Brian's Music Musings

Several updates are finally done on my website. I added the pink Ribbon label for the Fireflies "You Were Mine", and another Ritchie Adams 45, this on Ribbon too.

The Eternals site was reworked with a different order of the labels and an addition of a 7th variation. I still wonder if there are even more!

The Fleetwoods have also been reworked, as well as adding a couple more label shots of their first record. It's a bit confusing and I may still not have it perfect. I am still thinking the Liberty label issues came very last due to the lawsuit that the original Dolphin label threatened them with, thus the change to the Dolton label. Anyway, it seems sorted to me.

Lastly, I ended up adding 18 new first and second issues. It was about twice the amount I had intended to do, but I was having sooooo much fun! I also included Johnny Standley and Andy Griffith.

I got a couple of cool 78's on the Allen label. One was the Five Willows first recording on the Allen label from New York. The other was a different Allen from Richmond VA, and is the Four Jacks/Allen Trio. I also have an opera record on Allen which is a third different company. I believe there were at least two more.

Of minor note, I have another Rebels record on Reo to add to that growing page. That whole story just gets more interesting as time goes on. I am trying hard to contain the information to the Rebels and closely related groups. I suspect I could find tie-ins to many groups from the Buffalo area without trying too hard.

Ebay fun links:

Donna Fargo 70's LP for almost 50 bucks?

235 records for 2500.00? Over $10.00 a record! When he calls Frankie Lymon, Jimmy Jones and Bill Haley amongst his rare records, I knew there was trouble. Remember that blog I posted the 4 Chordettes records for 100.00 ? This is the guy that listed them. He even mentions it in the text! Never said they sold - and they didn't. Never grades the records, just says how good they are and gives the grading scale just to prove it. The best deal on the page is probably the shipping charge of only 20.00 for the lot. The best record is probably the Gladiolas on Excello, but it's cracked!

Have you seen an amazing Ebay listing? Send me the link!

Finally! Someone on Ebay decided that one of their records was "Not So Rare"! They are correct, it is a common record by the Earls. Of course, that didn't stop them for determining two of their other discs were rare, but be that as it may, there just may be hope! I have actually noticed a slew of fairly high priced records on Ebay, at least right now. For Ebay, that price point of what I deem expensive actually depends on the record and asking price. It could be said that anything over $15.00 might be considered a high price for Ebay, but that could be discussed at great length.

Here is a confused Ebay'er. Sounds like he sold Wynn Stewart's "School Bus Love Affair", and now he has "Open Up My Heart" on the same label, Jackpot. The former is fairly rare, but the latter is probably a 15 dollar record that he would like 100 bucks for. I actually have at least one extra copy that I would love to get half that for.

This weeks plans are to add about 10 examples to my first and second pressings page. It's always fun to add records to that page, as I sure do get some great feedback from surfers stopping to take a look.

Just a few new records to report over here. A cool instrumental from Jody Reynolds. Remember Endless Sleep? This one is much different and is a great one called Thunder on the Indigo label. Also got a decent copy of Little Star by the Elegants on Apt. The difference is that this one is on a 78. I have at least 3 label variations on the 45 - black, rainbow, and white. This 78 is black, and a bit tougher to find than the 45.

I actually had a great time on my radio show last Saturday. It was a membership drive, which is not always so pleasant, but the premiums we had were top notch. The doo wop Box set got a lot of action, as did what I call the hot rod box, both from Rhino. For a person just starting to enjoy doo wop, the four CD doo wop box set is a dandy. Even though all the songs can't be considered doo wop, there are enough great doo wop and rock and roll songs for everyone's taste. The hot rod box has great car related songs covering several decades, and even comes with fuzzy dice! Tonight, it's back to the usual format and some great R+B, Doo Wop and R+R!

I finally got those updates on my website that I mentioned in the last blog. You can also view the latest on my Updates Log. The next minor updates are the Pink label Fireflies on Ribbon, also on Ribbon is the Ritchie Adams single "Lonely One". Thanks to Fredpoet, I will make some adjustments to my Eternals site and the order of the labels.

Future updates include a couple of comedy records that I always thought were fun to hear. Andy Griffith, What It Was Was Football, originally came out on the North Carolina based Colonial label. Then Capitol picked it up and sent it for a ride. Another funny one was Johnny Standley and It's In The Book. Some folks refer to it a Grandma's Lye Soap. It first saw the light of day on the Los Angeles based Magnolia label. The 45 turns up somewhat often, but I think I will display the Magnolia 78. Look for both of those towards the end of the month.

At the risk of bidding against you, I sure have been enjoying the 2 records I have by the Travelers on Andex. Teenage Machine Age, is just fun. The latest in my library is Green Town Girl and He's Got The Whole World In His Hands. The lead is distinctive, sounds great, has some gospel feel to it, and I WILL get the other two on Andex. One of the two is up on Ebay right now, but it's beat and I will wait for another one to get listed. This is likely the same group that included Lou Rawls. I also believe this is the same group as the Pilgrim Travelers who also recorded for Andex. I have "Go Down Moses" by them as well as their LP for Andex. No wonder I like them! More research is in order for this group.

I almost made a buying mistake on Ebay. And then almost made it again. I saw a scopitone of Freddie Bell for sale. I bid and was outbid. I thought, well, that would have been nice to have, but... Then I got a second chance offer. Finally, reality set in and I admitted to myself that playing it would be quite difficult. I refused the second chance. I did find a third chance at a cool site where there are tons of scopitones on DVD's. Maybe I will put this on my Birthday list. Hmm. That's a long way off.

Yeah, it was supposed to happen, but I still am trying to do that this weekend. Doesn't seem so hard - scan or take a picture, crop, dump and upload. Geez I'm slow.

Anybody have an interest in Freddie Bell and the Bellboys? I seem to and am sure sometime in the future I will create a page. Just curious to see if there are other fans. I know he has and may be appearing at the rockabilly fest in Greenbay in a few months. He is quite an interesting story in himself. No Billboard action, but local spins on a couple of records, a headliner in Vegas, and huge in Europe. Bear Family did a CD about 10 years ago. It's not bad, but I need my facts in a bit more organized fashion. They list 3 tracks from Mercury as original, but in parentheses, they list overdub. I make the assumption that there was an original release without that overdub. I suppose I will have to track the record and CD to see what they meant. The sound is good, the liner notes are otherwise good, and the price was right at Overstock.com. Cool place to find discounted "stuff". First time for me.

Tomorrow night (Saturday) I will feature Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Mr. Valens on a tribute show on the 48th anniversary of the crash that killed them along with the pilot. Should be fun with a few facts that some people may not know. That starts at 4PM PST on KVMR-FM where you can listen live. The following week is our first membership drive of the year. Thank You gifts include the doo wop box and Hot rods and custom classics. Should be fun.

Have you seen my web page on Fay Simmons? I keep thinking someone knows her whereabouts or if she has passed on. Anybody?