre-recorded Reel to Reel Tapes

2010-10-24T01:03:00.004-04:00

It's almost impossible to find vintage albums on open reel tape at the thrifts any more, they all seem to get snagged by eBay dealers and sold online at asinine prices. So when I see one, I usually snatch it up - if it's good music. Here are three that I rescued this summer. The Vanilla Fudge / Rock & Roll tape (1969, Ampex) made me especially happy, that's some crazy old school stuff there. The Copland / Appalachian Spring is still new, never been played. $2 each. Ignore the funky water stained box, the tape (and label) inside is still clean:

-=Dave

Collecting 45s

2010-10-24T00:13:00.002-04:00

It started innocently enough a couple of years ago when I set out to find some original 45s of the old fifties tunes that were used in the movie Christine, which I did. Then earlier this past Spring I snagged a dozen or so rare 80s vintage 45s at a GW thrift store, they only got my attention because they were still in their original picture sleeves and in really nice condition. But it's gotten to the point now that I've got to dig through any stacks I may find when I'm out vinyl hunting. I try to be choosy and try to limit myself to the older stuff like retro fifties tunes from Sinatra and jazz and blues riffs on odd labels.

And of course I always make an exception for Weird Al. Finding his stuff on 45 is hard enough, they're rare. Snagging a copy in its original picture sleeve is a real score. This one was found at the local GW for fifty cents.

I picked this one up only because the bad-ass cover caught my eye. I couldn't even recall the tune (who the hell is Eddie Money) until I got home and played it, then it was... "Oh yeah. Now I remember!"

-=Dave

Some Vinyl...

2010-10-19T20:13:00.002-04:00

ELAC Miracord 40 from Dave...

2010-10-19T20:11:00.002-04:00

DUAL CS 5000

2010-10-19T20:06:00.001-04:00

McIntosh MR-65 Tuner

2010-10-19T20:05:00.002-04:00

Sansui SR-929

2010-10-19T20:02:00.002-04:00

Pics of my room...

2010-10-19T20:00:00.001-04:00

Pics of my room...

2010-10-19T19:57:00.001-04:00

Listening Areas - final

2010-10-14T03:12:00.000-04:00

Was up till 3am the other night watching some rock concerts on directv's 101 channel and although I'm not a big tv watcher I was reminded just how much I love me some good high definition. Our living room setup isn't anything special but it works. I like it best late at night, with the lights off and the sound turned up.

Steve Lukather of Toto

Simon Phillips of Toto

Vintage Electronics Find

2010-10-02T13:58:00.000-04:00

The TEAC A-20 was introduced in 1968 and is billed as being the world's first Stereo Compact Cassette Deck.

Found at a local GW for $2.50. Everything functions, even the counter. Pots are clean, meter light works. 110 to 240 voltage selector on bottom. RCA and DIN for in and outputs. Wood trim is in good condition. Heavy as a tank.

Listening Areas

2010-09-21T14:29:00.005-04:00

Over the past month I've reconfigured my gear in the listening area of my studio to include a new amp; a mid 70s Technics SU7600 (the Japanese National branded version), while at the same time collecting addition components to assemble a second vintage system in my record room. I'm really happy over how everything came together.

The heart of the second system is of course the Pioneer SX-950 that I scored last month for $15, now cleaned up and sporting new knobs to replace the missing ones. And yeah, that's an 8-track player below it, a vintage Pioneer H22. The turntable is a Sansui SR1050C, the open reel deck a Dokorder 1122. Speakers are Pioneer's CS-G303 series from around 1990. The nifty stand was a thrift store rescue as well that was obviously made for stereo gear and probably dates from the 70s too.

2010 redux

2010-08-26T11:24:00.000-04:00

Tore my studio down yesterday and re-arranged everything. Here's the audio wall now.

The Otari is off camera on the left and I've stored the Pioneer SX-727, otherwise everything else is present and accounted for. Sounds better too.

2010

2010-08-24T18:43:00.005-04:00

This is what my system looks like today...

Out of respect for my better half (and to keep the peace) I set up a small studio in a spare room off the living room to house my stuff. She likes to camp out on the sofa and watch HD tv in the evening after work and I'm not about to argue with her. And since our place is tiny the living room would look insane even if I could somehow jam it all in there. I do like the setup, even if it's not optimal for good audio reproduction.

