What is your most wanted record?

[gramophone-georg]

Barry: I can't find any evidence that Lombardo ever recorded "Crazy People". "Here it is Monday" was a 1932 Brunswick release here, backed with "just a home for the old folks". Any chance "Crazy People" was by a different band?

Thanks for that information. So, if Guy Lombardo didn't record "Crazy People", then it looks like my memory is failing me (again!). Maybe "Here it is Monday"/"Crazy People" was by a different band altogether, as I definitely remember those two being on the one disc. Have I been looking for the wrong record for the last fifty years???
Barry

Hi Barry:

Well, it's not in Rust- any edition, so that's what I base my statement on. Wish I could find that Lombardo did, in fact, do "Crazy People" as it would be a fun one to hunt!

[MasterCylinder42]

There are quite a few I'd like to own, it's hard to choose just one!
I'd love to come across any Jelly Roll Morton recordings, or some King Oliver.
I'd also want Heartaches by Al Bowlly. It's enjoyed a resurgence in popularity after being sampled in "Everywhere at the End of Time"

[Starkton]

[quote=neilmack post_id=317777 time=1659097283 user_id=21257]
Emma Albani - Angels ever bright and fair
I had it in my hand once - but that day, I couldn't afford it
And if Christmas should fall on my birthday, I'll take one of Santley's two twelve inch discs.
[/quote]

I have all three as red G&T in nice condition, the two 12" from Santley and the Albani. I rarely listen to them, maybe I'll part with them someday.

My most wanted record is by Irene Abendroth: Pastorale (by Bizet), 7" G&T 43180, recorded in 1902. I would give away the Albani for it with a light heart.

[Artiebressan]

I’d love to find the 1933 Ninon Vallin recording of Chabrier’s L’ile Heureuse.

Also, I’d love to find Sydney MacEwan (1936) (or John McCormack (1940))’s recordings of “She Moved Thro’ the Fair”!

[BassetHoundTrio]

I do have Lombardo's "Waitin' for Katy" which is a favorite! I would like a better copy at some point, but it plays decently enough:

https://youtu.be/XhqADgzSPu0

I have a long list, but Lombardo's "The Cannon Ball" is at the top.

Barry: I can't find any evidence that Lombardo ever recorded "Crazy People". "Here it is Monday" was a 1932 Brunswick release here, backed with "just a home for the old folks". Any chance "Crazy People" was by a different band?

That's a fantastic record.
Other nice Lombardos of note are "Waiting For Katy" and "Under The Moon", both on Columbia, as well as "Mississippi Mud" on Vocalion as "Louisville Rhythm Kings". I can't recall the flip side of that one offhand but it's a good one as well.

[BassetHoundTrio]

I have been searching for "Care selve" with Florence Quartararo for a friend, which is Victor Red Seal 12-1000.

[Guyotsmith1]

My most-sought record, eh? For the answer to that good question, it is necessary to delve into the complex world of Grey Gull Records. Frank Luther, radio tenor who worked with my grandmother on NBC in the 1930s, is a lifelong favorite of mine. He recorded for every company in existence in the late 1920s and early 1930s, including Grey Gull, and his recordings were sometimes issued pseudonymously on the various Grey Gull labels. The number one item on my want-list is a record I never expect to see, and have begun to doubt its existence: Grey Gull/Radiex 2527/Van Dyke 82527 “Cryin’ for the Carolines.”

Two of our friends in Australia posted the Bellbird 132 release of this recording on YouTube. Without their postings, I might never have heard the performance. An on-line Grey Gull numerical indicates that this recording was initially issued as Grey Gull/Radiex 2527 and Van Dyke 82527. I presume it might likewise have appeared on Sunrise, but that rare label apparently was distributed by a very small number of retail outlets. The on-line numerical indicates that the original Grey Gull might have been issued as by “John Calhoun” (as opposed to the usual Luther pseudonym, “Jeff Calhoun”). Never having seen a copy listed anywhere else, however, I am tempted to suspect that it never existed. The song itself was a hit, but Grey Gull was in its final days when the record was made. Was Grey Gull 2527 ever released?

Will I ever obtain a copy of Bellbird 132/Grey Gull or Radiex 2527/Van Dyke 82527? I doubt it. I know of no one who has ever seen the Grey Gull, Radiex or Van Dyke issues. If the frequency with which they turn up at record shows or on auction lists is an accurate indication of original sales figures, the Grey Gull 2000 series (vocals) sold far fewer copies than the dance band series (1000) or the old standards series (4000). On my want-list of Frank Luther records, by the way, one also finds 2493, 2504, 2509, 2510, 2518 and 2540 – all in that elusive Grey Gull vocals series.

Complicating matters is the fact that Frank Luther also did a vocal chorus of “Cryin’ for the Carolines,” in Grey Gull’s dance band series – one of his less-pleasing vocal chorus performances – and it is rather common, having also been issued on Piccadilly and other labels. The dance band Grey Gulls are not only a bit easier to find than the vocal records, but are also of greater interest to the average 78 rpm devotee, so they turn up with greater frequency at record shows. Several traders have told me they have no interest in the 2000 series.

I do not believe I’ll ever acquire the number one item on my want-list, but my wish for all the fine folks who seek their favorite 78 is that the year ahead will find your chief desideratum moving toward your record shelves, to be thoroughly enjoyed for a long time to come.

Jonathan