After You've Gone

[audiophile102]

I won "After You've Gone" by the Charleston Chasers today on an Ebay auction. I have been hunting for this fantastic record for months and I'm excited. I wanted an E grade record at a fair price and I almost gave up finding one. Ernest Loring "Red" Nichols and his cohort Miff Mole made truly great music. Check out the You Tube video and try not to tap your feet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlM15iRroRo

[Pathe Logical]

Great score John - congratulations! Good luck convincing your wife it's time to buy a machine to play this on my friend! Start making room for a Credenza, Cortez, big Columbia Viva-tonal, etc.

See you at Union,
Bob

[gramophone-georg]

I have all the Chasers' releases and there's not a dud in the bunch. Late in the life of this great studio group the team of Red Nichols and Miff Mole were replaced by the team of Benny Goodman as nominal leader and Jack Teagarden. So many great musicians appear on these records it's insane. Dick Johnson, Leo McConville, Joe Tarto, Vic Berton, both Dorseys, Pee Wee Russell, Dick McDonough, Fud Livingston, Carl Kress, Dave Tough, as well as Gene Krupa and Glenn Miller on the last recordings, not to mention the great vocalists Eva Taylor and Roy Evans.

The last Chasers recordings were made in Feb. 1931. Four sides were cut. Columbia 2404-D, "When Your Lover Has Gone" / "Walkin' My Baby Back Home" was released as "Johnny Walker And His Orchestra" and early copies of 2414-D "Basin Street Blues" / "Beale Street Blues" were released as by "The Charleston Chasers, direction of Benny Goodman" and later copies as by "Benny Goodman And His Orchestra". Lots of collectors assume that the Johnny Walker disc is a Ben Selvin session, but while Selvin also used the Walker pseudonym in this case it's the Chasers.

Basically after that the Chasers merged with Ben Selvin's great Columbia studio orchestra which continued to issue some hot sides with the above musicians, later joined briefly by young Arthur Arshawsky, aka Artie Shaw, who went on to record some great hot licks with Roger Wolfe Kahn after Kahn's move to Columbia.

[audiophile102]

The record arrived in the mail today. The seller used the lowest cost box and padding which resulted in a broken record. I don't understand how anyone could expect something so fragile to survive the USPS in such a cheep box. I requested a refund, but what I really want is THE RECORD in E condition. As the great Herman Munster would say, "Darn, Darn, Darn.

[Curt A]

Sorry for your loss...

So many sellers online are idiots when it comes to shellac records, that I will never pay for one without grilling the seller regarding exactly how they intend to ship it. At least a four piece cardboard sandwich in at least a 4" tall box marked FRAGILE with lots of packing... You need to be specific and get them to agree before paying...

I guess the record title speaks for itself... "After You've Gone", there's no turning back...

[phonogfp]

After having experienced similar losses, I've come to the conclusion that as a record buyer on eBay, it's my responsibility to advise the seller how to package the record properly. The vast majority of eBay sellers are ignorant of proper packing (and why wouldn't they be?), so somebody had better tell them. Who better than the buyer? (Of course, none of this post is applicable when dealing with experienced record sellers.)

A couple of years ago I bought a Berliner record from a woman who listed it as a "Buy It Now." A half-hour after buying it, It occurred to me that anyone who would list a Berliner (and a pretty nice one at that) as a cheap "Buy It Now" probably doesn't know much about records. At that point I checked her other items for sale. Not another record among them. I sent her a message suggesting "...just in case you haven't shipped antique records before..." that she should sandwich it between 2 pieces of cardboard on each side, etc... I quickly received a nice response from her thanking me for the directions - - and telling me that she had originally planned to send it only in a padded envelope!

Yes, it sounds crazy to us, but if a person is unfamiliar with old records, how could she know?

If the seller refuses to follow the instructions, then at least you did everything you could to save the record. But without offering instructions, you're betting that the seller knows how to pack an antique record. That's a bet I lost once too often (a nice Faultless Concert comes to mind) and I no longer make that bet.

I suggest we all resolve to do our best to help educate sellers on how to pack the records we buy. As collectors and conservators, it's really our responsibility.

George P.

[marcapra]

George is very right here. Don't complain after the fact. Give instructions always. And if they are sending wax cylinders, the instructions need to be even more demanding!

[audiophile102]

After having experienced similar losses, I've come to the conclusion that as a record buyer on eBay, it's my responsibility to advise the seller how to package the record properly. The vast majority of eBay sellers are ignorant of proper packing (and why wouldn't they be?), so somebody had better tell them. Who better than the buyer? (Of course, none of this post is applicable when dealing with experienced record sellers.)

A couple of years ago I bought a Berliner record from a woman who listed it as a "Buy It Now." A half-hour after buying it, It occurred to me that anyone who would list a Berliner (and a pretty nice one at that) as a cheap "Buy It Now" probably doesn't know much about records. At that point I checked her other items for sale. Not another record among them. I sent her a message suggesting "...just in case you haven't shipped antique records before..." that she should sandwich it between 2 pieces of cardboard on each side, etc... I quickly received a nice response from her thanking me for the directions - - and telling me that she had originally planned to send it only in a padded envelope!

Yes, it sounds crazy to us, but if a person is unfamiliar with old records, how could she know?

If the seller refuses to follow the instructions, then at least you did everything you could to save the record. But without offering instructions, you're betting that the seller knows how to pack an antique record. That's a bet I lost once too often (a nice Faultless Concert comes to mind) and I no longer make that bet.

I suggest we all resolve to do our best to help educate sellers on how to pack the records we buy. As collectors and conservators, it's really our responsibility.

George P.

Outstanding advise that I will follow from now on. My experience purchasing records on Ebay has been mixed, but I thought I had it figured out. I always check the sellers ratings and feedback. I only bid on E- or better recordings with the exception of Edison records which are harder to find. I have sold many items on Ebay without difficulty. I shipped quite a few 78 records as well. I watched how to pack them on You Tube. I think I will post a link to the seller next time I win an auction. Thanks.

John J.