What you see:

Otari MX-5050 BIII open reel
TEAC X-10R open reel
TEAC X-3 MKII open reel
TASCAM 112 cassette
Sharp MD-R3 cd/minidisc
Kenwood KR-A4040 receiver
Pioneer SX-727 receiver (functional, not hooked up)
Pioneer PL-530 turntable
Pioneer CT-F1000 cassette
Elac/Miracord model 10 turntable (for 78s)
TASCAM 106 mixer
KLH model 6 speakers
Infinity model RS1000 bookshelf speakers

All of it is vintage gear, except for the Kenwood and the cd player, and has held up extremely well over the years despite regular use. What you can't see off-camera are shelves of books, tapes and vinyl. And I've got more vinyl and my 78 collection in the room next door.

Other gear I've got includes a Pioneer RT-909 open reel deck, Pioneer CT-F950 cassette deck, Pioneer SX-950 receiver, a pair of Pioneer model CS-53 speakers (hooked up to the home theater system), several more turntables, vintage headphones and other miscellaneous goodies.

I'm happy. For now, though I still need a better receiver. I'm looking for something tube based...

1991

2010-08-24T00:11:00.001-04:00

A trip down memory lane...

I moved down here in 1988 having sold all my records, all my tapes and all my audio gear rather than go through the hassle of hauling it across the country, especially since I didn't know where I'd end up living or where I'd be working. Two years later I was back working as an electronics technician and doing commercial satellite down-links on the side. Here's a photo I took back in 1991 showing the rig I'd put together, all of it second hand.

The TV, stereo, turntable and speakers were all mid 80s vintage Fisher, purchased through a rental place I had done repair work for. The satellite receiver and positioner (above the tv) were by DX and drove an 8ft mesh dish I had out back. The VCRs were both broken when I got them but I had them back in service in a matter of hours, one being a standard VHS hi-fi while the other was a Sony Beta hi-fi.

The open reel deck was a Dokorder model 1120 that I picked up for $50, including the rare take-up reel and six 10.5" tapes, three of which I still have. I sold the deck a few years later for $75, minus the tapes.

And All That Jazz

2010-08-18T14:24:00.002-04:00

Yesterday must have been Jazz Day at the local Salvation Army because that's what I ended up carrying out of their thrift store. Some really hip classic stuff too:

(Capitol T-666, 1955, turquoise label)

(Capitol T-155, 1950, turquoise label)

(American Recording Society Giants Of Jazz series, 1956)

(Mercury/EmArcy, 10inch, MG-26017, 1954)

Some vintage Big Band dance music:

And who can't resist them some classic Deano:

Even snagged a cool vintage all metal thermos with a cork stopper:

All the vinyl is in fresh, minty, scratch free condition, another well cared for bunch. The jazz Lps sound especially smooth and I really dig that old sound.

The Big Score (127 Yard Sale)

2010-08-17T11:50:00.001-04:00

Shame on me. I've been neglecting my duties here and have gotten way behind in my postings. I have no excuse. Example: I found some really cool vinyl at the local Salvation Army a few months ago; mint, late fifties Japanese pressings including some Capitol red translucent stuff that I've not even gotten around to photographing yet. And for that I am sorry. I promise to get to it asap.

In the meantime I thought I'd make up a post on the one single thing that made my 127 Yard Sale trek last week worth all the effort (even though I did find lots of nifty stuff). I spent yesterday cleaning this beast, inside and out then refinishing the cabinet with a couple coats of fresh stain. She's got a couple of bugs that I'll have to live with; one of the speaker selector buttons is stuck in the ON position and her phono preamp is shot (noisy left channel) which means I'll have to use an external unit but she's got plenty of inputs so that's not a problem. At any rate, here she is, cleaned up and looking just a bit better than she did last Saturday when I found her:

The Beast is a late 70s vintage Pioneer Silver Face SX-950 receiver. Sold from 1977 through 1978, and weighing in at 85 watts per channel. Retail price at that time was $600... not exactly small change back then. I picked her up for $15. She's had a rough life, and judging from the condition of the cabinet probably fell (or was thrown) off the back of a truck at some point. Most surprising though was that despite her appearance none of the controls had been broken off (a common occurrence on abused units) and the tuner dial still moved freely. And then of course there's the obvious issue of the control knobs. Someone (not I) has replaced her BASS, TREBLE, BALANCE and VOLUME controls with dice. That were epoxied on. So that's where they'll stay since it will take a Dremel tool to get them cut off (and I don't have the right spare knobs to replace them with).

