Rare Music?


I am a newbie to this site but I have been observing for quite sometime. I don't know if this topic has been brought up before, but I thought I would give it a whirl.

Anybody got any Rare music, maybe by a known artist or a not so well known artist that you think others would enjoy? Or is anybody looking for a rare recording? Do you have Orginal Albums in mint shape that your proud to talk about?

I have been a fan of music all my life and rare recordings used to be a BIG hobby of mine but it seems that in the past few years, rare recordings have become pretty mainstream. It's not hard to find a Live "bootleg" (that ususally sounds bad anyway) or a "Japanese" import of an album marked up 30 bucks with the same songs as the domestic recording - or what about that rare B sides that just show up on a Box Set.

But when it was hard to find, it was fun.

e.g.,
I just noticed that the "Grand Funk Railroad - Survival" Album was just released on CD here in the US. I heard this album when I was a kid over and over again (the Quadrophonic Stereo recording I might add) and I haven't heard or seen it sinceand for a while there I was looking pretty hard.

Not that I am a huge GFR fan, but it sure would have been nice to find this when it was still hard to find.
cjhedinger
Here's a couple of cd's that I own but am having trouble finding for friends. 1) The first Little Big Band album by Colin James. Great music and great fun if you are at all into a swing/rock mix. 2) The Talk Back album by Passport. That is fantastic jazz by one of the best (btw, another great Passport cd, Infinity Machine is only $10 on cdnow -- I found that because I am still looking for the Talk Back cd). Great thread. I'm looking forward to seeing other responses.
I have a lot of late 70s, early 80s punk on original labels. These include Devo recorded and produced locally in Ohio and the same for the B52s in Athens, GA. The same songs are on the over produced mass market LPs that some of you may own. These originals are much better performances. They sound like real bands. I have many many other bands including some original British imports. The list is long.

Then there is my LP of Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadephia Orchestra in Peter and the Wolf narrated by David Bowie on GREEN clear vinyl.

I also have a Rolling Stones "Some Girls" LP with the cover where all of the women's faces appear. Most have some pictures blocked out because they were too revealing for the times. (Or something like that.)

While not music....for super super rare is an original recording of the entire speech General Douglas MacArthur gave to Congress when he retired (the "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away" speech). It is on multiple 78 RPM records all in the original sleeves and packaging. Mint condition, possibly never been played. I've been thinking of contacting the Smithsonian or Library of Congress to find out if any other copies exist.
I have a copy of URGH! A Music War, on CD. It is hard to find and usually goes for about $125.

Brad Day
Atlanta, GA
Strange how the mind works. This thread got me to thinking about a band by the name of Klaatu. I didn't even know how to spell the band name, but Google sure did! There now is an official Klaatu website (of course). The first 2 of their 5 albulms, "3:47 EST" (1976 release with a Sunshine happy face on the cover) and "Hope" (1977 release) have been remastered and released on CD (available for $12 each at www.bullseyecanada.com).

I remember buying these in 8-track format because the artwork looked "really cool". High shcool, what can I say? What struck me at the time was that the music was very melodic with a hint of Pink Floyd-like space age meanderings. But then someome must have borrowed and never returned them. I probably only listened once or twice, so it's quite a blur.

According to the Klaatu website, there were rumors at one point that these guys were the Beatles (and not just three obscure faceless guys from Toronto). The story makes for good reading. This is not the way I remember the Klaatu sound... but I'll report back after when the discs arrive.
Wmcmanus, Klaatu!!! Man if they are who I think they are, then that is a group I haven't heard for quite sometime. I can't describe them any better than you did, sort of a spacey sounding music that was mostly (if not all) instumental, and continuous???

I hope this thread stays alive!
I can't account for taste, but the following are pretty good and possibly rare:

Flim and the BBs Tricyle on 180g vinyl. Missing 'The Wedding March' song that's on the CD.

Blue Chip Orchestra on the Erdenklang Label. Two German synth players who don't sound anything like Tangerine Dream.

I have a very rare(I think) lp titled Monnwind from an English duo called Wavestar. Synth music with a melody.


Here are a couple of obscure recordings:

EARLY HI-FI by Bell Labs. 1931-1932. Leopold Stokowski Conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra, Volumes 1 & 2. The first stereo recordings ever made. Released on LP in 1979 in a very limited quantity.

Smithsomian Collection of Classic Country Music. This one is just too cool. LP versions of country music beginning with the decade of the 1920's. Many of the cuts were put on these LP's for the first and only time. This was waaay before TNN and country commercialism. Fun to listen to.
OK I probably have an ultra-sophisticated collection of records and CDs.
I have lots of sophisticated electronics, avant-grade jazz, different types of progressive rock and even ultra-hard to find neo-classical pieces.
I also have a list for sale of the ultra-rare electronic synth german records that are realy more quiet than some of the CDs. I can assure you that if you dig onto these records you shall get high with no drugs just by listening. The prices vary from $12...20 per each and ALL original. If you know Roedelius or Klaus Schulze(from Tangerine Dream) you might even more appreciate the list if you would like...
There are electronic effects that demands an ability to bring very tiny and thin details that no CD or SACD can deliver!
Some of these records I'm not motivated to sell and if you want I can "show" you the list.
I also have mint originals of german krautrock but they probably die with me and I would be willing to listen to them the rest of my life.
Ozfly,

I found the Colin James album on Yahoo:

http://shopping.yahoo.com/shopd=product&id=1921150528&clink=dmmu.artist

No luck on the Passport album...
I have an LP of JIMI HINDRIX "Woke up this Morning and
Found Myself Dead" Featuring: Jim Morrison,hca,vcls,abuse
obscenities,mumbling; Johnny Winter,rhy gtr; Buddy Miles;
dms.Rec.Live at the "scene"Clud,N.Y.C 1968.Release "Red
Lightnin" record company.
And "THE BEATLES"Featuring;Tony Sheridan Release by:
Mr.Pickwick Records.
Not to offend anyone but I find the emphisis on exclusiveness rather than on quality disturbing. If the idea is to save rareities from extinction then I'm all for it. Otherwise it just confirms a lot of the negative comments aimed at audiophiles.
I have some rather obscure, maybe even rare, LP's from the 1960's -- mostly jazz, but also some folk albums. The best example that comes immediately to mind is the first LP done by a group called "The Big Three", which featured Cass Elliott, later of the "Mamas and the Papas" fame.

