used vinyl. the search for 'LP's

Cody Campbell · Post by **Cody Campbell** » 8 Sep 2005 10:00 am

Just sittin' inside today, with a head-cold. (avoiding human contact). I'd practice, but others are napping. (may as well start another forum topic).

Now, then...

I don't know if this topic is likely to start much discussion.... But playing records (and finding new and unfamiliar ones, especially) is an activity in which I find interest, and often excitement. I have a couple friends who share the hobby, and the ongoing hunt is often amost like a game or competition.

Anyway, I went to a crummy little old flea market yesterday with my grandpa, who was looking for a power cord to fit an antique toaster. And this place was a cluttered mess. Just a little one-room building, with a garage next to it of similar size. I've never seen such a wealth of china sets. Plates and bowls every square foot, other than the small walkways. BUT...there were records in the back of the garage.

It was saddening. Albums were stacked on top each other and falling backward between the wall and the mountain of junk. Other stacks thrown in sideways, most unreachable without risking an avalanche. And the ones that were actually in boxes were in old crappy ones, causing the records to be bowed and bent.

A tragedy that this once-great collection (potentially worth hundreds) was so improperly-stored to leave them destroyed, for the most part.

BUT, I found a few. Very few. But I was also very lucky, (which I usually am when I LP-shop). I found a few in good condition, (the discs, at least). Costello, Sly Stone, Freddie Hubbard, etc.

But here's the main point. I found Dicky Betts' "HIGHWAY CALL"!!! (never heard of it 'til now, but I can't stop playing it!)

And, a week ago, a lady found out I collected and gave me some albums that belonged to her dad. In the mix of 8 or 10, was Roger Miller's "TRIP IN THE COUNTRY"!! (never heard of that one either). What a find! The jazzy solo from "that's the way I feel" cracks me up!

I'm always finding such amazing stuff, just by blind luck. Just think of what would be avaiable for young listeners like me to discover, if people only had spent the time to properly store and organize their collections.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 8 Sep 2005 10:52 am

Cody, if us "oldies" had the forsight to save a lot of the old stuff we had we would be rich. When you have the items, at the time, you don't think about what it will be worth in the future or if something is saved it's put in a bag or box and years later when it's found, it has deteriorated over time and is basically worthless. Or who would think that a toy you had as a kid would someday be a "colletor's item"...

Even Guitars. I had a 1961 PX6120 Chet Atkins Gretsch Guitar and the white case with the tooled leather binding. I bought it new in 61 and sold it in 85. Had I thought, first I never would have sold it, but at the time $2000 looked good to me. Today that guitar is worth many times the $2000!

When I retired and moved to Florida I had several garage sales to get rid of all the "good junk" I had accumulated living in the same house for 23 years.

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 8 Sep 2005 11:10 am

I have almost 5000 LPs. I am constantly listening to them on the turntable I have set up next to my work bench. I built a shelf the size of the TT that mounts to the wall so that if I am banging on something on my bench, the TT is not affected by the vibration.

I find records for 25 and 50 cents at yard sales, flea markets and such. Every so often some one will call me with a stack just to get rid of them. I did a recording session yesterday and the guy who owned the studio had a big pile of LPs that his inlaws were going to throw out. We went through them and he took what he wanted and gave me the rest. In the stack I got, I found a Johnny Smith recording on Royal Roost that is easily worth $35 if I wanted to sell it. Several times I have jammed on brakes driving down the road when I realized that someone had thrown out a box of records by the trash can on garbage pickup day. They are so cool and fun to spin and listen to. I have a nice vacumn style record cleaner that cleans an LP that you would never think would sound good anymore and makes it playable again.
the Goodwill store close to me used to be a great place to buy them, but they don't come in the quantities that they used to, plus there are about a dozen record collectors that come in just about every day to look over what they have. I know some guys with 10 to 20 thousand LPs.

It is sad to see a stack of neglected old records. Sometimes you can save the vinyl even though the cover might be water or mold damaged.