Everything else works though, including her dial and indicator lights and she's got a great sound with plenty of deep, rich, heart stopping bass. I ran my iPod through her AUX inputs and played some classic Def Leppard, listening though a pair of vintage KOSS Pro-4 headphones.

My ears are still ringing.

127 Yard Sale

2010-08-06T11:26:00.001-04:00

Talk about being in heaven. I've been stalking a 50 mile stretch of the 127 Yard Sale near our home here in central Kentucky every day since Wednesday (early bird deals abound). Scored some primo vintage vinyl, $1 to $2 a pop. Outta sight!

Look for a detailed post here ~~Sunday evening~~ next week.

Memories

2010-07-19T03:00:00.000-04:00

I find that old records often bring back memories... of a place, a time, a person - a lot of the records in my collection have memories attached to them, some more special than others. These take me back thirty years to Erie, Pennsylvania and the comic book artist who first introduced me to Sting and his solo work. I've been listening ever since. Thanks John.

Recent Additions

2010-06-29T20:33:00.001-04:00

Some of the oddities that I've picked up this Spring. The Warner Bros Bugs Bunny Lp was found at a thrift store (50cents) in near mint condition and is especially rare. The equally rare Edith Piaf box set was found at an antique mall for less than $10.

Rescued From The Trash

2010-06-15T16:26:00.005-04:00

Holy Mackerel!

Found: one Pioneer CT-F1000 cassette deck with Spec series rack mounting ears, their top of the line model when it was introduced in 1978 and in almost perfect working condition. I remember seeing these when they first launched, at our local high end audio store and drooling over the styling and brushed aluminum.

They were well built, full featured, big and heavy.

The story: our local dump has an area set aside for old electronics, usually junk computers and monitors - all stacked on pallets to be hauled away. I spied this deck on top of the pile this afternoon when I stopped there to drop off my own trash. The rack mount handles gave it away. Needless to say, the attendant gave me his blessing to haul it away and it now has a new home among my other vintage 70's era Pioneer gear.

A Craigslist Virgin No More

2010-06-14T13:53:00.003-04:00

I finally did it. Broke down and bought someone's collection through a Craigslist ad and came home with two old wooden crates full of Lps. I never did count them, though I'd say I've probably got less than fifty cents a piece tied up in them; most being in excellent condition and in poly sleeves. Included were some rare jazz labels that are worth more than what I paid for the whole lot. Then there are the late 50s and early 60s Disneyland records, nearly mint for their age... I don't know whether I'll keep those or not since they are highly prized to certain collectors.

Needless to say, I spent the weekend in the studio spinning records.

Extra bonus: the very cool, vintage 1954 color Coke and Pontiac advertisements stuck in an old album binder (this stuff must have been in the family for decades). We won't even talk about the stems and seeds found in the old Steve Miller record sleeve. *heh*

It Started Innocently Enough

2010-06-11T23:16:00.000-04:00

Found at a bookseller's booth in one of our area flea malls (unmanned booths in an old repurposed Wal-Mart building).

The vintage Mad (issue 117 / March 1968) was a buck, the equally mad Allan Sherman (1963) was fifty cents.

The Mad magazine was an especially memorable find since I had a copy of this exact issue when I was a kid. And it's in really nice condition too, so rare for any of these old Mad magazines from that era.

Of course, I couldn't stop there, and went back to look for more loot a few days later.

to be continued...

Cassettes

2010-05-31T10:33:00.005-04:00

I really shouldn't be buying old cassettes... most of the used stuff that's out there has been played to a point were the audio is trashed from wear and improper storage. And let's face it, from a fidelity standpoint cassettes have always been seriously lacking. But these collections were just too clean and well cared for to pass up. Both sets found in a local Salvation Army thrift store - the Dylan tapes are from the 70s and the Neil Young stash is 80s and early 90s era.

KPOI

2010-05-09T14:30:00.002-04:00

Here's a rare old lp that I found at the local Goodwill Saturday. Vintage 1950s released by K-POI 1380 radio in Honolulu, Hawaii, probably sometime in the early sixties or late fifties. Private pressing by Original Sound out of Hollywood. Clean vinyl, great sounding recording.

Part II

2010-05-07T15:16:00.000-04:00

More thrift store stash from earlier this Spring. The older ones (from the early 50s) are in typical condition, with some scratches and scuffs but still enjoyable nonetheless.

