Great story PT......I can't tell you how many times I have discussed a rare LP and then found it within 24 hours.
Record Digging Stories (Please Add On)
- Thread starter Rockadelic
- Start date
Ha! Nail is a nice dude and afaik has a collection of around 15k records..visited his shop a few times
holmes said:Rockadelic said:Great story PT......I can't tell you how many times I have discussed a rare LP and then found it within 24 hours.
I've had this happen a few times too, great feeling.
LOL it's called channeling of the mind what u think visualize and it materializes.
It's not common to find 2 sealed copies of donald austin crazy legs/ beginning of the end - funky nassau /9th creation falling in love / poison - one our way to number 1 /rhythm makers - soul on your side/ tribe - dedication for 2 dollar each turn up the middle of the night on a local website. ultimate digging in your drawers experience.
If u'r lucky such collections may split up deeper or more titles. the good stuff is always at 1 source. i don't expect to find 1000 usd grails in the netherlands tho, not in the soul funk genre.. but u never know where things end up..
Another experience was a large collection online and 1/5th visable the album from lafeyette afro rock band - malik
i drove there went to at least 4000 records twice but i couldn't find it anymore. i ended up buying mirror - daybreak for 2 dollar which i found out later is a private pressing.
I've had this happen a few times too, great feeling.
LOL it's called channeling of the mind what u think visualize and it materializes.
It's not common to find 2 sealed copies of donald austin crazy legs/ beginning of the end - funky nassau /9th creation falling in love / poison - one our way to number 1 /rhythm makers - soul on your side/ tribe - dedication for 2 dollar each turn up the middle of the night on a local website. ultimate digging in your drawers experience.
If u'r lucky such collections may split up deeper or more titles. the good stuff is always at 1 source. i don't expect to find 1000 usd grails in the netherlands tho, not in the soul funk genre.. but u never know where things end up..
Another experience was a large collection online and 1/5th visable the album from lafeyette afro rock band - malik
i drove there went to at least 4000 records twice but i couldn't find it anymore. i ended up buying mirror - daybreak for 2 dollar which i found out later is a private pressing.
I love this thread so much. It really needs to be compiled into a book. Has anyone taken a stab at it?
I have a rather modest story of my own. I don't have the deep pockets (or the luck) to clean out a forgotten hoard of records but I still enjoy digging whenever I can. I think an issue for me is that I just got in the game too late.
I used to spend my summers (and the occasional week or two in the winter) in Korea. I would always check out the usual spots (written about in other posts) and I was semi-confident I knew some good spots not already completely cleaned out by serious diggers. But after a while, I would only find the same records. There would be some good ones, too, but I got sick of buying the same semi-decent records just because they were too cheap to pass up. By this time, all the good Shin Jung Hyun-related records were long gone. Every record store owner would tell me the same thing: Japanese record collectors had long since bought up all the really good records (early Shin Jung Hyun, SJH-produced girl groups, group sound, etc). Then came the Europeans, who focused mostly on obscure psych/fuzz/prog rock.
I heard one particular story several times: a while back (80s? 90s?) a Japanese guy who didn't speak any Korean picked up a SJH record. The seller (who didn't speak Japanese) stuck out two fingers to signal the (equivalent) price of $20. The buyer misinterpreted it and, without any hesitation, handed the seller not $20 but $200. Both the seller and buyer were happy. That's when people started realizing that some of these records were sought after by foreigners. Almost all the sellers conceded some regret that most of the truly collectible Korean records were now outside of Korea. (But, I bet they felt no qualms about selling the records to foreigners for mad loot back in the day.)
I almost felt foolish asking if they had the more collectible records, since we all knew the answer would be No. And if, by chance, they had the record, it would be way too expensive for me. I don't know how many times I got a false positive response due to all the (stupid expensive) REISSUES of Kim Jung Mi, SJH, He 6, etc.
So by this time (3-5 years ago), good 60s and early 70s stuff was pretty much impossible to come by. But other decent records were still plentiful and cheap (especially late-70s, early-80s stuff). I remember coming across my first copy of "Hometown of the Stars" (usually called "Hometown Hero" on eBay for some reason). Anyone who saw the original cover of the girl apparently getting raped (there were at least 3 different covers + minor variations) knew it had to be good. That and "It Rained Yesterday" were my first two good Korean discoveries (personally speaking). Every single place had at least one or two copies of that. As recently as about 1-2 years ago, those were $10 records. I hoarded that stuff, just because it was so cheap and I thought no one else knew about it. Then they started showing up on eBay and selling for $200+ a pop (they have since come down to the $150 range). Just about a year or two ago, all the San Ul Lim records sold for about $1-3 bucks each, and they were EVERYWHERE. I would get pissed off because there were so many of them. They were like pop vocal records in the States.
