Brian's Music Musings

Thanks to Gary Meyers, he identified the Gingersnaps from last weeks blog. They are Maryann Wimmer, Judith Meyer, Jeanne Oehler, and Mary Gottsacher. Confirmation was made that they also recorded on Jupiter. Gary has a website with a book called "On That Wisconsin Beat", an amazing history of music and groups in Wisconsin. Without doubt, he is quite an authority, as he told me there were over 700 interviews that he conducted to make the book possible. Certainly a real labor of love.

Added to my website this week was another of those first and second pressings that I can't 100 per cent be certain of. Though I have two sources that do confirm it, I prefer not to rely on them completely. The record is by Lafayette and the LaSabres called "Cure For Love". It features Lafayette Yarbrough who had at least one other release on the Bart label. I'm sure you have seen "Cure For Love" on the Port label, both stock and promotional. I have it shown on the Your-Pick label as the first issue. I have no definitive information on Your-Pick, except it is number 1005. That could indicate previous issues of some type on the label. Based on this one example, it is not a reissue label. It could be fooling me. I think of the Casinos on Buccaneer which I thought was a first press but was later shown it was a reissue. Anyway, at this point I believe it is an original first issue for the record.

I always have enjoyed listening to the Pearls. I was somewhat unaware of the group until I bought the Relic LP in the 1980's that featured the groups on the Onyx label. I actually enjoy most of the records on the label, but especially the Pearls. I may never collect all their records, but I added their rendition of Hank Williams classic of "Your Cheating Heart" to my collection. Not a bad version at all, unless you can't get past Hank's version or the group treatment to it. What I really need by the pearls is "Ice Cream Baby" That one is next!

I gave the mailman a break this week, and packages with records inside were few and far between. That actually translates into no packages whatsoever. Of course, that doesn't stop me from looking. I go through periods of time where everything seems too expensive and I just don't buy anything. I did finally purchase a CD called Savage Rockin Girls. I was a little disappointed in the package as a whole. It had a few of the 35 cuts that were very good, but many were hard to figure out how they ever got on a record in the first place. For my ears, there is a difference between raw and hard to listen to. I do like the booklet which has pictures of many of the 45's featured on the package. If you still are thinking of buying it, I wouldn't spend more than 10 bucks on it.

Last night after my weekly radio show, I came home and interviewed Rex Garvin. He started with the Hearts on Baton in early 1955, was with "Miss Sanders" (Zell) at J+S records, and eventually had his own group, the Mighty Cravers. Interesting guy, but seems to talk about everybody but himself. He is proud of his work, but seems very humble. I hope to air that interview in April on KVMR-FM.

Has anybody ever heard of a group called the Gingersnaps - all one word? This girl group recorded Bald Headed Papa on the Wisconsin based Window records, and it appears to be the same group on the Jupiter label, also from Wisconsin. They are a little on the pop side, but very enjoyable. Maybe someone from the cheese state knows the skinny on that great girl group. See the picture below.

I added a few label shots to my Crescendos page that I find quite interesting. Not everyone collects 78's, and in my case, I certainly have far fewer than my 45's, but I am still an avid collector of them. It's just that I have a very selective list. I was able to find two, well actually three Nasco 78's that I didn't know existed. I'm sure If I can find them, there has to be a few more out there. It's safe to say that production was limited. It was mid to late 1958, so the hits were still being pressed on that fast format. How the record companies decided which artists were going to be included on 78 is not an easy answer. Was their last record big? Is this record showing some real promise, and are the juke operators needing some copies for their machines that still use 78's? Maybe the answer is all the above. I think the latter reason is why companies actually continued small runs of the 78 into 1960. On the left is the Crescendos follow-up to Oh Julie on a 78. I am also aware that a Candian press on Sparton was also made in limited quantities. Further, if you look at my page, you can see Janice Green's only Nasco record, Jackie, on a 78. I have not seen that one before either. Lastly, I bought the Monorays Nasco release, number 6020. I can't speak to how many were issued on 78, but now I wonder if the Crescendos last Nasco record, Young And In Love - issue 6021 - was also on a 78? It certainly was showing early signs of great airplay and sales, so...... maybe?
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So I'm not a Bullmoose Jackson expert. I have some of the King singles, and have seen one on Queen. He also has a few issues on some other assorted labels like Warwick. I couldn't help getting a 78 on Encino called "Watch My Signals" backed with Understanding. It is one of two by him on the label. I have no immediate plans to collect all his recordings, but certainly like the ones I have. I think the first radio show I heard his work was on Dr. Demento in the early 70's. He really did have some funny songs. A basic site is at http://www.bullmoosejackson.com/

