Back To The Buget Bin!

There was a record collectors' show in Raleigh this past weekend and yours truly went. I've sat out the past few years' worth of shows owing to issues concerning family and finances. The planets were in perfect alignment for this one, so I hit the ol' vinyl trail.

Naturally, I set my sights on cheap-jack artifacts from the 'sixties and I wasn't disappointed. Here are some high-lights from my outing.

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Given my irrational fascination with Beatle cash-in records, I'd have to say the major "find" of this particular outing was the "Sing A Song With The Beatles" LP on the Tower record label.

It's one of those audacious rip-off where an inattentive consumer hight've been lulled into thinking this was a legit album by the four lads from Liverpool. After all, there are their full-color pictures right on the front cover! And look "THE BEATLES" is displayed in large print right there at the top!

Now, if you knew what you were getting, this was a pretty cool record. There are instrumental "backing tracks" from eleven then-current Beatles songs on the record. The gate-fold sleeve includes all the lyrics and guitar chords so that one could sing and play along.

I'd been stalking this one for years, but the typical $100 price tag put it out of my range. This copy had a $4 sticker on it, so I pounced. It's in nice shape, too, barring a split at the top of the jacket. Sweet!

Here's a similar LP that I saw at another dealer's table. I didn't even know it existed! "Sing And Play Along Beatles Kit" is on the London label. I love the graphic equation on the front cover:

4 kids + wigs + guitar + harmonica + bass + LP = BEATLES!

Yep, it had on of those $100 price tags, so back in the bin it went.

But a new search has started. Maybe I'll find an affordable copy by the time I'm sixty?

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Oh, joy! I also found a couple surf / drag/ California-Sound cash-ins.

Dragsville, by The Woofers, is a pretty good album. In addition to not-too-bad versions of "Little Deuce Coupe" and "Drag City" we're treated to eight other decent exploitation-themed originals. Not up there with The Beach Boys or Jan & Dean, but a solid third-tier offering, I'd say.

"Some Of The Best Hits From California" on the "WW" label was an unexpected find! It is a collection of cover tunes by studio musicians much in the mold of my beloved "Hit Records" series. I had never come across the "WW" imprint before. Apparently this series was put out by something called "World Wide Productions," hence the double W.

The first side is the surf/folk-rock side with covers of Surf City, Fun, Fun, Fun, It Ain't Me, Babe and Eve of Destruction. The second side kicks off with "Everybody Loves Somebody!"

The covers are ably performed, but the energy level seems a little low over-all. Still, I'm happy to have this one in my pantheon of bogus LPs collection.

(Oh, yeah. I did manage to score a nice copy of "Current Hits Vol. No. 7" on the Hit Records label, as well. Life is good!)

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Back in the mid-sixties a Canadian rock and roll combo changed its name from Chad Allen and the Expressions to The Guess Who and started having hits. Their early stuff is really great and I managed to find two(!) budget line reissues of these songs for less than $4, total. The amazing thing is, except for their first big hit. "Shakin' All Over" there is very little overlap on the two LPs, even though they mine the same time period. One I transfer these to CD-R I'll have a pretty solid collection of jamz. Word up, home slice!

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Hey! Wait a minute! Who are these guys and what are they doing here?

Well, I found a couple interesting-looking big band compilations put out by Circle Records in 1983 and though I'd take a flyer. I like big bands and at a buck-apiece, how could I lose?

The picture, above, is from the "Tiny" Hill (far left) and his Orchestra (1943-1944) LP.

I also got Ray Herbeck and his Modern Music with Romance (1942). Wow, what an unwieldy moniker, eh?

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Oh, boy! Look what I found in the fifty cent bin! Man, a cool Mexican 45 with a really boss-looking picture sleeve. Los Pekenikes? Never heard of them! But the photo shows a quintet of angst-laden teens with electric guitars, so it has to be good, right?

Wrong!

Lady Pepa and Arena Caliente are two slices of prime musack from south of the border. This was really unexpected. Ah, well. It still is a pretty cool picture sleeve and I did manage to escape into the world of record collector geekdom for an afternoon.

Well, gang. That's my report. Now, the next big challenge will be to find time to listen to this stuff.