MY VINYL LP COLLECTION

You may have already guessed my first love is the music of the late 50's / early 60's... When I first started listening to this music in the early '80s, there were no CDs, only vinyl records.  Fortunately you could still track down the original albums from these Rock n Roll greats, complete with their original cover artwork... take a look: 

A brief description of my vinyl LP collection
Chuck Berry
Little Richard
Cliff  & The Shadows
Gene Vincent
Elvis Presley
The Shadows

 

 

 

 

 

Old Vinyl LP collection 
These are mostly reissues of 1950’s / 1960’s LPs by these artists. Throughout the 70’s and 80’s many of these records were reissued (often pressed in France, Italy and Germany) in their original format complete with sleeve notes etc. Nowadays you can get most of them on CD, but that’s not the same as having the vinyl copy which looks exactly like the original version. Although not as valuable as original copies, these reissued versions are still highly sought after and have become collectable in their own right. Many of the Elvis Presley albums were reissued in the 70’s in fake stereo: ‘Electronically Reprocessed for Stereo Effect’ was the usual description and most collectors agree that this process spoils the clarity of the original mono recordings and should be avoided where possible; I actually quite like the fake stereo myself – it gives a slightly ‘live’ feel to a track when compared to the mono version.  The LPs pictured are in Mono however.

 

 

 

 

 

All the US-issue Chuck Berry LPs up to 1964.  British albums varied slightly in content and were released on the Pye R'n'B label.  The weird 'On Stage' LP from 1961 comprises studio recordings with overdubbed audience applause !  - A possible explanation ? - Chuck Berry was actually in prison at the time... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The only Little Richard records worth having - all the 50's stuff.  'The Fabulous Little Richard', released just after he announced he was giving it all up to study theology, features some untypical bluesy ballads.  The other albums are pure Rock 'n' Roll...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Classic Cliff & The Shadows; a selection of 45s, EPs and albums from the early 60's

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of my all-time Rock n Roll heroes, Gene Vincent.  The 50's material, despite the hoodlum image presented on some of the LP covers, is surprisingly advanced and experimental for it's day.  For example, 'Summertime' from the 'Record Date' album.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The King... The Jailhouse Rock LP in the foreground is a rare South African release; I've never seen another copy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first 3 LP's by The Shadows all featured their original line-up.