But the last time I was in Korea (about 6 months ago), Hometown and Rained were all gone. Places that had them were now selling them for $100-200. Even crappy San Ul Lim (vols 6 and up) were starting at $20-30. The records had jumped at least 10 TIMES in price within one year! I asked what the hell was going on. They all said the same thing: about a year or two ago, younger "American" kids started buying them up. In fact, ALL older records have gone up by about that much, just in the last year.
I have really digressed. Sorry. But it all provides context.
Okay, so about a year and a half ago, I was checking out some record stores but I kept finding the usual stuff. I was almost digging more for other Strutters. (A few years back, I posted some pics of Korea so some Strutters PMed me, asking me to look for stuff for them the next time I was in Korea.) It was almost time to go because that day happened to be my birthday and my girlfriend had arranged a nice dinner for us. I had about 10 minutes left before I had to go. I went to a different area not known for records but I just had that feeling. I don't get that Spidey Sense often.... I went into a tiny store that looked more like a stereo repair shop. I saw he had some records so I asked if I could look. He was cool. He asked what I was looking for. Since I only had 10 minutes, I didn't have time to go through the whole store myself. I had to just ask him if he had this or that record. I didn't want to start by asking for a grail I knew he wouldn't have so I asked for a fairly common Ham Jung A record that for some reason had been eluding me. "Of course," he said and pulled it right out. Cool.
"What else are you looking for?"
"Uh... early Pearl Sisters (SJH productions with heavy drums)?"
Then he pulls out every single one that I'm missing, and not the second issues, either. He had the first pressings with the gatefold covers.
(moving up the chain): "Do you have any early Kim Choo Ja (more SJH-produced drummy goodness)?"
Yup. Original gatefold.
By then I start to sweat. "You wouldn't happen to have, Kim Jung Mi, would you?"
"Yes."
He had SEVERAL. He asked what my favorite track was. I told him. He pulls the record right out and plays it full freaking blast. Those dirty, basement drums never sounded so good!
He said he was surprised that someone (relatively) young like me would even be looking for these. He seemed to get a kick out of playing/talking about these records.
He said, "If you like Kim Jung Mi, then you might like this Shin Jung Hyun record," and pulls out SJH Sound Vol. 1!! By the way, all the records were in beautiful condition.
He kept asking what I wanted. I would tell him. He would have it. This ridiculous sequence continued for about 10-15 minutes. After a while, I couldn't even think of stuff to ask for. I just told him honestly that he had the best Korean record collection that I had ever seen. He said this is all his personal collection. He bought all of these records himself when they first came out. I could tell he hadn't listened to them in years. He seemed to be having fun reminiscing.
It was time for me to go and there was a ridiculous stack of some of the best Korean records (at least by my own personal tastes) right in front of me. Unfortunately, I could only afford to buy a few of them. He didn't seem to mind at all. He was just happy to talk about these records.
When I met my girlfriend for dinner, I told her the story. She laughed: "Are you sure you weren't dreaming?" (I had told her that I used to have dreams, literally, about this scenario.) I pulled out some of the records as proof. Since then, she has always jokingly referred to that store as the "dream store."
Fast forward one year (this would be about 6 months ago). I was back in Korea. I wanted to prove to my girlfriend that the place really existed so I took her along. With only a little difficulty, I found the place again. And all the records I left behind were STILL THERE! My girlfriend saw all of them for herself. I think I still have photos of the place.
Like I said in the beginning, I don't have fat stacks of cash for records so I had to leave MOST of those records behind. He had almost everything I wanted, but the records were a bit pricy (but reasonable). So it was bittersweet. I experienced the thrill of finding great stuff, but I could only afford to buy a few records. (I bought a few more the second time I went.) But still, there's a chance some of the records will still be there next time. Maybe I can buy a few records each time I visit. If someone else finds the place, I wouldn't feel so bad because the seller was so friendly and I want him to have some good business. And at least I got to dig out and listen to all those great records. I feel like the guy at the end of Charade who returns the "item" without hesitation because he had the joy of having owned it, if even for a moment.
