What albums that are considered to be "classics" are you still looking to purchase?

[Johnny Vinyl]

One that jumps out immediately is Fairport Convention - Unhalfbricking Thankfully I can listen to it on youtube, but I really should search out a vinyl copy one of these days.

[Analog21]

1) Etta James, At Last (pricey original, reissues are questionable)
2) John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman (don't want to buy the 45 RPM current reissue with one song on a side, but can't find an original in NM condition)
3) Marvin Gaye - Stubborn Kinda Fellow
4) Ritchie Valens - self titled on DelFi

[JCOConnell]

The only classics I don't have are the ones I am unaware of being classics....

[Garth]

Rockin Jimmi and the Brothers of the Night - by the light of the moon - lynn pressing

[MylesBAstor]

Mostly some original Decca classic releases but those will remain elusive until I hit the Lotto.

[Analog21]

A Pittsburgh classic group, and one of my dad's personal favorites: The Skyliners, self-titled LP on the Calico label (a rare Pittsburgh label) from 1959. Sadly, he never purchased the LP but just some 45s. He since has passed on, and have been looking for a Near Mint copy of this forever. If anyone finds a copy - grab it and I'll pay you for it! They were all teenagers who dropped out of Carrick High School near Pittsburgh and the group featured a female singer, Janet Vogel, which was rare for male pop groups of the 50s. "Since I Don't Have You' has one of the best vocal climaxes of any song I've heard: Jimmy Beaumont singing "You" over and over again (12 times I think) and Janet Vogel belting out the highest notes I've ever heard sung. So beautiful and timeless.

[Bill Hart]

Classic doo-wop. Not cheap either. Best bet is to go to a big record show where some of the sellers specialize in this, maybe to them, it's not so rare. I remember hearing this as a kid- I grew up in the 'Burgh, but that single was a big hit. Did you check Jerrys?

[Analog21]

Yes, I check with Jerry's often. if he ever gets one, it will go on his auction list. He's never posted one in the last couple years as of yet. I saw one at the Pittsburgh record convention a few months ago. I was pretty close to Near Mint and the dealer was asking $300. I just couldn't pay that much no matter how much I want the record. I'll keep scouring. Unfortunately, most of the LPs from that era are really expensive. I guess they didn't press a lot and are on obscure labels, such as Jubilee, Swan, Calico, END, Gee Records, Jamie, etc. Since the late 50s aren't popular with this generation, they'll never get reissued with original masters. Thankful my dad passed me on to this genre of music.

[Bill Hart]

One that jumps out immediately is Fairport Convention - Unhalfbricking Thankfully I can listen to it on youtube, but I really should search out a vinyl copy one of these days.

John -do you have What We Did on our Holiday? That one is great too. The trilogy- Holiday, Unhalfbricking and Liege are really worth owning. Early UK pink rims shouldn't be too painful.

[Johnny Vinyl]

Don't have those either, so thanks for the tip. Will do some searching to see what I can find.

[Johnny Vinyl]

John -do you have What We Did on our Holiday? That one is great too. The trilogy- Holiday, Unhalfbricking and Liege are really worth owning. Early UK pink rims shouldn't be too painful.

Someone on the SHForums wants $165 for an original UK Pink Rim.

[Bill Hart]

Someone on the SHForums wants $165 for an original UK Pink Rim.

John- that's a first pressing pink label (not rim) with the bulls-eye but a later lacquer number on side 2, which is odd, given that the bulls-eye pink label was the earliest style in the series. My copy is a 'blocked i' pink label (black logo with the 'i' in an oblong box) , which was the next iteration, used very briefly, before the label morphed again, to the pink label with the white 'i'. The stampers on mine are A2/B2. I think the reason for the variation of early bulls-eye and later side 2 stamper may be that different plants were pressing- Polydor, Orlake, maybe a few others, in this era, and they used their stock of labels as they had them. The pink rim is later than this, and is not a solid pink background, it has palm trees, and only the 'rim' is pink, not the whole label. The pink rim will be cheaper. I think I paid $100 for my blocked i copy which is a minty player. The one on offer is more collectible because it has the early bulls-eye label, but I don't know about the B3 stamper on side 2. FWIW, i've seen the earliest, bulls-eye pink label with A2/B2 in top condition selling for well over $300 US, which is why I opted for the interim blocked "i" version with the earliest stampers.