Jason Powers · Post by **Jason Powers** » 8 Sep 2005 12:26 pm

Great thread Cody, thanks for starting it. I have just started collecting records as what I would call serious hobby in the last 3-4 years or so. I started with a small pile of 25-30 LP's, and now I am the proud owner of somewhere in the ballpark of 1400-1500 (so far) and I'm constantly on the lookout for more. Being a traditional country music lover (which I am), you'd be amazed at what you can find, and the price that you can find them for. I have found like new Ray Price LPs that are 40+ years old for 2 or 3 bucks each, and whenever friends have records they would otherwise trash, I always end up with them!!! To me, a very addictive hobby, but also a very rewarding one, too.[This message was edited by Jason Powers on 08 September 2005 at 01:28 PM.]

Keith Cordell · Post by **Keith Cordell** » 8 Sep 2005 12:54 pm

I found a load of great vinyl when my parents downsized the house last year, lots of stuff in the "space aged bacelor pad" style like the 3 suns, Esquivel, etc., plus a lot of porter Wagoner and Early Dolly. Best of all? Ballad of the Green Beret!

Cody Campbell · Post by **Cody Campbell** » 8 Sep 2005 8:01 pm

I made a search for 'roger miller, trip in the country' to see if it had been discussed on the forum.

Indeed it had, as I would have assumed. Somebody asked what guitar was used. Buddy replied and gave an answer. He also told a hilarious story about his dog. (I couldn't completely understand it, but thought it seemed funny anyway).

He said it was a push/pull guitar with just a Fender amp. That was surprising to me. I don't know why, but it just sounded like a kinda funky tone. I heard E's playing on John Hartford's mid/late seventies records, back a little bit before I really got into instrumental steel stuff. When I heard the Roger Miller record, my brain just associated that sound with the those I was more familiar with. He HAD to have used some effects on the Hartford records. I haven't heard any in a while, but I could swear I've heard steel through a Wah Wah Pedal on one of those tunes.

There's certainly no Wah sound on 'trip in the country', but the tone is definitely cool. And different-sounding. Typical Emmons though, I guess.

Wayne Carver · Post by **Wayne Carver** » 9 Sep 2005 5:03 am

I use to look through a lot of lp's at flea markets. MY wife and kids would get so mad waiting on me. If you like "Highway Call" look for other rockers who did country or sorta country albums such as: John Fogerty-Blue Ridge Rangers, Leon Russell-Hank Wilson's Back, Bob Dylan-Nashville Skyline,
Van Morrison-Tupelo Honey, Neil Young-Harvest, Ringo Starr-Beaucoup of Blues, Allman Bros-Brothers and Sisters, The Grateful Dead-Working Man's Dead and American Beauty, and last but not least a good southern rock album by Alvin Lee(Ten Years After)&Mylon LeFevre-On the Road To Freedom. There are some more famous rockers on that one also. On the John Fogerty album he plays all the parts. It's really a solo album of just him. Happy Hunting!

Wayne Carver · Post by **Wayne Carver** » 9 Sep 2005 5:09 am

Cody, look for albums by "Goose Creek Symphony" They perform around Kentucky. http://www.goosecreeksymphony.com

Mark Herrick · Post by **Mark Herrick** » 9 Sep 2005 10:00 am

Holy Cow! Goose Creek Symphony! Haven't heard anyone mention them since the early '70's. Cool stuff. I saw them once in Austin at the old Castle Creek club.

Also look up Cat Mother and the All Night Newsboys - "Albion Doo-Wah", Polydor 24-4023, LP (1970)

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Craig A Davidson · Post by **Craig A Davidson** » 10 Sep 2005 3:55 am

Cody, I have the album and the ride on "Tall, Tall, Trees", is one of my faves. To me the album is a must have if you are a steel player.

Jason Odd · Post by **Jason Odd** » 10 Sep 2005 8:23 pm

After searching for 'lost gem' records for close to 15 years, one thing I've learned is that 99.9999% of second hand records are just crap.

Third rate gosepl albums, dodgy guitar knock-offs, poor rock comps, bad ballad singers, fourth rate country cover albums, and tons and tons of bad budget big band, strings, orchestra, easy listening schmaltz.

