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The birth of a new thread dedicated to sharing our newly-acquired "old" LP's.

The Audiogon Forum thread of most interest and use to me is the one entitled "What’s on your turntable tonight?" It was started on 03-04-2004! Reading about the music the contributors to the thread are listening to is a real pleasure, and as I drove home from my visit today to a Vintage Collector’s "Mall" (just a storefront, but with individual spaces for independent sellers, some of whom in my past visits had a milk carton filled with mostly trash LP’s sitting next to a rack of old clothes), the idea to share today’s incredible haul with fellow Audiogon LP lovers came to me. And later in the evening, the idea that others might want to do the same seamed plausible. I don’t expect this thread to be as long-lived as the one referred to above, but that’s up to ya’ll.

I have been to this mall numerous times before, occasionally finding an LP of both interest and in as close to Mint condition as one could reasonably expect from such a source. But today---my first visit in over a year---was a very different story. There was a new vendor, one whose space was devoted 100% to items related to music: LP’s, 45’s, CD’s, magazines, posters, etc., etc. As I started flipping through the LP’s, I realized this was not just random records the vendor had acquired, but rather the collection of an owner with a particular taste in music. In addition to that, the number of promo copies and rare items suggested the owner may have been in the record business. The vendor’s inventory was better than most record collector stores I’ve ever been in! All the LP’s were in plastic outer sleeves, with a hand-written note describing the record: details about the band or artist, backing musicians, etc. The vendor is VERY knowledgeable about music and records.

But dig this: the LP’s were not only very desirable titles, but every single one was in Mint condition! And I mean New/Unplayed Mint, even the LP’s from the 50’s and 60’s! Some were still factory-sealed, others still in shrink wrap but slit open. And the prices! Most in the $5-$10 range, a few $12 or $14. So with that introduction complete, here’s what I brought home with me, in alpha order:

- The Alpha Band (T Bone Burnett, David Mansfield, Steven Soles): Spark In The Dark. $5

- Jim Capaldi (Traffic drummer/songwriter): Oh How We Danced, a title I have been looking for for quite some time. $10

- David Crosby: If I Could Only Remember My Name (original pressing), on Harry Pearson’s Super Disc list. $12

- Delaney & Bonnie: Home (Stax original). $12

- Delaney & Bonnie: Accept No Substitute (first Elektra album). $12

- The Dillards: Mountain Rock (incredible sounding Direct-To-Disc on Crystal Clear). $10

- Dion: Yo Frankie (produced by Dave Edmunds). $6

- Durocs (Ron Nagle and Scott Matthews): s/t. $5

- The Everly Brothers: A Date With (mono). $10

- Red Foley: Greatest Hits (Decca Records). $5

- Ellie Greenwich: Let It Be Written, Let It Be Sung...(legendary album by this incredible Brill Building songwriter). I have been looking for a clean copy for YEARS! $10

- Marti Jones: Used Guitars (guest artists Marshall Crenshaw and Janis Ian). If you don’t yet know about Marti and her husband/partner Don Dixon, get with it! $5 (sealed!)

- Marti Jones: Unsophisticated Time. As is the album above, produced by Don Dixon. $8

- Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind. $5. Background story: On my maiden visit to a newly-opened hi-fi store in Livermore, CA in 1972, the owner (Walter Davies, later of Last Record Preservative fame) was being visited by Bill Johnson of ARC. Bill was a pilot, and flew himself and a complete ARC/Magneplanar Tympani T-1 system to install in the fantastic listening room of his newest dealer. Keeping my mouth shut and my ears open, I got a real education that day (I had just discovered J. Gordon Holt/Stereophile, and the emerging high end scene). Walter used this LP as demo material, and upon hearing Gordon’s version of "Me And Bobby McGee" (bottleneck guitar by Ry Cooder) Bill said: "That IS a great sounding record." Walter gave it to him. I bought my first copy when I got back to San Jose, and still have it. This copy is just for back up ;-) .

- Gordon Lightfoot: Sundown. $5

- Gordon Lightfoot: Summer Side Of Life (German Reprise pressing). $5

- Lone Justice: Shelter (with singer Maria McKee---whose older brother was in the band Love. LJ’s original drummer was Don Heffington, heard on many Buddy and Julie Miller albums. Produced by Little Steven.) $6

- Manassas (Steven Stills, Chris Hillman, Al Perkins, Dallas Taylor, and Bobby Whitlock. Guest guitarist Joe Walsh.): Down The Road. $5

- Henry Mancini: Music From Mr. Lucky (RCA Living Stereo, black label). $6

- The Morells (legendary Springfield, Missouri band beloved by Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, and myself. I even saw them live ;-) : Shake And Push (backup copy): $8

- Buck Owens And His Buckaroos: Carnegie Hall Concert. $6

- Leslie Phillips: Beyond Saturday Night. You may know Leslie better as Sam Phillips, one-time wife and musical partner of T Bone Burnett. This album (on Myrrh Records) is from when she was a Contemporary Christian Artist. This is the only copy I’ve ever seen. $8

