The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

King Oliver, Shake It and Break it
Jelly Roll Morton, Dr. Jazz

Both almost impossible to find in good shape. Donnie, HELP!!

Hey Billybob,
I'm working on getting a lathe. Ask me again in a month or two and maybe I can make it happen.

I don't know about the King Oliver recording, but Dr Jazz was kept in RCA Victor catalogue more or less throughout the 78 rpm era. I have a couple of good copies - not the initial prints, but printed maybe 10 or 15 years later. English HMVs and French Gramophone are also not rare to find, the French being the best as they were laminated pressings.

donniej wrote:Hey Billybob,
I'm working on getting a lathe. Ask me again in a month or two and maybe I can make it happen.

I think I have good original copies of both if you just want to make a casting.

George, that sounds great. Maybe you and Donnie can make it happen!

You should come up with some sort of “adopt a record” program where the person who commissions a copy first picks up the tab for the initial molding costs.

Maybe we could get a group buy to defray the costs. Are any others here interested?
And, as usual, when one finds a nice copy, one tends to enshrine it, rather than wear it out by playing it.That's why a good copy is hard to find.
Therein lies the rub. I like records that I can play and listen to.

So far I've molded close to 150 discs, many of which have sold no copies. Materials costs have been killing my bank account so this thread is timed perfectly. My taste in music doesn't always (usually?) reflect others so what does everyone think of this... If ten people agree to buy a 10" copy at $25 + shipping then I'll be happy to mold it. I can do $20 + shipping for 7".

I totally understand Donnie's dilemma, if he chooses a title he likes or someone suggests, it may or may not appeal to anyone else. The same can be said for all of the suggestions that have been made so far. If there are 50 people on the Forum who would buy one of these, which title would it be... since there would be at least 50 different opinions.

For this to work economically for Donnie, he has to have at least 10 people to commit (and pay) before he begins the molding process or he risks holding the bag with unwanted titles. I appreciate his knowledge and talent in being able to reproduce these records and make them available, but I'm sure the financial cost is substantial. So, before everyone chimes in with their requests, lets see if a single title will generate 10 sales and go from there. Actually, this topic is like opening a can of worms, herding cats and nailing Jello to a wall...

I am willing to go for 2 copies of King Oliver Shake It and Break it and 1 of Dr. Jazz if you can make them from good originals.