The Music Lover's Guide to Record Collecting

Editorial Review
From tips for evaluating recordings, to lively discussions of bootlegs and piracy, to the history of recording formats, to collectible artists and more, The Music Lover's Guide to Record Collecting covers all the tracks. Designed for anyone who collects records for pleasure or profit, at garage sales or on eBay, this guide is both informative and entertaining. If offers a wealth of detail and informed opinion - unique in a field dominated by stodgy price guides. Engaging entries and essays explore the development of all recording mediums, from 78s to MP3; the distinctive character of imports; "most collected artists," from The Beatles to Nirvana; collectible labels, such as Sun, Chess and Motown; original packaging that enhances collectability; and much more.
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Customer Reviews

Few Redeeming Qualities

2008-09-29
You remember those books we were assigned to read in school... Almost falling asleep as you reread the same tired line 3 times before you realized you had been doing so. Well this book is not entirely like that, but it does come close. I came away feeling like I was told to read this book instead of picking it up because I choose to.
While reading I came across some line about a shop owner having a priceless gem, and I realized I had better things to do with my life like check gemm.com to see if I could get my hands on a LP I've been wanting. At least this book did one good thing, when I went looking for that LP I found an awesome deal at GEMM.
It's all about that silver lining my friends...
The bottom line: the reading at times seemed laborious but it does help you solidify your own understanding of why you started collecting in the first place.

Guide to Record Collecting

2007-01-16
The book was good but I was looking for more of a price guide, however, my husband is enjoying it.

An interesting read but loaded with errors and typos

2004-05-05
Having been a record collector for over 40 years, I am always interested in new books on the topic. One can never know everything about the hobby and indeed, I gleaned quite a few new pieces of information from this book. (A collectable three 8-Track Beatles set exists, as do 78s of such 60's evergreens as Ray Charles' "Georgia On My Mind" and the Everly Brothers' "Cathy's Clown").

However, this book is littered with inaccuracies. The reference to Arturo Toscanini as an opera singer who refused to sing on record until 1936 is ludicrous - not only because Toscanini was a conductor and not a singer, but because he did in fact record with the La Scala Orchestra during the pre-1925 acoustic era.

The Russian State-owned record label is referrred to as "Melodisc" rather than its correct name, Melodiya.

The author claims that there was no U.S. issue of the Black Dyke Mills Band's Apple single "Thingumybob" (There was - Apple 1800 - I own it.)

And from page 98, this pearl of wisdom about tape speeds: "[Reel-to-Reel] Tapes were issued at two speeds: 7 1/2ips (inches per second) and the sonically superior 3 3/4 ips, the standard to which both the later 4-Track and 8-Track cartridges adhered.." Ask any audio engineer which speed is "sonically superior". I could make this review a mile long with such examples.

There are also plenty of misspelled names here too: Paul Gayton (Gayten), Hal Blain (Blaine), Deutsche Gramophone (Grammophon), and on and on, but you get the point. This book is an interesting read, but if you know the subject, these errors come frequently and get more irritating each time. Backbeat Books needs to hire a proofreader.

Which Arturo Toscanini are we talking about? 2004-01-31
In an excerpt from this book posted on amazon, the statement is made that one Arturo Toscanini set the record industry back, in the 1920s, by refusing to allow his voice to be recorded. The Arturo Toscanini that most music lovers remember was conducting La Scala and the New York Philharmonic around that time. We don't think he was singing. Can the author address this? Perhaps I read the excerpt wrong. In this case, we're not talking about an obscure historical figure.