[Johnny Vinyl]

You're right of course....it is a Pink LABEL (don't know how I missed that, but probably what I meant to say). Thanks for all of the details my friend! I don't know the album, so I'm not prepared to spend a whole lot of money on a copy, but we'll see.

[MylesBAstor]

Leaving out a few Decca classical (price) and Blue Note jazz (price and condition), not a whole lot. Maybe more if something fell into my lap.

Parlophone Beatles
Original pressing DSOTM
Original pink label Cat Stevens TFTT
FR1 pressing of Hi Fi a la Espanola
1S pressing of Reiner's PInes of Rome

An original black/gold stereo of this (have the OJC). Not necessarily a classic but great music and recording that many don't know about!



An original black/gold of Way Out West



The 45 rpm pressing of Art Pepper. Somehow missed it when originally released.

[Johnny Vinyl]

There was much discussion about TFTT when Chad reissued this for his first release using QRP for the pressing. It was a gorgeous one at that, although many felt an original UK Island Pink Label bettered it. And while I don't have the UK pressing, I do have a German first issue that is supposed to be identical. When comparing my copy with Chad's I also thought the original was better. If you can find a German first issue I can surely recommend it.

[MylesBAstor]

There was much discussion about TFTT when Chad reissued this for his first release using QRP for the pressing. It was a gorgeous one at that, although many felt an original UK Island Pink Label bettered it. And while I don't have the UK pressing, I do have a German first issue that is supposed to be identical. When comparing my copy with Chad's I also thought the original was better. If you can find a German first issue I can surely recommend it.

Oh just for completeness. Have a bunch of different pressings including the pink rim and a mid-90s reissue reportedly mastered by Tim de Paravicini at Island with EAR gear in the Mid-90s. Whatever happened in the production of the 33 rpm seems to have been addressed with the 45 rpm release.

Funny thing is what were reviewers who raved about the reissue of TFTT hearing? Or were they reviewing using a test pressing (how does the sound of the test pressing relate to what I or the reader is going to buy?) and not the final production version. Personally I abhor the policy of reviewing with anything but the actual album. Like when HP reportedly reviewed the Wilson Audio release Centerstage using a lacquer (and other releases I hear also from other labels). I still don't get why people raved about the sound of Centerstage or Winds of War and Peace. Yet the command big prices on the used market.

[Bill Hart]

I haven't heard either Chad re-do of Tea. The pink label Island in minty condition should fetch around $100 unless prices have skyrocketed- as I recall it was first pressed on the last pink label iteration -the one with the white 'i'. The biggest gripe people seem to have with the old pink labels is noise. In some cases, I've gone through several copies to get a quiet one, but how much of that was previous turntable chew and how much is inherent to the pressing is sometimes hard to determine. The pink labels were originally pressed at Orlake and mainly by Polydor; later EMI started pressing for Island. My memory is a little fuzzy about when that happened in relation to the various label changes- but it is a safe bet that most of the pink rims are EMI pressings, which are quieter, but a little more steely sounding, not quite as much air or organic warmth. The deadwax tells you this- the Polydors used an A/1 nomenclature whereas the EMIs used a 1-U. (The -U- allegedly indicated that though EMI made, it was not mastered at Abbey Road). I'm pulling this from memory but I think this is correct. The other variation on the older pink labels--from Orlake used a + in the stamper code. Those are killer if you find a quiet one- my Tull Stand Up, which is on a bulls-eye pink label, is one such pressing.

[MylesBAstor]

Thanks for the info. Haven't looked at prices in a while but think they were going for more than $100.

[Guest]

Well, there's that Ginette Neveu box set that includes the Sibelius violin concerto, from EMI (RLS 739.)