Brian's Music Musings

A brand new Ace CD has been released, and It's another good one. It is a slight variation on the Golden Age Of American Rock And Roll. It's called "The Follow Up Hits", and it has 30 more great tracks which were, as the title suggests, artists follow up hits, though they are not necessarily the NEXT release by that artist. I had the privilege of contributing a small amount to the project, and I think it turned out quite well. The booklet is full of great artists and record information, and has some great pictures as well. Check out the track listing HERE, though you might want to find another site to purchase it at.

I seemed to have given the postman a break this week, as not much new vinyl has been transported to my record room. One oddball record that is probably not worth much more than the .99 cents I paid for it, is an alternate version of Johnny Standley's "It's In The Book". Originally on the Magnolia label, it was picked up by Capitol and became a huge hit in the early 1950's. It is on my first and second pressings page, but shown in the original 78 to the left. The record I bought was a 45 on the Glo label of Tennessee. I know nothing of the label, but am wondering if they issued alternate takes of records, similar to what the Lana label did with doo wop and rock and roll records in the early 60's.

Another interesting record I ran across is by Patty McCoy and the Renegades. It is her first of two on the Counsel label, and released in 1963, Stranger backed with Goodbye. According to an email correspondence I had with Bill Schallert, she was from Fox Senior High School in Arnold MO. She had a second release for the label called Double trouble, but from there, the trails gets cold. The label was apparently located in south Philly according to Schallert. The label had a small run of around 13 records or so, and that was it. Where is she now?

I have a few new records to put up on my website this week. The first is another record by Joyce Harris. I have the Dot label issue of Hey Pretty Baby on Dot, backed by He's The One. Appearing soon is the Seville label issue #101 of Hey Pretty Baby backed with Rock And Roll Kittens. I am still doing some research on the Seville label record. It is a straight yellow background with black lettering, which is completely different then the Seville label that had Ernie Maresca on it. That label was black and multicolor with a design. Playing the records, they appear to be the same take, both labels have dead wax numbers stamped, but different numbers, and the Seville label stamp of Joyce Harris, is a completely different string then what the "other" Seville labels used as a stamp. It's listed in the discographies as the same label, but I certainly can't prove that it is. The earliest Seville label I have is by the Casals on # 105, which is the label described above with multicolor and different dead wax format. The only record by Joyce Harris I have left, is the toughest one, on the Fun label. I will post a picture later today.
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Also finding it's way to my record room, is the odd press on the Los Angeles based Modern label, by Oscar McLollie. The Honey Jump was the first record he waxed for the label, but apparently under two different record numbers. Pictured on my site is the number 902 release, which follows the numbering scheme for the label. New to me, is a 45 with the record number and dead wax number of C-3004. A quick check on my 78 that has 902 on it, sure enough, C-3004 was in the dead wax. It could have been a press before the 902, an error if you will, which makes some sense though the wrong move by Modern, and it was certainly corrected.
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Also added to my Rebels site was a promo of the third Marlee style release. I figured there would be a promo for that later release, but just had not run into it yet. Also, another version of the Big John Little LP on the Rusticana label. My Rebels page is a monster, but I am trying to stay within some boundaries, though the temptation to keep branching out is always there. Though it may not seem possible, I do hope to add a few more pictures in the near future.