I have a rather modest story of my own. I don't have the deep pockets (or the luck) to clean out a forgotten hoard of records but I still enjoy digging whenever I can. I think an issue for me is that I just got in the game too late.
I used to spend my summers (and the occasional week or two in the winter) in Korea. I would always check out the usual spots (written about in other posts) and I was semi-confident I knew some good spots not already completely cleaned out by serious diggers. But after a while, I would only find the same records. There would be some good ones, too, but I got sick of buying the same semi-decent records just because they were too cheap to pass up. By this time, all the good Shin Jung Hyun-related records were long gone. Every record store owner would tell me the same thing: Japanese record collectors had long since bought up all the really good records (early Shin Jung Hyun, SJH-produced girl groups, group sound, etc). Then came the Europeans, who focused mostly on obscure psych/fuzz/prog rock.
I heard one particular story several times: a while back (80s? 90s?) a Japanese guy who didn't speak any Korean picked up a SJH record. The seller (who didn't speak Japanese) stuck out two fingers to signal the (equivalent) price of $20. The buyer misinterpreted it and, without any hesitation, handed the seller not $20 but $200. Both the seller and buyer were happy. That's when people started realizing that some of these records were sought after by foreigners. Almost all the sellers conceded some regret that most of the truly collectible Korean records were now outside of Korea. (But, I bet they felt no qualms about selling the records to foreigners for mad loot back in the day.)
I almost felt foolish asking if they had the more collectible records, since we all knew the answer would be No. And if, by chance, they had the record, it would be way too expensive for me. I don't know how many times I got a false positive response due to all the (stupid expensive) REISSUES of Kim Jung Mi, SJH, He 6, etc.
So by this time (3-5 years ago), good 60s and early 70s stuff was pretty much impossible to come by. But other decent records were still plentiful and cheap (especially late-70s, early-80s stuff). I remember coming across my first copy of "Hometown of the Stars" (usually called "Hometown Hero" on eBay for some reason). Anyone who saw the original cover of the girl apparently getting raped (there were at least 3 different covers + minor variations) knew it had to be good. That and "It Rained Yesterday" were my first two good Korean discoveries (personally speaking). Every single place had at least one or two copies of that. As recently as about 1-2 years ago, those were $10 records. I hoarded that stuff, just because it was so cheap and I thought no one else knew about it. Then they started showing up on eBay and selling for $200+ a pop (they have since come down to the $150 range). Just about a year or two ago, all the San Ul Lim records sold for about $1-3 bucks each, and they were EVERYWHERE. I would get pissed off because there were so many of them. They were like pop vocal records in the States.
But the last time I was in Korea (about 6 months ago), Hometown and Rained were all gone. Places that had them were now selling them for $100-200. Even crappy San Ul Lim (vols 6 and up) were starting at $20-30. The records had jumped at least 10 TIMES in price within one year! I asked what the hell was going on. They all said the same thing: about a year or two ago, younger "American" kids started buying them up. In fact, ALL older records have gone up by about that much, just in the last year.
I have really digressed. Sorry. But it all provides context.
Okay, so about a year and a half ago, I was checking out some record stores but I kept finding the usual stuff. I was almost digging more for other Strutters. (A few years back, I posted some pics of Korea so some Strutters PMed me, asking me to look for stuff for them the next time I was in Korea.) It was almost time to go because that day happened to be my birthday and my girlfriend had arranged a nice dinner for us. I had about 10 minutes left before I had to go. I went to a different area not known for records but I just had that feeling. I don't get that Spidey Sense often.... I went into a tiny store that looked more like a stereo repair shop. I saw he had some records so I asked if I could look. He was cool. He asked what I was looking for. Since I only had 10 minutes, I didn't have time to go through the whole store myself. I had to just ask him if he had this or that record. I didn't want to start by asking for a grail I knew he wouldn't have so I asked for a fairly common Ham Jung A record that for some reason had been eluding me. "Of course," he said and pulled it right out. Cool.
"What else are you looking for?"
"Uh... early Pearl Sisters (SJH productions with heavy drums)?"
Then he pulls out every single one that I'm missing, and not the second issues, either. He had the first pressings with the gatefold covers.
