delano Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 Hello all, I scored big time this weekend. I went to a friend of a friends house for a new years party last week and noticed a large amount of vinyl. It turns out that the owner of the house inherited this large collection ( 900 +) of records from his dad. I asked him what he was going to do with it and he wanted it to go to a good home. So I went over this weekend to look through them and pick out a few. As I started I could not believe what I found. Mint condition classical recordings from the 50's and sixties and mostly mono recordings. There were some of my favourite operas as well as symphonies, needless to say it was overwhelming. The owner approached me and asked me if I wanted the whole lot and to make him an offer. I only had $200.00 dollars on me and I told him that, he replied "sold". So here I am with over 900 classical recordings along with my 400+ jazz and rock collection. I guess I am definitely back into vinyl. I will definitely need a record cleaning machine and a turnatable upgrade. Mr. Max G I will definitely be posting some of my finds as the weeks go on and asking for your opinions. It will take me quite a while to go through all of these. Delano Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauln Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Wow! All I can say is wow! Wow! I said that already,... wow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxg Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Sounds like a score and a half. I doubt many of them are particularly valuable - financially speaking - but they are probably priceless in terms of the music you just scored. I can help out on the classical only - you will need Allan (probably) for the Jazz - and those might be of higher values as Jazz seems to command better prices. Just for now - have a skip through them and let us know what labels you have picked up. Older Mercury recordings, Westminster mono's and Colombia 6-eyes can be great!!! There are many others as well of course - but I would guess those 2 are the most probably finds from records of that era in the US. Feel free to PM me with any questions. Not that I am jealous or anything - but you just about matched my classical collection in a single score - and for considerably less than I invested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAPTORMAN Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Delano We are in the same neighborhood--How come I never get that lucky?? I always get stuck in some Salvation Army store digging for vinyl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rplace Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Congrats! Nice score. I have a friend in Toronto. If you find that you just have too many old Jazz LPs give me a yell[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lwhaples Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Classic Rock,and I'd be drooling. Congrats! Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 In my experience, I've found that many classical mono LPs can be a bit noisy even if they look great, especially RCAs (maybe just my luck). I hope that's not the case here. I love mono jazz LPs but usually prefer classical in stereo. You may find differently however. I hope so. In any case, nice score and I hope you enjoy them. Other than what Max said, look for RCA Living Stereo's, London, Decca, Angel and Deutche Grammaphone labels which can all be really nice, depending. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxg Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 Gary, Angel? ANGEL? Really nice? Little tip - all decent sounding Angels are from the back catalogue of EMI and - IME - none EVER sound as good as the original EMI release. Angels do have nicer jackets though. Agree on Living Stereo, Decca, London etc. - just when he said mainly mono's I left them off. Colombia's and Mercuries are usually the cream of the mono bunch - with Westminster too - but they are rarer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delano Posted January 22, 2006 Author Share Posted January 22, 2006 I have been going through a ton of records in the last two weeks and have found some amazing stuff. Max G, I have been seeing many early Decca, London, Mercury and Columbia pressings. Even though all of the records I received were classical I made some interesting discoveries which would interest the jazz fans. On several records on the Vox label I noticed that the sound engineer is none other than Dr. Rudolph Van Gelder a.k.a. RVG of Blue Note fame. I have been thoroughly enjoying some fantastic performances on vinyl. I especially love hearing mono pressings with Maria Callas in her prime. It will take me quite a while to get through all these new records but i will keep posting updates to any interesting finds. Delano Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxg Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 "I have been thoroughly enjoying some fantastic performances on vinyl. I especially love hearing mono pressings with Maria Callas in her prime." Just for interest see if you have Umberto Giordano's Andrea Chenier with the Aria "La Mamma Morta" anywhere. To find a recording of the whole opera is quite rare - but you often find that aria on a "best" collection - and it really is probably the best Aria ever IMHO. For those of you that do not know it - if you ever saw the Film Philadelphia it is the Aria that the dying lawyer (Tom Hanks) plays to his friend (Denzel Washington) at home after the party. Obviously there are many many more Callas Aria's to name - but that one is just a weakness of mine - Callas' La Boheme, for example, is simply staggering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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