The Year -(so far)- In Pictures

2010-05-07T12:50:00.000-04:00

Some recent thrift store finds... the vinyl on these are exceptionally clean. Twenty-Five to Fifty cents each.

Once a Vinyl Junkie Always a Vinyl Junkie

2010-01-15T20:16:00.002-05:00

This is me 1978/1979...Holding Ted Nugent Weekend Warriors LP that I still Own...

DJ Johnny Randolph Give aways...

2009-12-06T17:38:00.002-05:00

DJ Johnny Randolph Came by today and Dropped my off some Cool promo Albums...Hot Tuna/Yellow FeverREO/This time we mean itMcCartney/McCartneyJohn Hiatt/Hangin around the observatoryLennon-Ono/Some Time in New York City/Still Sealed...John Lennon/Mind Games/Still Sealed...The Rolling Stones/Black and BlueThe Beatles/Magical Mystery Tour/On AppleNeil Young/Tonights the NightJohnny Cougar/Chestnut street IncidentGrateful Dead/Workingman's Dead...

Mission Accomplished

2009-10-14T02:38:00.003-04:00

Two dollars got me the last two albums I needed to complete my early Genesis collection.

* The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway - 1974
* Duke - 1980

I decided to include Duke in my collection only for its relevance in being Genesis' transition from 70s prog to 80s pop.

The collection:
Trespass * Released: 23 October 1970*
Nursery Cryme * Released: 12 November 1971*
Foxtrot * Released: 6 October 1972 *
Selling England by the Pound * Released: 12 October 1973 *
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway * Released: 29 November 1974 *
A Trick of the Tail * Released: 20 February 1976 *
Wind & Wuthering * Released: 27 December 1976 *
And Then There Were Three… * Released: 7 April 1978*
Duke * Released: 28 March 1980 *

A Few More

2009-10-07T23:05:00.002-04:00

* Genesis - Trespass - 1970
* Genesis - Foxtrot - 1972 (English pressing)
* Genesis - Selling England By The Pound - 1973

Snagged these off eBay to round out my collection of early (Peter Gabriel era) Genesis. This is the group at its best. Thanks Thorne.

and...

Soundtrack from "Some Like It Hot" with Marilyn Monroe. UA Stereo. Found this one at the local thrift store for ninety-nine cents.

I plan on taking a trip to Lexington next Monday for a full day of thrift shopping. Hope to fill up the boot of my car before I'm through. ;)

Summer Notables

2009-09-05T15:32:00.001-04:00

Great summer here in the Bluegrass, all things considered. I was given an unexpected, though appreciated extended vacation that I took full advantage of. My first in a decade. So damned refreshing. Whew.

Anyway...

I made regular pilgrimages to the area thrift stores in my never ending quest for the vintage and unique - all in all doing pretty good, and the gods of vinyl saw fit to smile upon me for a while.

Some of the more notable finds (at 50 cents a pop)...

* Romeo Void - Instincts - 1984
* The Clash - Cut The Crap - 1985 (notable as being their last, and worst Lp)
* David Bowie - ChangesOneBowie - 1976 (black Nipper RCA label - mint)
* Chicago - Chicago III - 1971
* Buddy Miles - A Message To The People - 1971
* Stax Records - Memphis Gold Vol.1 - 1966
* Miles Davis - Miles Ahead - 1957
* Peter Gabriel - Security - 1982
* Steely Dan - Greatest Hits - 1978

Also snagged some early 80s MTV pop stuff like Billy Idol, Billy Squire, Huey Lewis, Stevie Nicks, Supertramp, The Cars, etc, etc. - records I'd gotten rid of a few years ago then regretted. Yeah, it's pop. But it also reflects a unique period in American music history.

If you wanted to grade them, the jackets could be considered "good" and the vinyl "excellent". A well cared for batch.

Signing off...
-=Dave

40 Years

2009-08-15T12:46:00.002-04:00

I wish I could have been there (I was only nine). By this time I was already listening to groups like Velvet Underground and Zappa, thanks to that fine American institution, the flea market (and a really cool and understanding stepfather too).

Peace out!

OK - Now my head's gonna explode!

2009-07-16T16:22:00.006-04:00

Apparently Cheap Trick is offering their latest album in Lp format and...

(that's an 8-track tape for you kiddies out there)

No Joke!