I've also got several early LP's by jazz guitarist Charlie Byrd, done for a very small label in Washington, DC.
Unsound,
No offense taken here, I agree with you - but I think I need to clarify a bit.

My impression of this site is that all of us share an overwhelming appreciation for a quality recording - where ever that may fall in our individual spectrums. As a subsequent, biproduct of this passion (or for some of us I would assume a symbiotic passion) I am also interested in music as a whole.

I certainly don't enjoy listening to a poorly tranferred recording in the same way that I appreciate a flawlessly recorded piece but I do appreciate the insight offered or perhaps the general "exclusivity" of owning a particular piece of an artist who I admire, or perhaps a genre that is only alive and well in somebody's music collection.

And where quality and rarity are both the case is certainly an ideal find to say the least.

To point, I wanted to start this thread to find !Audiophiles! who feel the same way or at least had something to share along these lines, not just collectors that have a rare 8 track they found in their garage.
As far as confirming ideals of audiophile nay sayers, I haven't heard any such comments, but I would also have alot of trouble taking criticism from those who "just don't get it".
Wmcmanus - OOPS

I am embarassed to say that I was quick to respond about "Klaatu". They are not that band I thought they were. I just recieved clarity from an authority on this subject (a.k.a. Dad) and I was in fact confusing the name "Klaatu" with "Tomita" (as you said, funny how the mind works). Tomita’s “Bermuda Triangle” album is the recording I am thinking of which come to find out is also a Rarity.
Cj, thanks for looking. The address you gave was not a valid one. I looked for the album on the Yahoo site and only saw the Colin James and the Little Big Band II (which is also great but not the same as the first). Thanks again.

By the way, I also enjoy the Tomita recordings. Takes me back to my less than lucid college days.

Unsound, there is indeed no joy in digging up exclusive bad recordings. Nor perhaps in exclusive great recordings if they are no longer available anywhere. My hope was that folks like Cj may point the way where none was found before.
Oz
I swear that link worked earlier, but it didn't work for me just now either. I did however repeat the search and I found the album again. When you get to the LBB-2 album on Yahoo, click the link that says "more albums by this artist" - below the album cover photo, and it is about halfway down. Just so you know I am not crazy, here is part of the track list:

1. Cadillac Baby
2. That's What You Do to Me
3. Sit Right Here
4. Three Hours Past Midnight
etc. etc.
One of my more enjoyable albums is Spooky Tooth "The Mirror" I have the LP and CD, try to find the record if you can. Why these guys were a one-album wonder I'll never understand. While you're at it, see if you can hunt down a copy of Frank Zappa's "Does Humour Belong in Music". Best live album I've ever heard; if Frank's version of "Whipping Post" doesn't move you...nevermind. Buy these two.
I have a couple Klaatu LPs. I remember the Beatles rumor.
Give me the urge to go through my LPs this weekend looking for more rare ones.
Cj, as audiophiles, we are of course all crazy ;-) Thanks for looking for the cd -- I found it but it is not available. I'm on the waiting list though. Thanks again.

Jeff, a Zappa "Whipping Post" -- that, I've got to hear!
Jeffloistarca,

I looked up Spooky Tooth, says Gary Wright is (was) the front man - the "Dreamweaver" guy. Pretty interesting...
One of my prized possessions...a double live AC/DC soundboard DAT source bootleg...from the Back in Black tour...recorded in Tokyo...this is the best live album never made! I will never sell this...even if my life depended on it...it is that good...ultra rare!
The Zappa, Does Humor Belong in Music (though real spiff) isn't all that rare. F.Z's Them or Us also has a version of Whipping Post on it, but Dweezil only solos on the live one. Make a Jazz Noise Here, Roxy and Elsewhere, Ahead of Their Time and Bongo Fury also have lots of valuable live twisted Zappa goodness on them.
If any one can point me towards Larry Coryell/ Fairyland, Good God, L.S. Bearforce, Dave Pike/Solomao, Wolf/Satutation Point, A.F.T., or Egberto Gismonti/ Fantasia, PLEASE RESPOND!
PS, near the end of their run, Spooky Tooth made a weak record or two w/ Mike Patto (from Patto) in their band. The first three records Patto put out are at present criminally under recognized. Ollie Halsall's guitar work alone establishes these records as some of the best rock stuff ever put out.
Interesting reading this thread! I haven't got much in my collection, it's purely digital, but I'm very interested in the electronic artist Silver Distance, very little is known about the DJ/producer act but I've managed to get my hands on a first edition lossless 32kbps 96kHz dubplate rip recording of the 2009 "Fido" 7 inch. Happy to share the file if anyone sends me a message, I've found something new with every listen, a wonderful piece.
Just received a re-mastered Kennelmus "Folkstone Prism" , an early psych record from 1971 that was limited then.