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Re: arsclist record collecting
Kate,
You continue to pose interesting questions.
At 12:50 PM 03/04/2001 +0000, k mcbain wrote:
i have since interviewed a man almost as interesting as him - possessing
15,000 records, but owning no turntable, playing them only at a friend's...
From my perspective that is collecting without enjoying the collection,
although I suspect that he enjoys amassing the collection.
just what is it that constitutes a 'collector'? - the amount of items,
the genre of music, categorization...?
Personally, I think it's intent. I know people with thousands of CDs who
are music consumers and others I consider collectors. I consider myself a
collector but for time/space/money reasons have a very narrow focus. I
probably have about 3,000 recordings all told, and I'm trying to restore
and disperse the original master recordings in my care.
in an age where portable MP3 Jukeboxes ... is the nature of collecting
music bound to change?
Of course, but again, it is intent at least in my opinion. I believe that
the metadata and context are important, so collecting the original LP and
CD artwork is important to me (but not an end in itself). Having the
original albums in their original sequence is important...as well as having
some of the "best of" collections--especially those with previously
unreleased tracks.
naturally the market has a major influence on what music enthusiasts [is
this different to collectors?] can acquire. is collecting perhaps a way of
resisting this?
For me, it's a way of focusing on what really interests me (which is not
the mainstream). Often, a recording of interest is only in print for a few
months or a year, so I need to acquire it then--two in my collection have
achieved very high prices (I hear close to $500) on eBay. I have paid $100
each for two rare LPs of an artist.
A music collection without doubt becomes an extension of the self.
Truly
When items that have been fought over and tears shed for find themselves
re-hashed by the latest star, or used as a backing track to the latest
cough syrup or car - is the value/aura of those items diminished or heightened?
To me it doesn't matter (and is generally unlikely) but in both folk and
classical, I am interested in specific performances--ones that touch me
and/or by artists that are my favorites. For example I thought it a plus
that Judy Collins recorded a coffee commercial or something like that a few
years ago because it might have caused people to say, "who is that
wonderful singer?" and then go an buy a CD or more.
one last question - does a collection, as an entire entity, provide space
for collectors to 'produce'?
I definitely think so in limited circumstances.
I started collecting and preserving the works of Canadian folksinger
Marie-Lynn Hammond (who I think is perhaps the most under-appreciated
talent in North America at the moment--certainly the most under-appreciated
in my collection, though I wish all of the ladies whose music I collect
were better appreciated).
This collecting and preserving (with her encouragement) turned into
re-releasing all of her back catalog on CD (only one had previously been
released on CD and that was out of print). I included three previously
unreleased tracks on one of the CDs.
She is now recording a new CD that I will release and I am working with her
former partner in a group called Stringband to restore, compile and
ultimately release (on his label, probably) a 2-CD retrospective compilation.
I have also restored three of Nancy White's albums (another stellar
Canadian) from the original master tapes (finding the tapes was a bit of
detective work), and one is being re-released on the Borealis label (a
major independent Canadian folk label).
I say limited circumstances because much of what I collect is actually
owned by major record companies and I would not be able to do what I've
done with these artists' work. But since the artists I collect are
represented across many record companies, no one has assembled all of their
work in one place except us collectors. While I wish I had access to master
tapes--in at least one instance I believe the master tapes to be lost--so
we settle for finding pristine LP copies and transferring them to CDR in
our spare time.
I hope this helps with at least one person's perspective.
You can find a light-hearted press release about some of my work at
http://www.richardhess.com/mlh/press_release_01.htm
and a more serious introduction to preservation from tapes at
http://www.richardhess.com/be/tape.htm
My home page, http://www.richardhess.com catalogs some of my collecting
efforts.
Hope this helps!
Richard
Richard L. Hess richard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Glendale, CA USA http://www.richardhess.com/
Web page: folk and church music, photography, and
broadcast engineering