I'm aware of the decent artists in these styles, and I'm looking for rare rock, country, and even certain knock-off labels that I collect for who were on them, not for the actual music. (usually a generic knock-off the picker wouldn't normally touch)

Perhaps it's the fact that I live in Australia, but most of the vilyl I see is mostly good for being turned back into raw material.

Besides, stuff is only worth something if someone actually wants it.
For the most part, a record's life-span endfs with the generation that originally bought it.
I'm not saying that it's a good or bad thing, it's the natural order of things, otherwise we'd all have Al Johnson CDs.

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 10 Sep 2005 9:42 pm

I'm still "junkin'" for old LPs. I bought about 50 primo ones at a flea market last weekend - early Waylon, Buck, Merle, at least a dozen Charlie Pride (including the Panther Hall Live LP), Bobby Bare, Faron Young, Webb Pierce, Ray Price, Connie Smith, and so on. The guy wasn't giving them away, but he had lots of very cool records in nice shape, sorted into categories, and still very reasonable. To me, it's worth something extra to have hundreds of great records already sorted out, rather than have to wade through literally thousands of trashed LPs mixed in with the Mantovani, Welk, Air Supply, Barry Manilow, Streisland, and so on. Vintage record dealers work hard to scoop up the cool stuff and sell 'em for good $$$.

Quite honestly, if you like old-school country, old LPs are the way to go, IMO. You can still get new turntables at places like Circuit City. Any country artist who wants a significant chunk of my record dollars needs to make records like this (not that they seem to care). There are a few who do, like Dale Watson, but not many these days. But go into a vintage record store and you'll see that there's still a good market for older styles of music.

Earlier this year, the Penn State radio station sold off all their vinyl cheap. There were hundreds of people lined up at 8am on a rainy Saturday morning to pour through thousands and thousands of them. The local newspaper ran a feature on the sale, apparently stunned that anybody still cares about this 'obsolete recording form'. I was on my best behavior, and still walked out with two large crates of LPs. A record dealer friend walked out with dozens of crates full.

Dickey Betts - Highway Call - a great record with the great John Hughey on steel. I was pleasantly surprised when I first heard this 30 years ago. My band had the pleasure of opening up for Dickey and his band a few years ago. They were all cool, and totally into the steel guitar, even though they didn't have one in the band.

Tony Palmer · Post by **Tony Palmer** » 11 Sep 2005 4:28 am

So does anybody go through the trouble to make CD's of your favorite tracks?
Or is that defeating the purpose/attraction in the first place?
I've heard some say the sound of vinyl is warmer than newly mastered CD's.
(but is it better?)

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 11 Sep 2005 1:02 pm

I'm still buying vinyl! There's so much great stuff on vinyl that'll never be put on a CD or DVD. I'm not equipped to "burn" CD's, probably wouldn't take the time even if I could. The old stuff sounds so much better, not so much because it's analog, but because there's no compression on it. It sounds so airy, fresh, and "live" (for the lack of a better term) compared to the new stuff on CD. I was listening to the car radio yesterday (in between playing tapes), and Shania's "Still The One" was being played on some station, and that song was soooooo compressed, it sounded like a waterfall in a hurricane. They should stop calling them "CD's", and call them "Z/D's" (for "zero dynamics"). Most all of the radio schlock you hear today is so dense, processed, and compressed, you'd think it came out of a black-hole!

I honestly don't know what sounds more compressed nowadays, TV commercials, or the new CD's. No wonder all us "oldies" are all so sick of it...music just sounded better and was easier to listen to 40 years ago!

And...it still does.

Jason Odd · Post by **Jason Odd** » 11 Sep 2005 11:57 pm

I only buy a handful of big budget albums each year, the rest are indie label stuff (metal, country, bluegrass, indie-rock, rap, hip-hop, electronica, alt-country, etc) so I rarely get too much over produced stuff.

Obviously I'm in the wrong part of the world for Americana vinyl though.. "sigh"

Chris Brooks · Post by **Chris Brooks** » 12 Sep 2005 4:00 am

Bill Hatcher, what kind of turntable do you have?

I have kept my LPs and "inherited" others. I am reluctant to give them up and don't have the time to put each one on a CD . . . so I'll be shopping for a turntable soon.

Thanks, Bill.

