I found a signed Leontyne Pryce album for .99 at half-price books......sounds a bit scratchy, but how many signed legendary ablbums do I have? |
well, guess what (regarding the d.brubeck alblum "My Favorite Things") that i thought was unavailable? it has been re-issued as a japanese import- 20 bit remastered- in 2006. Amazon wants $35 for it but then there's other sources. if you like paul desmond's playing this is a terrific alblum. only drawback is that it's too short. the recording is very good btw, especially on vinyl... |
my dad finally bought a stereo system for the family many years ago, and started bringing home alblums, such as montovani, sara vaughn, streisand, and a brubeck alblum on columbia called "My Favorite
Things" played by his classic group (p.desmond on sax of course). i played it a couple of thousand times, but i was careful with it, so it's still listenable. and also, very OUT OF PRINT. i haven't a clue why a major alblum of brubeck playing super interpretations of r.rogers has not appeared on cd, SACD, MFSL, the works. but then, how many other thousands of GREAT records have become distant memories, never to be seen or heard again..? it boggles the mind.
oh, btw, i DID find another copy in a used record shop many years later. I had to pay more than a buck for it, maybe $5.
but i wasn't complaining, since my brother has confiscated the 1st copy for HIS collection. |
Picked up dozens of mercs,londons,deccas,rca,and numorous jazz on verve and pablo from a great thrift called the sheriff thrift in Clearwater FL. for a price iof ready boys .25 yes thats it. |
About 3 yrs ago I met a fellow at the Habitat store while looking through the albums. I was looking at classical and he asked me if I liked classical. I told him that I was pretty new to the genre, but liked it fairly well. He said he had a lot of classical for sale. Turns out that he was a collector who had purchased these albums and was unable to unload them. I ended up buying the whole lot of them (about 800) for about $80 or $100. The reason I'm not sure of what I paid for them is that I went the first time and only bought about 150 of them for $25-$30. I went back again after doing some research and bought about 150 more. I left a lot of box sets sitting. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I should just buy them all. He was trying to get me to take them all anyway. I knew they were good pressings, but I knew little or nothing about the artists or music. So I went back and bought the rest of them. There ware lots of London FFRR red label as well as STS, Phillips (Dutch), EMI's, Telefunkens, DG's, MHS, Melodya, and of course the RCA and columbia, Angel and turnabout. There are library markings on them and most of them are imports in NM conditions.
He was glad to get rid of them. I was glad to get them. Being new to classical, I didn't really know what a treasure I was getting. He didn't either. There may not be any high $$$ records in the lot, but they are quite nice pressings for the classical listener. |
Ken,
Wow, you do not look 65 at all. Amazing. |
I was at a store today that sells new and used vinyl and CDs - primarily hip-hop and alternative rock. However, they usually have a few boxes of classical LPs priced at $1 per LP. As I was flipping thru the box sets, I came across EMI SLS 841, Beethoven's Symphonies No. 8 and 9, Giulini and LSO. The box, booklet, inner sleeves and both LPs are in mint condition. The LPs may never have been played. It cost me $2 or $1.00 per LP. Not a bad find. You don't often find mint black and white postage stamp EMIs sitting in the dollar bins. |
Glad to see such a thread! I was thinking of starting one myself.
I have some really cool ones from the 99-cent bins of used record stores. In all cases these play like new and are as quiet as a CD:
I, Robot by Alan Parsons
Katy Lied, Steely Dan,
Famous Last Words, Supertramp
Sports, Huey Lewis and the News
... many others
Also same condition from thrift shops on half-price Saturday (50 cents each) last weekend:
Gordon Lightfoot: Sit Down Young Stranger (AKA If You Could Read My Mind)
James Galway and a violinist: Bach Trio Sonatas
Heifetz violin concertos on RCA Red Seal (reissues of Living Stereo, but very clean and well done)
6-LP Reader's Digest/RCA boxeded set of Artur Rubinstein reissues (and those Reader's Digest special transfers are particularly well done) of RCA Living Stereo recordings. I swear, no one ever played a Reader's Digest boxed set (well, maybe one)
A 1999 Emmylou Harris (forget the title) with backup from Tony Rice, Ricky Skaggs, The Whites, Dolly Parton, and Johnny Cash.