Newest Vinyl

2009-07-09T14:36:00.006-04:00

Latest thrift store find (in really nice condition of course):

Nina Simone at Newport
Colpics Records 1960

Her third record for Colpics, and her first totally live album. Great artist, excellent sound!

Also snagged a couple of vintage Sinatra, one a near mint, Capitol rainbow label (SPC 3450 - 1967).

-=Dave

My band Jamming...

2009-06-18T19:35:00.003-04:00

My band Jamming Downtown Danville Last Friday...

Ouch!

2009-06-07T13:15:00.008-04:00

Come on, hurt me mamma!

edit 6/8 - although I'm not certain yet, I do think that a Paramount label bearing the Black Swan logo is a fairly rare beast. Paramount bought out Black Swan/Pace in 1924 and discontinued the label a short time later, assimilating the Black Swan catalog into their own and assigning new matrix numbers to the Black Swan masters. This particular pressing bears the original 14145 matrix number in the dead wax.

Mamie Smith - Okeh 4427 - August 1921
Ethel Waters - Black Swan 14145 - March 1923

-=Dave

Newest CD

2009-05-15T20:50:00.002-04:00

Making an exception to my unwritten "no cds" rule here on Vinyl Safari to give these guys some credit where credit is due. The Wiyos. Contemporary, all acoustic (and analog recorded) Vaudevillian, Ragtime, Jug Band Blues and Hillbilly Swing. I found them by accident after following a YouTube link to one of their videos (Let's Incorporate) and knew immediately I had to hear more. These two just arrived today, I've got one more on the way (Porcupine).

I highly recommend them!

-=Dave

Personal Experiences - Part III

2009-05-11T10:48:00.000-04:00

It was near the end of the decade, the late 1970s when I met Ron after transferring to a private school during my Junior year of High School. He was the first person I can recall who actually treated me like a human being and accepted me as I was. I have to say, it was a refreshing change to what I had been exposed to during my early teenage years and we soon became close friends. More than anything else, Ron was into music in a big way (and still is) and it was a big part of his life. Whenever we hung out together, you can rest assured a record or a tape would be playing in the background. Looking back I have to say that more than anyone else it was Ron who really rekindled my appreciation for music, helping me to expand my interests and exposing me to new and unique artists and genres.

I blame him for my addiction to the vinyl disc and analog tape. Thanks Ron. ;)

My next entry in this series will skip ahead twenty years and will pick up in the early part of the new millennium.

to be continued...

Newest Vinyl

2009-05-04T22:43:00.000-04:00

Mississippi Delta Blues Volume 2
R.L. Burnside & Joe Callicott
Arhoolie 1042
Recorded on location in Mississippi 1967, this was the first time either of these fine blues musicians had ever been recorded. And it is, believe me, some beautiful music to listen to.

It was still sealed when it arrived today. Virgin vinyl.

My Stereo...Part One...

2009-05-01T19:54:00.001-04:00

The Monster...

Top Left...The Sansui Sr 929

Top Right...Thorens TD 160

Shelf one...Marantz Model 1060 Amp

Shelf Two...The Fisher 220 Receiver

Shelf Three...Pioneer Model TX 900 Tuner

Shelf Four...Panasonic 8 track Player

Shelf Center Right...Teac A3340s Reel to Reel Deck...

Local Wax

2009-04-26T22:36:00.000-04:00

This is what going on a vinyl safari is all about. Found - one Columbia recording of Edith Wilson & The Original Jazz Hounds. Done relatively early in her career, these sides were her seventh and eighth released by Columbia. The sessions were recorded on Saturday January 21, 1922 in New York City.

80150-4 Wicked Blues
80151-1 Birmingham Blues

This particular disc was sold by the Tribble and Pickett Furniture Co. in Danville, KY. Probably sometime during 1922.

There is little luster left on the surface and the grooves have grayed. In other words, whoever bought it enjoyed it. But it is listenable.

This disc was found in the middle of a towering stack of unsleeved Lps at a local "antique" shop, I'm utterly amazed that it survived intact.

Price paid = $2

Newest Vinyl

2009-04-26T13:46:00.000-04:00

Dark Side Of The Moon 30th Anniversary remaster. I'd bought the CD version a couple years back and finally got a chance to snag a new vinyl copy, at a reasonable price (at CD Central last week). I've not broken the seal and played it yet. Of course I've got all of Floyd's originals on vinyl as well, up to Final Cut. Most are 1st pressings though far from mint.

