Speaking of nice scores...
I went to a great little (very small) record expo on Saturday, 9/15...
The show was mostly rock records, a spattering of soundtracks and Jazz but it was definitely rock that ruled the roost at this small gathering of sellers. A few sellers (like that long-haired hippy dude) were really nice people, with great prices on some real joints... He knew I was dieing for a few of his rock and reggae records and I had limited cash on me at the time (that's a good thing, it kept me in check!) so he knocked 12 bucks off a big purchase of wax from his collection.
Another seller was a genuine rock snob that knew 100 times more then I ever would about all years of rock and what underground joints were the good ones. He talked my ear off about how great this 25 dollar record was and how groundbreaking it was. I had to leave his section, I needed to get him out of my bubble, but I ended up on biting and buying the record for 20 later on.
Then you had the extreme over-priced guy in the middle. Everything he had was 10-20 bucks higher than what you could get online. Does he think that people don't have smartphones there? All of his stock was in plastic sleeves and CRAMMED into the display racks he had built so there was no way of flipping through his stacks without pulling 30 records out of the front and setting them aside to make room. I did that so I could flip thru the records quickly and he gave me the eye to make sure I put that 30 stack back where I found it. All of it was boring Elvis type crap and overpriced everything else that I actually wanted so I didn't even bother digging beyond 2 rows of that stuff. However, he did have in his possession a Sun Ra DVD I had never seen before. I study that guy, so I ended up biting on that since it was only 7 bones. He didn't rate Sun Ra I guess, only Elvis, so yeah, we wouldn't get along very well in a social setting.
So I spent about 3 hours digging Sat afternoon, next to pushy rock snobs trying to get their filthy paws on the good shit, and other dealers trying to trade and haggle their goods with each other. I would have been in heaven if those guys showered at least, the body odor stench was unbearable, but I think that's a tactic to keep other diggers out of their digging personal-bubbles.
(Yadda, Yadda) Let's get to the meat and potatoes of the dig...
I Scored these spectacular finds!
Velvet Underground and Nico - Velvet Underground LP (Verve Records) 1967
^No, its not the original LP with the banned cover, but I'll never have 400 bucks for an OG, nor do I need that. I just needed a nice reissue because the music on this is quintessential psych rock. I have all their works on CD, but only a few albums on wax. This is a nice 80s repressing going for 30 bucks at discogs and only one seller has it, I got mine in NM condition for 5.
Various - The Right to D.I.Y. 2LP (Brown Paper Tickets) Year Unknown
^Took a chance on this since it's not on discogs. An Ebay seller wants 30 for it, and this hippy had it sealed for 4 bucks. I figured I would like this kind of garage music. It ended up being every genre in the book, even some poetry and a short comedy routine. As you might expect some of it is pretty cool and some of it shoulda remained underground. The worst ever backpacker Hip Hop song is on this comp, but it has one of the best punk songs I have ever heard, so it evens itself out nicely.
Points on a Space Age DVD (Sun Ra\Marshall Allen Documentary)
^Didn't watch this yet. But I needed it, I have 5 DVDs on the subject and they all are riveting.
Pere Ubu - Dub Housing LP (Chrysalis) 1979
^That rock snob was right, I needed this. Got my copy for 20 bucks. This is so solid, so different, and it will be good for multiple listens. Indescribable music, like nothing else I have ever heard but definitely something that is so young and smart and avant-punk in a way. Would mix well with the group "Television" IMO. I looked this up in the "Rock Snob's Dictionary" after I got home and not surprisingly this album had an entry.
Ethiopians - Slave Call LP (Rohit International Records) 1977
^The find of the day. At only 10 bucks it's easily the find of the month. Buying Roots Reggae from this group is almost a no-brainer. A real stunner of roots music. This reggae is real as it gets, and it's got those genuine feel good vibes.
Overall, I had a great dig and I still got plenty of new chunes left unlistened to until my studio expansion is complete. I can't wait to get that project done so I can enjoy the fruits.
“Lesser artists borrow... great artists steal.” - Igor Stravinsky
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