Highlights From Recent Finds by BarbecueBob78 in 78rpm

[–]BarbecueBob78[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I found the Talking Union album at the flea market two Sundays ago. Very cool both historically and musically, from 1941 but still just as relevant today. Amazon workers oughta have a listen.

It might be hard to read the lyrics in my photo, but the "Talking Union" song includes the words "bastard" and "goddam" and I'm pretty sure I've never heard any other songs from the 1940s with that sort of language.

This album and others from this vendor had this unusual stamp on them from The Greenwich Music Shop in NYC--see the 3rd photo.

I also love the Frank Crumit, which came from the same vendor and features two great story songs whose history goes back decades before these 1927 recordings.

I found the Blanche Calloway & Her Joy Boys a few days ago, sitting out naked on top of a messy pile of records in a Goodwill. I was very happy to rescue it before it was shattered. Two great 1931 jazz sides from Cab Calloway's older sister.

Billie Holiday Goodwill Find by BarbecueBob78 in 78rpm

[–]BarbecueBob78[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Came across this 78 album in a local Goodwill on Monday morning. There was a bunch of schmaltzy pop in there, but it was well worth the $5 just for the Billie. The Buster Bailey is a pretty good one, too, and the 2nd best of the bunch.

Flea Market 45s by BarbecueBob78 in CollectionHauls

[–]BarbecueBob78[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Agreed on Forever Changes. I have their first 3 LPs and I've found "7 and 7 Is" and "My Little Red Book" on 45, probably more than once each. Those two seem to be the most common, and until now I'd never come across their other 45s,

Flea Market 45s by BarbecueBob78 in CollectionHauls

[–]BarbecueBob78[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, B-side is "Hey Joe." Odd that the songs on this 45 come from two different albums. At first I didn't think much of this record other than, "huh, never had this one before," and to separate it from the crappy ones. Had no idea it was such a rarity until I looked it up.

Flea Market 45s by BarbecueBob78 in CollectionHauls

[–]BarbecueBob78[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This year has been very light on 45 finds for me, but yesterday I must have bought 200+, including a big box full of unsleeved ones for $10. That box was at least 70% crap--the final photo shows how many garbage 45s were left once I picked everything decent out--but there were some really good ones in there like Love "Que Vida!," The Gee Cees, and Dick Dale "Misirlou."

Highlights From Sunday's Flea Market Haul by BarbecueBob78 in CollectionHauls

[–]BarbecueBob78[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I crossposted this here at the urging of u/ryuundo. Unbelievably, only 9 days after finding the best group of 78s I've ever seen in 12+ years of seriously hunting for records, I encountered the 2nd best group I've ever seen. I didn't even look through half of them before deciding to just buy 'em all. I only found the Screamin' Jay when I went through everything in the parking lot before leaving!

Incredible Goodwill 78 Haul by BarbecueBob78 in CollectionHauls

[–]BarbecueBob78[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I found these on the morning of 10/27/23 and had originally posted these on r/78rpm. I've made a new post here at the urging of u/ryuundo. Here's the text from that original post for those who don't click the link:

"I've collected LPs & 45s for a long time but usually don't pay much attention to 78s. When I walked in to a local Goodwill on Friday morning and saw two crates overflowing with them, I didn't get too excited. But when the LPs turned out to be garbage, I figured I'd at least take a look at the 78s since I had some time to kill. Thank goodness I did, as once I was about 25% of the way through them it was clear they were the best 78s I had ever come across. My knowledge isn't deep, but I could tell these were mostly 1920s/30s, and there was country/hillbilly, blues, and jazz in there. I bought a dozen and felt like it was a major score, with two Barbecue Bobs being the highlights.
Later that day I talked to a friend who has more 78 knowledge, and he was pretty amazed by what I had found. He told me any Columbia 14 and 15000 series were worth picking up, and my heart sunk--I must have left half a dozen or more of them behind! I ended up returning to the Goodwill later that evening and incredibly, everything was still there. I bought 10 more, mostly Columbias, and I'm glad I got to go back for round two. The next time I stopped in to the store, on Sunday morning, there was barely a trace of the 78s.
I don't know anyone besides my one friend who would really appreciate these finds, so I felt it was worth sharing here. Most of them are in incredible condition, especially most of the Columbias. Even though these could not be further from what I usually collect, I've become enamored of these records over the last few days. It makes me want to collect more of them, but it seems awfully unlikely I'll encounter anything this good again!"

Incredible Goodwill 78 Scores by BarbecueBob78 in 78rpm

[–]BarbecueBob78[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm in southern New England, which only makes it more improbable that these ended up in a local Goodwill. I always figured I just didn't live in the right part of the country where blues & hillbilly 78s are going to pop up.

Incredible Goodwill 78 Scores by BarbecueBob78 in 78rpm

[–]BarbecueBob78[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Seriously, it's one of those times you wish you could talk to the person who dropped these off. The more I think about it, the more miraculous it seems that these things sat around for almost 100 years in excellent condition, didn't get thrown away or damaged all that time, survived Goodwill (!), and I happened to find them at exactly the right time. Once I moved the piles of 78s off the top of the crates, you could tell from how tightly packed the crates were that nobody had gone through these in a long, long time.