Personal Experiences - Headshops and Halos

2009-04-21T19:14:00.000-04:00

"I don't collect records, I collect music" -me

Picking up where I left off in "Getting Started"... the remainder of the seventies was a bizzare, foggy period for me. I never bought much vinyl, we were usually too broke (and I was too sheltered) but I did have some favorite radio stations that kept me hooked up. WMMS out of Cleveland (on a good day) and WCCK out of Erie, PA. In fact, much of my popular music collection today reflects the music and artists I enjoyed listening to back then but whose records I couldn't afford at the time. The only record I do remember purchasing was Elton John's "Rock Of The Westies".

The title "Headshops and Halos" refers to the wide range of music I was exposed to. We (my mother and her new husband) had a head shop for a while (in rural northeastern Ohio no less) and through that medium was I exposed to everything from BTO to Deep Purple to Black Sabbath to the Moody Blues to the Dead. Whatever was good music to get high to, my folks were listening to it. Usually in the dark, with custom "color organ lights" dancing across the ceiling.

A few short years later, toward the end of the decade they'd "found Jesus" and with that they burned all their "devil music" and turned to x-tian radio for their fix.

All in all, I think was lucky to get out [of the seventies] alive.

Without getting too personal (OMGTMI) that's about the best way to wrap up this chapter.

to be continued...

First albums...

2009-04-21T11:15:00.000-04:00

From what I can remember I believe these were my first two vinyl albums...Seems like I got them for Christmas around 75-76...I believe they came from Woolco department store...I'm sure I am not the only person out there that got started with these albums...

More to come...

Newest Vinyl

2009-04-20T22:50:00.000-04:00

R.L. Burnside (from CD Central Saturday)

Mark Knopfler, arrived today (w/cd copy included free)

Personal Experiences - Getting Started

2009-04-20T12:46:00.000-04:00

If I remember correctly, I received my first record player, an orange and white GE model V211, for Christmas around 1970-71 and started buying my own records shortly thereafter. I was lucky I guess because my mom, being young herself at the time had some pretty cool friends, and a kid brother who were all into the really good music of the day. So it's no surprise that my first record turned out to be a copy of the Velvet Underground and Nico, with its banana sticker on the cover. That was followed by some Frank Zappa And The Mothers Of Invention (all were flea market finds). Pretty hip stuff for a 10 year old. I remember mom's brother, my Uncle Ed turning me on to Pink Floyd and The Moody Blues after he returned from 'Nam. He'd purchased an open reel deck while he was overseas, and I still recall the day when he slid a pair of headphones over my ears for the first time while a cut from Days Of Future Passed was playing. The sonic experience blew me away. I'll never forget it!

My first "brand new" store bought Lp was the Beetles Blue Album which I picked up at an area department store in April of '73. I think it took me a month to save up my allowance for that one!

That summer ('73) saw my mom divorce her [third] husband, moving my sister and I from the western suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio where we'd been born and raised and carting us off to Ashtabula in extreme northeastern Ohio. Rural. Ohio. Rednecks. That's the only way I can describe it. It was extreme culture shock. Putting it kindly. But hey, I was thirteen and angry. For being uprooted. For the loss of friends and comfort of familiar surroundings. For awhile I lost interest in records and began listening to the local radio stations, most often locked in my room alone at night. I can still recall the tune that seemed to play over and over on the Adult Contemporary stations that summer... the rather melancholy "Yesterday Once More" by Richard and Karen Carpenter. It was my favorite for quite a while.

Reflecting back, I think it served to become a rather a poignant message.

to be continued...

What does 250 look like?

2009-04-18T00:27:00.000-04:00

Actually, I stopped counting at 250 - with at least 100 to go that I've yet to sort through and listen to. But, those are them on the bottom of the photo. Each has been sleeved (original British stitched cardstock with store adverts embossed into it).

The two loose stacks on the top are the one's that remain.

RECORD STORE DAY

2009-04-17T20:09:00.000-04:00

I am looking forward this event...

I will post my Findings tomorrow afternoon...

http://www.recordstoreday.com/Home

Don't ask questions

2009-04-17T14:57:00.000-04:00

I open this blog with an observation: When someone shows up on your doorstep offering you 25o 78s that he'd just found at an estate sale, you don't ask questions, you don't think. You simply open the door and help him unload the stash.

And offer him a frosty beverage.