- Jimmie Rodgers: The Best Of The Legendary Jimmie Rodgers (RCA mono, black label with Promo stamp on cover). $8

- The Searchers: Meet The Searchers/Needles & Pins (stereo copy to join my mono on the shelf). $8

- Connie Smith (Marty Stuart’s wife): The Best Of Connie Smith (RCA stereo, black label). $5

- Bobby Whitlock (organist/harmony singer on Harrison’s All Things Must Pass, Clapton’s songwriting/singing/organist partner in Derek & The Dominos, an original member of Delaney & Bonnie And Friends): Rock Your Sox Off. $6

- V/A: White Mansions (A Tale From The American Civil War 1861-1865). With Waylon Jennings, Jessie Colter, Eric Clapton, Bernie Leadon. Produced and engineered by Glyn Johns. $12

- And finally, an LP I never expected to find, and I’ve been looking for about 45 years!: Dick Schory’s New Percussion Ensemble: Music For Bang, Baaroom, and Harp (RCA Living Stereo, black label). $5!


I left a few LP’s, needing to come home and see if my collection was missing them. I’m going back tomorrow to get the one I don’t have: The debut album by The Dave Clark Five in mono.
bdp24
bdp24's avatar
bdp24 OP
10,259 posts
 
Catch O’ The Day:

- Phil Everly: Phil’s Diner (Pye Records), $3.00.

- The Dave Clark Five: Glad All Over (Epic Records, mono), $5.00.
- The Dave Clark Five: Return! (Epic Records, mono), $5.00.
- The Dave Clark Five: American Tour (Epic Records, mono), $5.00.

- Ivan Neville: If My Ancestors Could See Me Now (Polydor Records), $5.00. Produced by Danny Kortchmar (Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Carole King).

- John Hartford: Aereo Plain (Warner Brothers Records), $5.00. Produced by David Bromberg. Accompanying musicians include Vassar Clements, Norman Blake, and Randy Scruggs, names very well known in Bluegrass, Country, and Folk circles.

To illustrate the role luck, timing, and perseverance play in finding out-of-print LP’s you are looking for: I was in Millennium Music the middle of last week, spending about two hours looking for the titles in my little black book (6 mini-ring, 6" x 3-1/2" lined filler paper). I was back at MM today---picking up some titles I had seen on that visit but had to check on, and again looked for some of the same titles as on my last visit. THIS time---only four or five days later---there was the John Hartford record! A very hard to find LP.

- Rodney Crowell: Ain’t Living Long Like This (Warner Brothers Records), $6.00. An album from very early in Rodney’s career, produced by Emmylou’s Brian Ahern (Rodney served as Emmylou’s bandleader/rhythm guitarist/harmony singer for a while, a role now played by the great Buddy Miller). And listen to the list of Rodney’s accompanying musicians: Albert Lee (The Everly Brothers’ long-time guitarist, a solo artist, and much-revered Telecaster master), James Burton (Elvis, Ricky Nelson), Amos Garrett (he played the great guitar solo on Maria Muldaur’s "Midnight At The Oasis"), Ry Cooder (my favorite living guitarist. Mazzy’s too.), Ricky Skaggs, Hal Blaine (The Wrecking Crew, of course), John Ware (excellent drummer), Emmylou Harris (acoustic guitar, harmony vocals), Glen D. Hardin (a pianist’s pianist), Mac Rebennack (Dr. John!), Hank DeVito (a steel guitar player’s steel guitarist), Byron Berline (1st-call fiddle player), Mickey Raphael (long-time harp player in Willie Nelson’s band), Richard Greene (Seatrain fiddle player), Nicolette Larsen (vocals), Willie Nelson (vocals), and Emory Gordy, Jr. (Dylan’s mid-period bassist). WOW!

And finally, an out-of-print but still-sealed LP from Light In The Attic Records: Pot Luck by Spooner Oldham, $21.99. Spooner is the legendary Muscle Shoals songwriter/pianist, and a member of The Swampers (Fame Studios house band). He was also on Neil Young’s Harvest album, Dylan albums, hell a lot of albums (Etta James, Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, Percy Sledge, hundreds of others) . A fantastic, fantastic musician.

Pot Luck---Spooner’s lone solo album---was originally released in 1972, and died a quick death. I don’t even remember hearing about it at that time. Finding an original copy is about as close to impossible as an LP can be, so Light In The Attic---a very hip Seattle, Washington record company---reissued it in 2015. LITA is currently semi-dormant, and in a phone call told me the LP is out-of-stock, and they have no plans to do another press. So when I found it today---hidden in Music Millennium’s "Soul" section, I couldn’t believe it. The shop’s price sticker was dated 9-06-17, so the LP had been sitting in the rack for 3-3/4 years, just waiting for me to find it. Yeah, baby!
bdp24's avatar
bdp24 OP
10,259 posts
 
New additions:

Robert Gordon: Are You Gonna Be The One (RCA Records). Though only a mediocre Rockabilly singer, Gordon always has great musicians on his albums---especially guitarists, this one being no exception. His band on this album is the incredible Danny Gatton on guitar, with Lance Quinn on 2nd guitar, Tony Garnier on bass, and Shannon Ford on drums.

