If you want to see what that many records, both 45s and LPs, looks like, Sidney Ratliff will be glad to show them to you and sell you some or all. Lawley is between Centreville and Clanton. Sidney is retired but you should still call before you make a trip. You can call him at 334-366-2793.

If you're in the Albany GA area and need to search for some vinyl, check out Good Old Days Antiques at 202 West Broad Avenue. Ron Westbrook was a DJ back in the day and his 2nd Floor is loaded with vinyl LPs, 45s and 78s and the great thing about it is, the air conditioning is much better on the 2nd floor--important for this time of year.

I'm looking for collections of rock, R& B, soul, jazz, blues 45s and LPs in and around Birmingham, Alabama. I want records mostly from the period 1950-1975, in clean but not necessarily perfect condition. LPs or albums should have jackets. Not necessary for the 45s to have sleeves. I do have contacts that buy 78s and classical records also. Call Joe at 205-655-3108 or heyjoe1357@aol.com.

Come on, people--we have this great website and hundreds of years of combined musical knowledge but it's largely unused. Most of the posts are months old. I know Ben is contributing and Bryant has posted some interesting items but where is everybody else? If you're reading this you could be posting a blog. Let's hear from you!

A friend of mine who does record shows in Europe told me that dealers there can never leave their tables even for a short while because of theft. He was amazed that dealers at our shows can visit with each other and leave their tables with little risk. But there is risk anywhere there is something of value left unattended.

I did an out of town show last year and a buddy of mine went with me. He took four 45s he wanted to sell and we put them in my box. They were all local records that were worth about $50 each. One dealer who has been at shows in Birmingham showed some interest. I'll call this dealer Scum. He asked if he could take one of the records back to his table and listen to it. My buddy, who I'll call Phil, said OK. He walked off with what looked like one record to play. At the end of the show, there were two records missing. We checked all the boxes and finally confronted Scum, who said he only took one and brought it back. His word against ours, right? So he got away with $100 worth of records. But that's not the whole story. Scum sometimes travels with another dealer I'll call Dundee. We told Dundee what happened and he said he couldn't vouch for Scum, that Scum lived close to the edge all the time. Dundee said he would keep his eyes open. And when Dundee and Scum got back home, Scum starts shopping these 2 45s aroung town. One of them was in a sleeve with some distinctive writing on it. Scum wasn't even smart enough to switch sleeves. Dundee, being a stand-up, honest dealer got the records back to Phil in a short while and said Scum would not be traveling with him anymore.