Our Monthly Club Meeting will be this Sunday,
March 9th at the Homewood Public Library.
2:00 PM
RECORDS & CD’S---MUSIC---FOOD---FRIENDSHIP
GOOD TIMES---GUEST SPEAKERS
MEMBER PRESENTATIONS

*******Next club meeting will be April 13th, 2008, the 2nd Sunday********

Thanks to all who stopped by during last month’s in-house mini record show. We had a very good crowd and quite a few tables of vinyl, cd’s and memorabilia. I hope all had a good time. I heard a lot of good comments, people seemed to be enjoying themselves and there were suggestions that we do it again. Don’t know how many of the non-members that were invited came by but I did see a few strangers and I know some of our members brought friends also. If you were there and have ideas that might improve on the concept, let me know. The larger meeting room worked very well. We’ll try it again soon.

Now it is time to concentrate on our August show. That is “AUGUST”. As in 5 months away. We need everyone to pitch in again and help make our 27th annual show another fun filled success. What can you do? Work at the front table. Work in the kitchen and/or at the counter. Help with the Friday set-up. Get donations of food and/or drinks. Contact local TV or radio stations about spreading the news. Take fliers to various stores. Help contact dealers. So much to do. It’s not too early to start the ball rolling now.

*****SPECIAL MEMBER PRESENTATION NEXT MONTH*****

Be sure to be in attendance next month when club member, Bob Friedman, will be our guest speaker. Bob has been involved in the music industry for a long time and will provide us with an insight into the origin of the R&B vocal group scene, specific stories about his career in the industry, including artists he has known and worked with and as an added attraction he will include a practicum on singing, giving those of you who want to form a group and chance to do so on the spot. Wanna dance? If he can get a volunteer, there may be a chance to do your thing to some music. Hopefully Bob will do a little acapella also. If you have ever heard Bob sing you know how talented he is. Don’t miss this fun presentation. Bring a friend and let’s all Doo Wop.

*****PRICE GUIDES*****

Chances are you own or at one time owned at least 1 record price guide. And chances are it probably looks dog-eared and worn. There are a variety of uses for these guides (other than door stops). Some people despise them and others can’t do without them. Whatever your feelings, if a person collects records these guides can be very handy. My main use for them is to check and see if a record is original or a later pressing. Of course the price range given is useful also but when a collector finds that “special” record, they are not going to haggle over a few bucks…are they? Getting opinions from other members, I put together a few thoughts about guides as a whole and some of the pro & cons of the more popular ones on the market.

Check your guide and you will see 5th, 9th, 14th or 20th edition. As one member said, price guides are about selling the next price guide. Do they want people to buy new ones to see how much their collection has appreciated? Have prices changed that much over the years? Has demand changed? Who makes the prices change? Publishers? Dealers? Buyers? Or is it supply & demand? Checking the 1990 9th edition of one price and comparing it to the 2001 15th edition, a copy of Buddy Holly’s “Words Of Love” went from $100-125 to $ 200-300. The same record in Rockin’ Records 1991 & 1995 editions was $150-200. Goldmine’s 1994 3rd edition list it at $100-400 while a DJ copy was valued at $ $75-300. One member put it this way; use a guide for relative value—this record is worth more than that one—rather than an absolute value. Good advice.

Ever go to buy records from someone and they have a price guide to go by. Condition of the records is sometimes ignored? I went to a garage sale once and after choosing a few 45’s from a box and asking what the price was, the seller picks up his guide, collects my stack, goes to another part of the basement and then comes back telling me what he would take. Very high priced. These particular ones weren’t worth that much to me. When someone finds out I collect records, they usually tell me about their Elvis records and ask me how much they might be worth. I explain to them that unless they have those few rare, collectable Elvis records, they probably have what millions of other people have and there’s not that much value to them.

But if you want to collect, sell or buy records it would be useful to have a price guide. The only thing is there doesn’t seem to be one price guide that covers all genres of music, all common records or the different types of recording such as soundtracks, comedy and compilations. So you have to know which guide would be the best for your collecting. Here are some of our member’s preferences.

Rockin’ Records. A Jerry Osborne publication. Lists 45’s, 78’s, LP’s, Ep’s and picture sleeves. Lists common and rare records. This guide has to be purchased by mail order or phone. 1-800-246-3255. $45 plus $4.95 S&H. www.JerryOsborne.com

Goldmine. This publication sells a book for each type of record. One for 45’s, one for LPs. They also have separate guides for R&B, Jazz, C&W and even one for memorabilia. Was given the following advice, “you don’t need these extras if you have a Rockin Records.” One pro about Goldmine is with only 45’s listed, more info in given about each record due to the fact under each artist they list each record released with label, #, A and B side titles and then the value. One con is having to buy more guides to get an artist complete discography. As one member put it, their jazz guide is the most comprehensive jazz LP guide he knows of.

Jerry Osborne’s Official Price Guide To Records. Now in the 18th edition. I have had some members say they don’t use this one as much. One thing I noticed is that some records that were listed in the earlier editions are not in the new edition. Example: Five Man Electrical Band and April Stevens & Nino Tempo were listed but are now missing. Making room for others? I don’t know.

Tom Lincoln Guide To Rare Rockabilly. Yes, that’s our very own Tom Lincoln. Very useful. Lots of good info.
Rockabilly Price Guide (German publication). Very useful.