Two by Mike Auldridge, both on Flying Fish Records: his s/t debut, and Old Dog. Primo Bluegrass.

And an original Capitol Records ("rainbow" label) pressing of on LP renown for it’s sonic and musical quality, so good Chad Kassem tracked down the original master tape and put it out on his Analogue Productions label: Country Hits...Feeling Blue by Tennessee Ernie Ford. Both cover and LP in Near Mint condition, priced at $2.99!
arcticdeth's avatar
arcticdeth
1,572 posts
 
Used to hit used record stores very frequently years ago.

 I stopped in one last week, for S&G’s. The same guy worked there from years ago, the skinny guy with a chip on his shoulder, an attitude that makes you dream about a front kick to the sternum, sending him back 15 feet on his head.
he still wears those finger cutoff gloves, mesh ones, which makes him a bad as, and his control over prices, and just talking with him last week, his same short answers, arrogant attitude, and he made me really want to roundkick his smug smirky smile. 
Anyway, back on track, there were many albums I probably would buy, the prices were 29.99, 20, 15$ etc, the only ones that were cheap was the Poland polka orchestra, the ones that have been there for 5 years. These were used records, his smug reply, “hey bub, they hold their value” I didn’t say another word, but imagined a 1,2,5 combination on his head. 
 Came home, immediately hit discogs, same records were 5, 8, 15 )sealed) prices. Bought them through discogs. Will not shop there again. 
 The new LP prices make me vomit in my mouth as well, 30, 40$ for one new record??? Granted, only a few vinyl cutters, left, the prices are stupid. I’ll buy the CD used at discogs or shamazon for a 5-ver. 
I feel netter, thanks for reading my rant. 
bdp24's avatar
bdp24 OP
10,259 posts
 
Yeah @articdeth, I've dealt with a few of your type clerks over the years; L.A. is full of them, especially in Tower Records. Wannabe Rock Stars, resentful that they haven't made it "yet". Some of them picked on Rivers Cuomo (Weezer) when he worked at the Hollywood store on Sunset Blvd. Across the street in the video store, Axel Rose was stocking the shelves. 

Fortunately the shops in my current locale are staffed with very cool people. One is a small shop whose female owner (Mickey) works the counter, and is always playing cool music when I enter. She sells only Near Mint and VG+ used LP's (along with a coupla racks of new releases), cleans them before putting them out for sale, and prices them fairly.

Also in town is one of the country's oldest indi record stores (Millennium Music), staffed for many years by a lot of guys like myself---old hippies ;-) . The place still reeks of patchouli oil, a virtual trip back to the late-60's. Michael Fremer was blown away when he visited the shop a few years back, impressed by the many thousands of new and used LP's in stock. I was buying LP's and import 45's at MM when I lived in Portland in '77-8, and it's still owned by the same guy. Everything is sold at list price, kind of a drag.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24 OP
10,259 posts
 
This afternoon I dropped off a few bag of clothes at my local Goodwill, and decided to see what was in the store's coupla record racks. I had looked a few times before, and saw only the usual Mantovani, Jerry Vale, Jim Nabors, and other assorted schlock you expect to find. This time I found the following, priced as were all the store's LP's at $2.99 each:

- Doug Kershaw: Alive & Pickin' (Warner Brothers Records). The Ragin' Cajun himself, live on stage in Atlanta Georgia in 1974 or 5 (the album was released in '75). The band member's names are listed, but none of them are familiar. I trust they aren't the guys I saw backing Doug when I saw him live in San Francisco earlier in the decade, a "Power Trio" Hard Rock band who were absolutely dreadful. I'm talking Blue Cheer or Big Brother And The Holding Company bad. He himself was great that night, of course. 

- Two albums by Delbert McClinton (The Jealous Kind and Plain' From The Heart) on Capitol Records, both produced by Barry Beckett and employing my favorite studio band of all time, The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, featuring the killer drums/bass duo of Roger Hawkins and David Hood. Lots of other great musicians and background singers, including Bonnie Bramlett on The Jealous Kind.

- Henry Mancini: The Best Of (RCA Victor black label, stereo). A great writer, arranger, and orchestrator. The titles include "Moon River" (what a song!), "Baby Elephant Walk", "Days Of Wine And Roses", "Peter Gunn", and "Mr. Lucky".

- Wanda Landowska: Treasury Of Harpsichord Music (RCA Victor Red Label, mono. Still in it's factory shrink wrap!). I love harpsichord, and Landowska is one of the greats at playing it. Compositions played include those written by J.S. Bach, Scarlatti, Rameau, Couperin, Purcell, Handel, and Mozart. Wow.

Though the albums are all to varying degrees somewhat dirty, they don't appear to be scratched or scuffed at all. There were a few other LP's I left in the racks, as they WERE scratched, to an unacceptable level. 
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