The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I guess we all need to spend a little more time in our record cabinets. I know myself......it has been many years since I looked over my records. It seems that I only play a select six or so when someone wishes to hear a machine. I think I read on this forum way back something about "Black Swan" records. Does anyone want to refresh my memory on these??. Is this a scare copy of one??.
Here is a listen........http://youtu.be/AdAzveeGXX8

You are very fortunate. Ethel Waters' recordings on Black Swan are highly desirable.

Sure, rare and desirable. Black Swan, from the early '20s, was the first African-American-owned record company. Ethel Waters and Fletcher Henderson recorded their first records for it, AFAIK. The Wikipedia entry on the label has some basic info, to start.

I'm jealous...I don't own any!

Last summer, I decided to make an inventory of my records...and I was surprised as to how many I had!
After entering many titles into a computer database that a co-worker at the museum helped set up, I had entered over 1,300 titles. As I would pick up each record, I would occasionally play it on one of my phonographs...some I would keep and others would go into a pile to sell cheaply or even give away...It was a good experience, though very time consuming. I now know better what I have and what to avoid when I go hunting for records. I have been able to buy, sell, and trade more easily.

Many moons ago I started to enter all my records into some kind of database. But I stopped. It took so much time, that there was no sense in continuing. Plus my computer froze, because it could no longer handle all the cross references. I'm talking about around 30,000 individual entries here. I calculated it could take 5 years or more to enter all the information I wanted. Artists, condition, price paid, you name it. I still knew where to find it, knew roughly what, when and where and stopped bothering about the rest. I already sat behind a screen for most of the day anyhow, so I didn't want to do that in my free time too. And I've got a more or less eidetic memory, so I knew what I had and in which condition it was. So when I came by something I would know whether it would be new or an upgrade of something I already had. As a result I never had more than 10 double copies. Most of which were upgrades that I could swap. Or were on other labels and interestingly enough to keep or display. I lost my collection through problems with the IRS but still know most of what I had. Thankfully a lot of it was transferred into high quality digital and I will produce a CD from it later this year. I'm currently gathering funds for that.

The Dutch tax collection agency is also called the IRS?

beaumonde wrote:The Dutch tax collection agency is also called the IRS?

No, it's called "de Belastingdienst".

But they are just as persistent Remember a certain Mr. Capone? They couldn't get him for his illegal activities. So they sent the IRS after him. It's the same over here. If the cops can't get you, they send the taxmen. I hadn't done anything wrong, I was behind with my alimony after losing my job.