I also picked up a stack of Windham Hill Lps including many George Winstons, most of which were recorded in analog at 30 ips and half-speed mastered, many by Bernie Grundman, and pressed or mastered by either MFSL or JVC.
In a little noisier/dirtier condition (but they clean up nice) I've managed to pick up an Everest 35mm Mozart woodwind ensemble, two RCA shaded dogs (Mario Lanza and Vivaldi 4 Seasons), and a couple of stereo Mercury Living Presences (including 1812 Overture).
For a little more ($2.99) I also have a 2-LP Gordon Lightfoot of "Gord's Gold" in absolutely perfect condition. So clean, so nice sounding.
As for my freebies, an acquaintance on a guitar players' discussion page sent me 27 barely-played LPs for $8 shipping when he was ditching his analog rig. Titles include the Treasury version of Sheffield Labs' Dave Grusin album, a German pressing of Joni Mitchell's Blue album, Lyle Lovett's Large Band, Tom Waits' Swordfishtrombones, 2 Eric Claptons (Unplugged and From the Cradle), 2 Stevie Ray Vaughns, 4 Rolling Stones albums, The Long Run by the Eagles, Japanese Pressing of Pirates by Ricky Lee Jones, Luck of the Draw by Bonnie Raitt, and a still-sealed copy of ... "Seal."
I bought my turntable 2 months ago and already have an LP library north of 200 LPs for a pittance. That would cost me about $3000 in CDs. |
a whole slew of RCA shaded dog monos for 0.99 each from the local goodwill, including a NM, 1S/1S copy of heifetz sibelius voilin concerto that plays like a dream. |
I am also "GoodWill Hunting" and have found Jerman mono pressings of "The Rite Of Spring", last week I bought an un-opened pressings of Lambro, Lambardo and Cortes" wich I love several other Classical recording that were great.
Last month I bought 60 albums for $30.00 and only had to pitch 5 of them that couldnt be cleaned up, some have ticks and pops that are only noticable between tracks, or else I listen around them. While some records are not as silent as others it is a blast to shop for and find albums I desire, the ladies will let me in the back and look at tittles not yet put on the floor because they know I am a broke guy who buys to enjoy, not to re-sell as many do. |
Ralph Towner's "Diary" on ECM -- the German pressing to boot -- in near-mint condition. Exactly $.99. |
How 'bout for nothing! Multiple mint copies of the Concert for Bangladesh, The Last Waltz, and many other box sets PLUS six boxes of great diversified single albums saved by my dad from the yearly town clean-up along his Lawn Doctor routes! He retired ten yrs ago and I still haven't listened to everything. So far everything is mint and far better then the best that the Princeton Record Exchange offers. To top it off, a buddy at work has been giving me free albums being discarded by his sons school system. The best so far? - A mint first pressing of Bookends:) |
I got an unplayed Bob Dylan Biograph box set at a garage sale for $1, a great deal on some great music. |
My biggest surprise was a 7" 45rpm that I bought at the Salvation Army for 33 cents. I sold it on eBay for $2,850. Some of that Northern Soul stuff goes for silly money. |
That LP's weren't $.99 any more! |
I've had lots of them, but one memorable day I picked up a dozen albums at 50 cents each plus 45 unused Nagaoka anti-static sleeves for another 50 cents. Pretty much all the records were great but I remember in that batch the Band's "Last Waltz" (mint complete 3 record set with booklet for 50 cents!), mint copies of Oscar Peterson's "Hello Herbie" and a Japanese pressing (with OBI) of Oscar Peterson plays the Gershwin Songbook and Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers "Live in Stockholm".
It's a lot fun to find stuff like that. |