On my quest to collect all of Johnny Flamingo's records (Mel Broxton/Melvin Moore), I recently found the LP that he made on Diadon It's full of mostly smooth, slow ballads that really showcase his voice. He was performing at a club called the Den, in Norwalk California at the time. I believe there was also a 45 released from the LP. So far, I have not seen an accurate, complete listing of all his records, but at some point I will assemble what I have and go forward with the most complete discography available to this point.

I added a promo 78 of "A Million Tears" to my Mickey and Sylvia site. It is unusual in my collection as it is a promo that has the same song on both sides from the early 1950's. In my collection of vinyl, I don't have an earlier example of a two sided promo 78, though I'm sure there are instances I am unaware of. I still have many Sylvia records to find, to make that page complete.

Also new to me is a 78 from Gene Forrest on the RPM label. Aching And Crying along with the flip can now be seen on my page for Gene And Eunice. He actually made a total of at least 5 records before Gene And Eunice. Three were on John Dolphin's Recorded In Hollywood label, and the other was on Aladdin showing the Four Feathers.

Hopefully, later this month I will have some news on some Nasco label records that should be interesting. Until they arrive at my house safely, I will keep you guessing. Come to think of it, they were supposed to be here a month ago, so I am actually still guessing!

I'm back from a couple weeks on vacation, and set to bring you more information in my weekly blog
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A two week withdrawal from Ebay made me take another hard look at the type of listings that continue to be added. Although there are a lot of great records being offered by some very reputable sellers, there is a lot of junk and inconsistencies. That is not new news by any stretch of the imagination, but I think it's getting worse. The bottom line is that if you are a serious collector, you better know what you are looking for, and what it should look like.
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Here is a funny listing that said doo wop, but was an instrumental.
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This next one is from a not so great seller that not only offers crap, but has a hard time with facts. On this listing he has a supposed promo LP from the Innocents, with no cover, and a picture of Cathy (Kathy) Young, which is the wrong artist, and not "With The Group". I think it was the other way around, but there were close ties. As for the cover, which is not really addressed, and shown as blank, I have quality label promo LP's and they all came with covers. And how does a promo never get released? I bet there is a quality LP on a stock label out there. In fact, the one pictured appears to be stock, in spite of the likely intentionally blurred picture.

This one just keeps coming up. He wants 20K for the lot based on 235K "Book value". It is a list of mostly common stuff that really should be in the VG+ or mint range that he lists 85% of the records to be. Since stuff does not sell at book, as he points out, I think he will be listing it for a long time. On the positive side, it would be a good starter collection for a new collector.....for about 1/2 the price.

Coming this week to my first and second pressings is the Charms first record on the Rockin label called Heaven Only Knows. It then became the first issue on the Deluxe label, number 6000. The Rockin label was based out of Miami, though a sub of King records. The disc started selling well enough that King decided to issue it on the Deluxe label. They had actually acquired the Deluxe catalog within the previous year - it was originally based in New Jersey - and they revived it with # 6000. They continued to issue records by the Charms, and they helped sell a lotof records for Sid Nathan at King. As a side note, the Charms also recorded for the Florida based Chart label. So, look for the Deluxe/Rockin 78's later this week here!