I wrote about it a bit on The Buffalo Roots blog a few years ago, and my processing of my late father Edward's record collection continues.This time, it is a major step. While I have been inventorying and discussing many of the other boxes and cases of records (33s, 78s and a couple of 45s) from Dad's collection, I am finally going to open what was described to me as a case of either his favorites or important/valuable records, which were kept in a14-inch tall, 18-by-14-inch wooden and cloth case with some leather on the top cover.
It is the case that my father's sole Elvis Presley record, a 78 RPM recording of "Baby Let's Play House," b/w "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone" (RCA Victor 20-6383), which was moved to after it was found, without a cover, standing in one of those old wire record holders. Sadly, the record is very damaged, with a crack that runs through the middle of the record, leaving it held together basically by the label.
There are about 120 records in this case, and I haven't run across anything that seems overly valuable and/or famous/important yet as I start this project. Among the artists I've encountered so far are Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra, Tony Martin, Xavier Cugat, Dinah Shore, Danny Kaye, Vic Damone and Margaret Whiting. Dad was a major big band jazz and jazz vocalist fan, as you can probably tell.
Dad's other standout favorite was Spike Jones and His City Slickers; if you knew my father, you'd easily understand this, with his liking for incredibly corny puns and jokes and slapstick humor, as well as big band jazz. I can still hear Jones and his orchestra's recording of "Beetlebaum" to this day, especially when I hear the "William Tell Overture." So far, I haven't found a single one my father's Spike Jones recordings, but I do have a few boxes left to process.
