Garage Sale Records

I hit a pretty good garage sale the other day -- but I've been kicking myself that I didn't load up some more. I heard the guy telling another guy that he could take what he wanted. But I didn't know it was the general policy.

They had a bunch of LPs, but they'd been stored in a basement and had a moderately musty smell. I glanced through them and saw some good titles -- not that many -- and didn't get any. There were some other guys who were already doing some good glomming on. But I definitely had my chance to grab what I wanted. I have a hard time with smelly records, especially if they aren't leaping out at me as something I really want. I have a couple regrets, but just mild regrets.

On the other hand, there were a bunch of music books -- yet even these weren't probably that great. But who cares, for free? But I didn't know they were free at this point, just what I heard him say to that one guy, who might've been a friend for all I knew.

I did get a couple of the old Hansen Publications Beatles' songbooks, including the Revolver songs with two pin-up covers affixed to the Revolver cover. The outer was was in worn shape, but the inner was well protected by the outer. This was in pretty good condition. The other was an earlier Beatles songbook from '64, in much worse condition but apparently completely intact.

But what I really liked were the 45s I found, which probably numbered around 50-60 of pretty good '60s and '70s ones. The real treat for me was that about 40 of these were in Woolworth cut-out/close-out plastic bags. I suppose that doesn't sound like much of a treat. But I used to look at records at Woolworth all the time and they had a rack of these in the same plastic bags. I don't remember ever buying any, but that's not to say I didn't. I just remember them and looking at them many times. And this is the first time since then that I've seen any!

The other 45s I got were piled in a garbage bag, no sleeves, and the plastic bags stuck in laundry soap boxes. I didn't check them out before hand, except to see a couple and know they were in bad shape. But when I was "checking out" I asked the guy how cheap I could get these records, and that's when he told me they were free -- they're yours -- and I could come back and get as much as I wanted. Well, the person I was with didn't want to stay any longer, I was extremely tired, I had other things to do, so I didn't go back. But I really could've loaded up on some halfway decent stuff -- some more than halfway.

The 45s in the laundry boxes turned out to be nearly destroyed. As badly beaten as any records you can picture, including some entirely broken. I seriously don't know how this happens to records. I can see them in a box being jostled back and forth occasionally and scratched, but to be so completely abused, that's the tough part to picture. Some of these were '50s, then '60s and '70s. There was one by Gene Vincent ("Lotta Lovin'), and I saw a couple Chantels records, and an Elvis EP, all beat to death. Some other good ones, once upon a time good.

The Woolworths ones -- if you have any memory of these -- were general '60s/'70s hits. Mama's and Papa's, Neil Diamond, Left Banke, Chicago, Ray Stevens, Lovin' Spoonful, New Colony Six, Four Tops, Supremes, Petula Clark, 4 Seasons, Dionne Warwick, Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Elton John, Peppermint Rainbow, Mungo Jerry, Hollies, Spanky & Our Gang, etc. Also Buffalo Springfield, "For What It's Worth." These were in pretty good shape, having the protection of the inner sleeve and the plastic bag!