For whatever reason, I called my record collecting posts "Vinyl Hunter" back in 2016. I had just gotten back into collecting vinyl records, and at the time I didn't really think about the possibility of adding 78 rpm records to my collection. That all changed a couple years ago, when I shared my copy of Uncle Bunt Stephens, "Sail Away Lady" / "Louisburg Blues" (Columbia, 1926), which I got off eBay. However, that wasn't even the first piece of shellac I bought. But, we'll get to that.
First, I wanted talk about my most recent 78 haul. Earlier this year, I stopped into an antique store in South Carolina while traveling for work and walked out with four shellac records. Awhile back, I joined a 78 rpm collecting group on Facebook, and someone posted some records that had just been put on the store floor at Catnip Antiques in Simpsonville, S.C. It just so happened that the store was on my way back to the airport, so I decided to check it out.
Here's what I got:
- Blind Lemon Jefferson, "Black Snake Moan" / "Match Box Blues" (Okeh, 1927)
- The Hill Billies, "Old Joe Clark" / "Whoa! Mule" (Okeh, 1925)
- Harry "MAC" McClintock, "The Bum Song No. 2" / "Big Rock Candy Mountain" (Victor, 1928)
- Fred "Sugar" Hall and His Sugar Babies, "Waitin' for Katie" / "She's the Sweetheart of Six Other Guys" (Okeh, 1928)
Apparently, I had just missed out on some Paramount records, but I was happy to find these gems. While the Blind Lemon record was obviously the most valuable record of the quartet, I was especially happy to find "Big Rock Candy Mountains" on 78, considering its role in O Brother, Where Art Thou? and that film's role in my getting into old-time music. The Hill Billies record is a bit rough, but I couldn't pass up the iconic string band, and the Fred Hall record isn't old-time but was bought solely based on the hilarious title of the B-side.
This was by far the biggest shellac haul I've ever had. In the past, I've usually bought 78s one or two at a time, usually from eBay. That was the case with the aforementioned Uncle Bunt Stephens record, but I never shared when I purchased its sibling, "Candy Girl" / "Left in the Dark Blues" (Columbia, 1926), which I scored last summer. Those two records were must-haves for my old-time collection.
The first shellac records I ever owned were included in the purchase of a wind-up Silvertone Portable phonograph. Inside the built-in record holder were five records, including Bessie Brown's "Chloe" / "Someone Else May Be There While I'm Gone" (Brunswick, 1928), Perry Como's "You're Just in Love" / "It's a Lovely Day Today" (RCA Victor, 1950), Bing Crosby's "Silent Night" / "Adeste Fideles" (Decca, 1947), the Korn Kobblers' "Horses Don't Be on People" / "Sylvia" (Majestic, 1945), and Vaughn Monroe and His Orchestra, "Riders in the Sky" / "Single Saddle" (RCA Victor, 1949).
My first time I specifically purchased just 78s was on a pair of Edison diamond discs by Ohio fiddler John Baltzell, who reportedly played music with Dan Emmett, another Ohioan. The two Edison Records releases I have are "Durang Hornpipe Medley" / "The Old Barn Medley Quadrille" from 1923 and "The Buckeye Medley Quadrille" / "Money Musk Medley" from 1924. I bought these in 2019, before the pandemic.
In 2023, I made two separate purchases on a trio of records. First was Henry Whitter, "Rain Crow Bill Blues" / "The Weeping Willow Tree" (Okeh, 1924). The second was A.C. "Eck" Robertson, "Turkey in the Straw" with Henry C. Gilliland / "Ragtime Annie" (Victor, 1923). And finally, the third was "Prohibition - Yes or No - Part 1" / "Prohibition - Yes or No - Part 2" by Clayton McMichen, Riley Puckett, Lowe Stokes, Bert Layne and Tom Dorsey (Columbia, 1930).
One other 78 I have is Hal Singer, "Hot Rod" / "Rock N' Roll" (Savoy, 1955). It's a fun, sax-heavy rhythm and blues record.
Ever since reading Do Not Sell at Any Price, by Amanda Petrusich, I've had an itch to collect 78s. However, I remain very selective about what records I pick up. Do you collect 78s? Share your stories in the comments.
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