One member recommends Rockin Records and as supplements he goes with Horst Zimmermann Rockabilly Regor Price Guide, Jeff Kreiter’s Vocal Group Record Guide for his Doo Wop, B.J.’s Country and Rock & Roll 45 RPM Record Collector’s Guide to check on rare and valuable 50’s and early 60’s 45’s on particular labels. This guide includes what state the label is out of. He also checks on Doo Wop originals by using Jeff Kreiter’s Group Collector’s Record Label Guide and Lou Silvani’s Collecting rare Records.

Two members prefer Manship’s Rare Soul Price Guide for their soul records. One stated this guide was a secret here in the states for those buying “northern soul”. Lower prices were in the more common guides. UK buyers love this music and paid whatever people wanted for a copy of their favorites.

Got boxes & boxes of classical music? Try Canfield Guide To Classical Recordings. Huge guide that includes US & foreign recordings. May be available only on CD now.

Well, as you can see if it’s on vinyl, there’s a price guide for it. How many guides, if any, you need depends on the amount of time you spend collecting and selling. And throw in Ebay and other sites and the so-called “value” can change overnight or with a click of a mouse. Good luck with your buying, selling, trading and pricing. But remember this member’s advice: IT’S WORTH WHAT SOMEONE WILL GIVE YOU FOR IT!

I would like to do a follow-up to this article but I need your help. Send me your agreements and/or disagreements and let’s see what other members have to say about their recommendations, uses or feelings about record price guides.

Upcoming record shows:
Atlanta. Sunday, March 16th. Marriott Century Center Located at I-85 & Clairmont Rd exit 91. Doors open at 10am at $3.00 or early entry at 6am at $10.00. Times are Eastern Standard Time. victor.ray@mindspring.com

ARCA. Friday & Saturday, April 18th & 19th. Friday 4:00 PM -9:00 PM. Saturday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM. Bessemer Civic Center. $3 admission. BRC members free with membership card. Friday early bird $10 2PM.

Saw a movie the other night entitled “That Thing You Do”. A Tom Hanks movie. The story was about a small town rock band in the mid 60’s that went on to make it big. I thought of all the guys in our club and others I have talked with that made a record and saw so many comparisons to their stories. Catch it if you can.

Congratulations to this year’s inductees into the Alabama Music Hall Of Fame.

Ernie Ashworth: 12/15/28 Huntsville, Ala. C&W singer songwriter. Big hit was “Talk Back Trembling Lips”. #1 hit in 1963. Stayed on the charts for 42 weeks. Had many others make the Top 10. Invited to join the Grand Ole Opry in 1964. http://youtube.com/watch?v=MUQO6Z-CUMI

Boyd Bennett: 12/7/24 Muscle Shoals, Ala. Drummer and singer. Had big hit in 1955 with the song, “Seventeen”. One of King Records best selling records of all time. http://youtube.com/watch?v=waaOsFIgwcY

Cleve Eaton: 1939 Fairfield, Ala. Jazz bassist. Toured with the Ike Cole Trio. Later toured with Ramsey Lewis (“Hang On Sloopy”) and Count Basie. Recorded “Bama Boogie Woogie” which became a best seller in the UK and Europe. On notable recording sessions with The Dells, Jerry Butler, Henry Mancini, Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughn and Ella Fitzgerald.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=chPqocG3ato&feature=related

Donnie Fritts: 11/8/42 Florence, Ala. Involved with early recordings in the Muscle Shoals music industry. Wrote songs that were recorded by Charlie Rich, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ray Charles & Willie Nelson. With Kris Kristofferson for over 2 decades recording, touring and in movies.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=hnMr8i4NNgE

Tommy Shaw: 9/11/53 Montgomery, Ala. Joined the group Styx in 1976. The hits, “Crystal Ball”, “Too Much Time On My Hands” and “Blue Collar Man” were written and sung by Tommy. Got together with Ted Nugent and formed the band, Damn Yankees. Now tours with Styx.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=sh3YxM1wzs4

I noted that one of the persons receiving an award was Larry Byrom. His bio caught my eye. 12/27/48 Huntsville, Ala. Joined a band in California called The Hard Times. This group was the band that performed on the Dick Clark show, Where The Action Is, for 2 years. There was a local band named The Hard Times that changed their name to The Rites Of Spring after winning a battle of the bands and got to be on Where The Action Is. Club member Mike Pair was a member of the local Hard Times. After leaving The Hard Times, Larry became a member of Steppenwolf. Two of the songs Larry contributed as a member of Steppenwolf made the Top 40. Those were “Hey Lawdy Mama” and “Monster”. While dating the same girl Jimi Hendrix was dating, Larry got to meet and jam with the legendary guitarist.

For more info go to http://www.alamhof.org/index.html

Upcoming Concerts:

March 16, Sunday. George Thorogood & The Destroyers. Alabama Theatre. 7:30 PM. $30.50 & $35.50. http://www.ticketmaster.com/section
205-715-6000.

March 10. Monday. Jackson Browne. Von Braun Center. Huntsville.

March 13. Thursday. Van Morrison. Ryman Auditorium. Nashville.

March 20. Thursday. B’ham Area Music Awards. Carver Theatre. Birmingham. Special guest B’ham native Chuck Leavell. Played with Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, George Harrison & Allman Bros. Advance tixs $12. At the door $15. http://www.bhamweekly.com or http://www.cbs42.com/

March 21. Friday. Blind Boys Of Alabama. Variety Playhouse. Atlanta.

March 28. Friday. B B King. Ryman Auditorium. Nashville.

April 9. Wednesday. Etta James. Wildhorse Saloon. Nashville.

April 11. Friday. Joan Baez. Bama Theatre. Tuscaloosa.

See ya,

Charlie