Yes, it’s record sorting and pricing time again! Actually a lot of records have been through here since I did these little mini record reviews but there wasn’t anything exceptional enough to even bother mentioning.
As always, all records mentioned here (whether good or bad) are available for sale at the St. Vincent de Paul shop in Hilbert, Wisconsin on Hwy 57. Proceeds from all sales go to help our neighbors in need. We do not sell on the internet. We do only in person sales at the store.
Technical details: Every LP I get through here is examined for defects. Discs that are scratched, cracked or otherwise damaged in ways that might harm someone’s turntable are go in the bin. If I wouldn’t play it on my own equipment, I sure as heck am not going to put it out for sale. Almost all of the LPs that I get require cleaning. I mean… Come on, people, what the heck do you do with some of these albums, use them to serve pizza or something? Sheesh. Prices are determined by “fair market value” and we charge 1/3 of that price. So an album that’s selling for an average of $15 on eBay or Discog or wherever will go for $5. An album that sells for $5 will go for a buck.
Let’s start out with an absolute stinker.
Yes, it’s the Ray Conniff Singers (shudder). The epitome of the genre that people of my generation called “elevator music”. They took popular songs of the day, removed every trace of originality and emotional content, ran it through the washing machine of dullness, then applied a heavy coating of boring, and this is what we ended up with. Generic background music designed to be utterly ignorable. No outer jacket but the record itself is in pristine, 100% playable condition. Unfortunately. And it can all be yours for just $1 !!! Now you’d think I must have something good to say about this one. I mean it’s Beethoven’s Concerto #5 in E-flat, for heaven’s sake. And normally I would. Firkusny on piano is technically brilliant and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra was no slouch either when this was produced. But… But dear lord is this recording bad! I don’t know if something happened in the pressing process, in the production process, or what. But it sounds like someone ran it through filters that dulled down the brilliance of the sound. I can admire the technical expertise of the artists, yes, but the sound quality of the recording itself is abysmal and almost lifeless. You can pick this one up for $1 but personally I wouldn’t bother. There are much, much better recordings out there.Unlike poor Beethoven up there, this one is absolutely brilliant. The philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy doing Christmas classics in a brilliantly produced recording and a disc that is in almost perfect condition. $3 at the store.A lot of amazing things came out of the Renaissance. This is not one of them. The performances by the singers and musicians are technically excellent but for anyone except a scholar of the period the music itself is, frankly… Well let’s put it this way: When it comes to this album, what happened in the Renaissance should have stayed in the Renaissance. $1Remember what I said about Ray Conniff? Ditto for this one. There is no excuse for this album to even exist. The 101 Strings weren’t even an actual orchestra. They were a mixed group of studio/free lance musicians that were hired by the job to make this drivel by a fellow named David Miller between the late 1950s and around 1980. Miller cranked out 150 of these albums. Seriously. 150 of them. $1This one was a total surprise. It was stuffed into the same jacket as the 101 Strings album was and is without an outer jacket. Barnet was a jaz saxophone player, composer and big band leader. I had to run this one through the washer three times to get it clean but now the disc is in nearly perfect condition and it was worth the effort. No skips, no hiss, no pops. it plays like a new pressing. If you enjoy big band jazz music you need this recording. Unfortunately because it has no jacket or inner sleeve I’m going to have to put a generic white sleeve on it and can only put $1 on it. If it gets to the store, that is. I’m very, very tempted to keep this one for myself. It’s that good.The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem were very popular back in the 1950s and 60s. They made appearances on the Ed Sullivan television show, Newport Folk Festival and other prominent venues. They continued to perform until 1998. If you want to know more about them you can go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clancy_Brothers This album is in excellent condition with some minor damage to the corners of the outer jacket. The disc needed cleaning but came out beautifully and plays with no hiss, pop or skps. Not everyone’s cup of tea I admit, but for folk singing enthusiasts it’s a real bargain at just $1 at the store.Hey, it’s Boston, all right? What can I say? This is a original copy of their debut album. The outer jacket is in worn condition with corner damage but the disc itself has been thoroughly cleaned in the disc washer and plays beautifully on my turntable with no hiss, pops or skips. If I already didn’t have this one in my personal collection it would never make it to the store. Just $5 at the store in Hilbert.I don’t like Alabama. Not even a tiny, tiny bit. I dislike their whiny, sappy love songs and everything else about them. They’re what I call a purely commercial band. Their music is carefully crafted not to be a genuine expression of their feelings, but carefully and cynically designed to get emotional reactions out of people so they can suck up all that yummy, yummy money. But that’s why I’m here too, to try to get your money for our charity. So I have to grit my teeth and try to sell this sucker for $2
And now I’m getting bored and I’m sure you are too so let’s wrap this up.
As noted above, all of the records listed here are available at the St. Vincent store in Hilbert. So if you get in the area, stop in and check the place out.
grouchyfarmer 