(moving up the chain): "Do you have any early Kim Choo Ja (more SJH-produced drummy goodness)?"
Yup. Original gatefold.
By then I start to sweat. "You wouldn't happen to have, Kim Jung Mi, would you?"
"Yes."
He had SEVERAL. He asked what my favorite track was. I told him. He pulls the record right out and plays it full freaking blast. Those dirty, basement drums never sounded so good!
He said he was surprised that someone (relatively) young like me would even be looking for these. He seemed to get a kick out of playing/talking about these records.
He said, "If you like Kim Jung Mi, then you might like this Shin Jung Hyun record," and pulls out SJH Sound Vol. 1!! By the way, all the records were in beautiful condition.
He kept asking what I wanted. I would tell him. He would have it. This ridiculous sequence continued for about 10-15 minutes. After a while, I couldn't even think of stuff to ask for. I just told him honestly that he had the best Korean record collection that I had ever seen. He said this is all his personal collection. He bought all of these records himself when they first came out. I could tell he hadn't listened to them in years. He seemed to be having fun reminiscing.
It was time for me to go and there was a ridiculous stack of some of the best Korean records (at least by my own personal tastes) right in front of me. Unfortunately, I could only afford to buy a few of them. He didn't seem to mind at all. He was just happy to talk about these records.
When I met my girlfriend for dinner, I told her the story. She laughed: "Are you sure you weren't dreaming?" (I had told her that I used to have dreams, literally, about this scenario.) I pulled out some of the records as proof. Since then, she has always jokingly referred to that store as the "dream store."
Fast forward one year (this would be about 6 months ago). I was back in Korea. I wanted to prove to my girlfriend that the place really existed so I took her along. With only a little difficulty, I found the place again. And all the records I left behind were STILL THERE! My girlfriend saw all of them for herself. I think I still have photos of the place.
Like I said in the beginning, I don't have fat stacks of cash for records so I had to leave MOST of those records behind. He had almost everything I wanted, but the records were a bit pricy (but reasonable). So it was bittersweet. I experienced the thrill of finding great stuff, but I could only afford to buy a few records. (I bought a few more the second time I went.) But still, there's a chance some of the records will still be there next time. Maybe I can buy a few records each time I visit. If someone else finds the place, I wouldn't feel so bad because the seller was so friendly and I want him to have some good business. And at least I got to dig out and listen to all those great records. I feel like the guy at the end of Charade who returns the "item" without hesitation because he had the joy of having owned it, if even for a moment.
Been reading through all this for the past couple nights, and this is the most entertaining stuff I've read in a long time. Just wanted to say thanks to you guys for sharing the stories.
Back in around 1990 I found this record warehouse right in the middle of Manhattan, where I lived (and still do). It was called Dayton's Record Exchange and it was in a building on 11the street and 4th ave on the 4th floor. There was no way to know it was there unless you knew about it. I forgot how I found out about it, maybe the phone book (this was obviously pre-internet). Anyway, the owner, whose name I think was Joe, was this classic Brooklyn guy. He told me he used to have an actual store on the street downtown but he closed it years earlier and was basically liquidating his stock. I showed up one day and it was three large rooms with those metal warehouse shelves stocked fully with thousands of LPs. Tons of funk, soul jazz & soundtracks. I spent a couple of hours there and brought about a stack 0f 30 records to the counter. Joe just counted them and charged me $3 a record. One of them was a JBs LP which he looked at for a second and said, "I used to have these in a cutout bin in my old store a few years ago, I couldn't give them away." After that day, I went there twice a week for months, scoring loads of Prestige and Blue Note funk jazz, and lots of soul records, some still sealed. I probably passed up some gems without realizing it. Joe told me he had a lots of records stored upstate that he was going to bring down one day. Eventually, this placed closed, but he did do a one day sale in an empty storefront on 10th street. Every record was going to be $2 and all the record fiends were lined up outside waiting for the place to open. When it did, we all rushed in and scattered to different bins. I ended up flipping thru a bin next to Dreadlock Bob (NYers know who I mean) and lo and behold, I pulled out a copy of the Skullsnaps LP, which Bob immediately offered me $50 for. I kept it.
one of my local thrift stores recently moved and I hadn't had a chance to check out the new location yet, so I went down there to have a look. I'm going through a box of the usual crap (that should have been sent straight to cratediggers for recycling) when the lady behind the counter tells me that they have other 'good' records, but that they don't put them out because people steal them! so she comes out from the back pushing a trolley with a box of the 'good stuff' on it. Now I have never really turned anything up at the previous store, so my expectations are not high. But upon starting to dig I realize that they are not nearly low enough. I'm finding gems like Acker Bilk, Perry Como (starting at $6.50), Jim Reeves and the ubiquitous (in Australia) Kamahl - but the top pick is a copy of Shirley Bassey 'Hey Big Spender' for $16!!!!!!
