for those who never gave up their turntables
THIS IS A LABELOGRAPHY and price guide for the initial pressings of the Mothers of Invention’s 1966 two-record album FREAK OUT! It is intended as a complementary piece to the article “What Was the First Rock Double-Album of the ’60s?” Whereas that piece was for a general readership, this article is intended for collectors (although many of those general readers can enjoy the photos and some of the history). [Continue reading]
THIS IS A LABELOGRAPHY and price guide for the ’60s pressings of Bob Dylan’s album BLONDE ON BLONDE. It is intended as a complementary piece to my article “What Was the First Rock Double-Album of the ’60s?” Whereas that piece was for a general readership, this article is intended for Dylan aficionados and record collectors. [Continue reading]
BUYERS AND SELLERS of collectables—whether records or memorabilia or Beanie Babies—often fail to achieve their goals of financial success because they do not understand a few basic concepts on determining collectability and value of the “seldom found.” Because this a record collectors website, I will generally refer to records below, but you can substitute almost any other collectable and the comments remain virtually unchanged. [Continue reading]
WE HAD BEEN TOGETHER for a year when we finally decided to make the move from the sultry summers of the East Coast to the more moderate West Coast. It was 1978 and the dreams of ‘the sixties’ didn’t seem so far off. Working two jobs each, we had saved the equivalent of $10,000 in today’s dollars. [Continue reading]
THELONIOUS MONK was perhaps the most stylistically and artistically idiosyncratic (and visionary?) pianist and composer of his era. By the end of the ’50s, Monk was already a legend among jazz musicians and aficionados. He had also had it with dealing with tiny Riverside Records. As was and is common with musicians and their record companies, there were disagreements over money. [Continue reading]
I NEVER THOUGHT of Antoine “Fats” Domino as a rock & roll artist. I thought he was a rhythm & blues-based artist, maybe a boogie-woogie artist, definitely a New Orleans artist. For some reason, white teenagers in the ’50s glommed onto him and the rest is rock & roll history.
I mean, yeah, when I was a kid inheriting my Aunt Judy’s 45 collection, I thought everything in it was rock & roll, from great stuff like Fats and the Platters to Fabian and silly jive like Who put the bomp in the bomp-bah-bomp-bah-bomp, who put the ram in the rama-lama-ding-dong? [Continue reading]
THIS IS PART 4 of the Avid Record Collector’s Price Guide to Wild In The Streets. It addresses in detail the four albums associated with that movie and its music. The first three parts have been published, and with this part I finally get around the a labelography and price guide for the records. [Continue reading]
IN 1968, AIP’S NEW MOVIE was not about bikers, babes, and devils. While “Wild In The Streets” was another American International Pictures exploitation B-movie, it was also a clever combination of black humor, sociopolitical satire, and some genuinely good rock & roll. The Avid Collector’s Guide to Wild In The Streets Part 1 addresses the records associated with that movie and its music. [Continue reading]
AS WE BEGIN OUR STORY sometime in late 1970, the Kinks were in a bit of a bad way. Despite being one of the premier groups of the British Invasion of 1964, they had not reached the Top 40 in the US since mid-1966. Even in their homeland—their own Village Green, filled with Arthur and millions like him—it had been more than a year since they’d had a hit! [Continue reading]