Chris

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 12 Sep 2005 8:02 am

Chris. I have several AR tables. The simple one with no cue lever. They are wonderful tables.

I also have a Thorens 126 MKII with a Grace tone arm.

Next to the bench is a direct drive Technics. Nothing special on this one. I use it a lot and don't want to have to replace the belts.

I also have 3 or 4 more stored for use later on. If I am at a yard sale and see a decent table for cheap I will buy it, expecially if it has a nice cartridge on it. I bought a Dual table the other day for $10 and sold it on Ebay for $300. It was one of the last Duals made and had a nice Shure cartridge on it. Some tables like the Thorens bring a lot of money. The best yard sale/flea market stuff are the Japan made tables usually found for $1 up to $10. Belts are about $7-8 if they need replacing. Usually that is all they need. You can tell by the condition of the cover and such how much they have been ragged out.

Pete Ballard · Post by **Pete Ballard** » 12 Sep 2005 1:09 pm

Dude, that Dicky Betts album rules!

Chris Brooks · Post by **Chris Brooks** » 12 Sep 2005 2:50 pm

Thanks for the good info, Bill.

Chris

Gerald Menke · Post by **Gerald Menke** » 14 Sep 2005 11:43 am

Donny Hinson, you and I must share a brain, even if we haven't met!! I so agree with you I can't stress it enough. A neighbor of mine bought a house with a bunch of old vinyl in it, and allowed me to go through it. One of the weirdest collections I have EVER seen, but I did take a mint Buck Owens "People Like You", two pretty bad Juice Newton Albums (took them because Jay Dee and Rusty were on them), some odd Hank Williams hits, Fats Domino, Johnny Ace, and some others. There is this beautiful openness to the sound of a clean record, it just brings a grin to my face. Can you believe how sweet the steel sounds on vinyl? I am with you man.

Gary Spaeth · Post by **Gary Spaeth** » 23 Sep 2005 9:39 am

contact steve at
Willie's RV Center
8342 State Hwy 64
Bloomer, WI 54724
715-568-4947 Phone
715-568-4933 Fax. www.williesrv.com.
the dj from WAXX turned over thousands of perfect lps to him and he's liquidating them. i found a perfect copy of johnny paychecks little darlin gospel album with lloyd green. WOW!![This message was edited by Gary Spaeth on 23 September 2005 at 10:41 AM.]

Ray Minich · Post by **Ray Minich** » 23 Sep 2005 12:46 pm

Yup, I bought "Highway Call" when it was new. I think the Cars were playin' "My Best Friend's Girlfriend" at that same time in history.

There was an article in the Wall Street Journal a couple of years back that went on to say that true music afficianodos stick to vinyl. Of course the article also described a $350,000 stereo system but that's another story.[This message was edited by Ray Minich on 23 September 2005 at 01:48 PM.]

Dan Sawyer · Post by **Dan Sawyer** » 2 Oct 2005 6:11 pm

Speaking of records, which records by steel guitarists do you guys think are the rarest and most sought after?

I'm not talking about LPs by singers, but records featuring a steel guitarist. These would have to be ones that never came out on CD.

jlsmith48 · Post by **jlsmith48** » 3 Oct 2005 3:14 pm

I had about 1500 Lps that I am now having friend put on CD for me.They include 5 live Buck Owens Shows, 3 Trubadours albums, 3 Merle Haggard Live shows, several Buckaroo albums and Stranger albums. OH YEA, and Ronnie Misap live with Overby on steel.Now I can listen in my pickup.

Walter Stettner · Post by **Walter Stettner** » 4 Oct 2005 8:43 am

I am still collecting records - there is so much good music hidden in the past, most of it will probably never make it to a CD reissue. If you check the soundclips on the Lloyd Green Tribute site, probably 2/3 of the clips comes from vintage vinyl albums.

One more thing: Maybe I am the only one in the world, but I love the smell of these old record jackets, they smell like...old, ancient, vintage...hard to describe.

Don't think I am crazy, just siting at home, sniffing on record jackets, I also love the music!

Kind Regards, Walter

www.lloydgreentribute.com
www.austriansteelguitar.at.tf