I hate leaving empty handed so I pick up a Patsy Cline and when I check the vinyl, it's got the wrong LP in it (the correct platter presumably stolen).
If these records are being nicked, there must be some very nimble fingered grandmothers in my neighbourhood.
(I 'spose all the facemelters could have been pinched before I got there)
I hate leaving empty handed so I pick up a Patsy Cline and when I check the vinyl, it's got the wrong LP in it (the correct platter presumably stolen).
If these records are being nicked, there must be some very nimble fingered grandmothers in my neighbourhood.
(I 'spose all the facemelters could have been pinched before I got there)
Hopefully I'll be going through this collection soon if everything works out and then post up how it went.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/185386_10150767620845576_577380575_20206995_8195118_n.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/185386_10150767620845576_577380575_20206995_8195118_n.jpg
innercitymusic said:Hopefully I'll be going through this collection soon if everything works out and then post up how it went.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/185386_10150767620845576_577380575_20206995_8195118_n.jpg
Not for nothing, dude, but between the generic sleeves and crates, that looks like the garage where shitty 90s-00s DJ pool promo terds go to die. But best of luck.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/185386_10150767620845576_577380575_20206995_8195118_n.jpg
Not for nothing, dude, but between the generic sleeves and crates, that looks like the garage where shitty 90s-00s DJ pool promo terds go to die. But best of luck.
DB_Cooper said:innercitymusic said:Hopefully I'll be going through this collection soon if everything works out and then post up how it went.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/185386_10150767620845576_577380575_20206995_8195118_n.jpg
Not for nothing, dude, but between the generic sleeves and crates, that looks like the garage where shitty 90s-00s DJ pool promo terds go to die. But best of luck.
Yeah he's a DJ friend of mine with mostly 12' singles but he does have some old soul, jazz, rock and misc stuff in other crates.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/185386_10150767620845576_577380575_20206995_8195118_n.jpg
Not for nothing, dude, but between the generic sleeves and crates, that looks like the garage where shitty 90s-00s DJ pool promo terds go to die. But best of luck.
Yeah he's a DJ friend of mine with mostly 12' singles but he does have some old soul, jazz, rock and misc stuff in other crates.
A few weeks back three board members and I took off for a day of digging in the Waco/Temple area. We had a couple of leads that sounded promising and a couple of spots to just hit at random. The first spot was like an episode of Hoarders. We went to a makeshift storage warehouse where two of the tennants had vinyl. The first guy had some decent 12"'s and we each pulled 5-10 records. The second dude was acting a little cagey and wasn't real eager to open up his unit which he said held 15,000 LP's. When he finally did it appeared that he had spent years just piling up junk and while there were LP's, they were not easy to get to. After an hour or so of moving crap, climbing on crap, and wading through crap we came to the conclusion that his records were nothing more than crap. We each pulled a couple of things, were thoroughly soaked in sweat and were definitely ready to move onto the next spot.
Next stop was a guy's house who had advertised on Craigslist and while he was a very pleasant and welcoming older gentleman, his records sucked and we left with nothing leaving behind gems like a G- ? & The Mysterians LP. It was mid-afternoon and was time to do some scrambling. We stopped at a Goodwill and they had no records....stopped at another and it was chud heaven. We had a spot to hit by 4:00 so we drove around looking for anything interesting. We stopped at a ReSale Shop and were told they had no records. I asked the dude running the place if he knew anyplace with vinyl and he said "Try Hastings". We explained we were looking for used vinyl and he said "Yeah, check the Gift Shop around the corner, the owners husband was a DJ".
We went to the Gift Shop and saw 1,000+ LP's when we walked in and were greeted by the owner. We explained we were looking for records and she said she would have to get her husband. She called him and he appeared in less than a minute. He said the LP's in the store were not for sale but that he had some in the back we could look at. He took us to a back room and it had a couple of thousand more LP's. He told us two crates were off limits(we spied a Joe Quarterman LP in one of them) but everything else was fair game. As we were digging he was telling us stories about how he was a buyer for a large vinyl chain store in Dallas back in the 70's and showed us pictures of him and acts as diverse as Sting and Alabama. He told tales of partying and drug use which he eventually kicked by moving to Waco. ReRog found a CD of a local rap artist who turned out to be the guy's son. We found a small stack of LP's and when it was time to pay I apparently offered too much $$$ and he said my offer would cover everyone's records which we ignored and shoved cash in his hand with the prospect of coming back sometime and going through the rest of the stuff.
While we were getting ready to leave I saw what looked like a "Boxing" style poster and when I picked them up our host said "Oh, No those aren't for sale". I asked if I could look at them and he said sure. Out of a plastic bag I pulled out three identical posters with one of them being in real nice shape and the other two not so much. ReRog and I both said out loud how cool it would be to have one and our host asked "Well, if I did sell you one what would you pay?" I honestly told him that I would be happy to hand over a $100 bill for one of the lesser ones but I had no idea if that was a fair offer or not. We agreed that we would do some research and come back to see him.
A few weeks later, newly transplanted Texan, Behemoth was in the area, stopped in and bought the posters for ReRog and I. We got the two lesser ones and the third, better condition copy, will be displayed in the near future at the Negro League Baseball Hall Of Fame in Kansas City. Some research has revealed that this poster is from 1947 and was part of a "Barnstorming" series of games that these two teams played in the Southwest part of the country. Mine is being framed and will have a special spot on my living room wall. Best find for me in years....or maybe ever.
Next stop was a guy's house who had advertised on Craigslist and while he was a very pleasant and welcoming older gentleman, his records sucked and we left with nothing leaving behind gems like a G- ? & The Mysterians LP. It was mid-afternoon and was time to do some scrambling. We stopped at a Goodwill and they had no records....stopped at another and it was chud heaven. We had a spot to hit by 4:00 so we drove around looking for anything interesting. We stopped at a ReSale Shop and were told they had no records. I asked the dude running the place if he knew anyplace with vinyl and he said "Try Hastings". We explained we were looking for used vinyl and he said "Yeah, check the Gift Shop around the corner, the owners husband was a DJ".
We went to the Gift Shop and saw 1,000+ LP's when we walked in and were greeted by the owner. We explained we were looking for records and she said she would have to get her husband. She called him and he appeared in less than a minute. He said the LP's in the store were not for sale but that he had some in the back we could look at. He took us to a back room and it had a couple of thousand more LP's. He told us two crates were off limits(we spied a Joe Quarterman LP in one of them) but everything else was fair game. As we were digging he was telling us stories about how he was a buyer for a large vinyl chain store in Dallas back in the 70's and showed us pictures of him and acts as diverse as Sting and Alabama. He told tales of partying and drug use which he eventually kicked by moving to Waco. ReRog found a CD of a local rap artist who turned out to be the guy's son. We found a small stack of LP's and when it was time to pay I apparently offered too much $$$ and he said my offer would cover everyone's records which we ignored and shoved cash in his hand with the prospect of coming back sometime and going through the rest of the stuff.
While we were getting ready to leave I saw what looked like a "Boxing" style poster and when I picked them up our host said "Oh, No those aren't for sale". I asked if I could look at them and he said sure. Out of a plastic bag I pulled out three identical posters with one of them being in real nice shape and the other two not so much. ReRog and I both said out loud how cool it would be to have one and our host asked "Well, if I did sell you one what would you pay?" I honestly told him that I would be happy to hand over a $100 bill for one of the lesser ones but I had no idea if that was a fair offer or not. We agreed that we would do some research and come back to see him.
A few weeks later, newly transplanted Texan, Behemoth was in the area, stopped in and bought the posters for ReRog and I. We got the two lesser ones and the third, better condition copy, will be displayed in the near future at the Negro League Baseball Hall Of Fame in Kansas City. Some research has revealed that this poster is from 1947 and was part of a "Barnstorming" series of games that these two teams played in the Southwest part of the country. Mine is being framed and will have a special spot on my living room wall. Best find for me in years....or maybe ever.
One of the most unforgettable moments for me...
About 3 years ago I responded to a listing on the local news classified page. The ad had no photos and wasn't very revealing as to what in the collection contained, only that there were 15,000 or more records.
I immediately responded to the ad. After I spoke to the guy over the phone, he kept saying "You'll just have to see it." It was in the middle of the work day when I saw the ad and I could hardly wait to get off and see what this was all about
I drove up to the area, where I had passed by a lot times previously. I meet with the guy and we walk next door to an unkept small house. It almost looked like it had been abandoned. The paint was peeling, the fence was falling down and there some old lawn mores or something on the lawn.
We walk in the door and the guy shows me around the living room and bedroom were most of the records are. He mentioned there were more in the basement but they were really hard to get to. I start going through the collection. The first record i see is an unopened copy of the Velvet Underground banana cover. He says he found some Beatles and Stones and things like that.
I don't remember if i had a portable the first time I looked but I remember walking out with almost 75 records the first go. Some records that i was really surprised to find were...
Eddie Gale Ghetto Music
Ernie Hines - Sealed
The Flasher OST - Sealed
Sooo many others.
There were unopened boxes with the return address of Stax Records and other companies with the receipt and invoice inside. Bags straight from the record stores with the receipt in them, records sealed. The guy was a hoarder and had stacked the whole house full of crap. Old beer, antiques, porn, newspapers, lunchboxes etc. He had an affinity for records which made it especially nice.
The house was so full of stuff that there was only a small trail to walk through from room to room.
I went back about 5-10 times a lot of which I was helping move crap out of the house and into the dumpster so that I could get to the records.
It turned out that the owner of the house had gotten trapped one day when a tower of newspaper fell on him. His neighbor had noticed that the guy was MIA for a few days and walked over the house and found him. He didn't know the extent of what this guy had. In the end the city made him clean it up and the guy who posted the listing was helping him sell things off and clean out the house.
I gave the guy a hint and told him to sell the Velvet Underground on ebay. He sold it for like $800 or something like that. I was pulling SO much good stuff, mostly sealed, that I felt like I was taking advantage of him. I have photos of a lot of it. No one in the finds thread believed me when I was posting all these sealed record on here.
Anyways, this collection exposed me to so much music and it turned out to be a lot more that 15,000!!
About 3 years ago I responded to a listing on the local news classified page. The ad had no photos and wasn't very revealing as to what in the collection contained, only that there were 15,000 or more records.
I immediately responded to the ad. After I spoke to the guy over the phone, he kept saying "You'll just have to see it." It was in the middle of the work day when I saw the ad and I could hardly wait to get off and see what this was all about
I drove up to the area, where I had passed by a lot times previously. I meet with the guy and we walk next door to an unkept small house. It almost looked like it had been abandoned. The paint was peeling, the fence was falling down and there some old lawn mores or something on the lawn.
We walk in the door and the guy shows me around the living room and bedroom were most of the records are. He mentioned there were more in the basement but they were really hard to get to. I start going through the collection. The first record i see is an unopened copy of the Velvet Underground banana cover. He says he found some Beatles and Stones and things like that.
I don't remember if i had a portable the first time I looked but I remember walking out with almost 75 records the first go. Some records that i was really surprised to find were...
Eddie Gale Ghetto Music
Ernie Hines - Sealed
The Flasher OST - Sealed
Sooo many others.
There were unopened boxes with the return address of Stax Records and other companies with the receipt and invoice inside. Bags straight from the record stores with the receipt in them, records sealed. The guy was a hoarder and had stacked the whole house full of crap. Old beer, antiques, porn, newspapers, lunchboxes etc. He had an affinity for records which made it especially nice.
The house was so full of stuff that there was only a small trail to walk through from room to room.
I went back about 5-10 times a lot of which I was helping move crap out of the house and into the dumpster so that I could get to the records.
It turned out that the owner of the house had gotten trapped one day when a tower of newspaper fell on him. His neighbor had noticed that the guy was MIA for a few days and walked over the house and found him. He didn't know the extent of what this guy had. In the end the city made him clean it up and the guy who posted the listing was helping him sell things off and clean out the house.
I gave the guy a hint and told him to sell the Velvet Underground on ebay. He sold it for like $800 or something like that. I was pulling SO much good stuff, mostly sealed, that I felt like I was taking advantage of him. I have photos of a lot of it. No one in the finds thread believed me when I was posting all these sealed record on here.
Anyways, this collection exposed me to so much music and it turned out to be a lot more that 15,000!!
