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Post by jonwms on Jan 10, 2018 6:11:36 GMT
Hopefully there is not already a similar thread devoted, I searched but that does not always work. I thought I would link some scans I made of cover illustrations for the 1940's-50's Record Changer magazine. And maybe some others will post non Lp jacket but otherwise interesting jazz art work, ads, posters, etc. The Record Changer was how rare records were bought and sold at auction back in the stone age. Real pre ebay stuff! Some of you may be old enough to remember bidding on auctions in Goldmine Magazine. Sending your bids in on a postcard and waiting a month to get a postcard back to be told you won an auction. Mailing a money order to the seller and then waiting for package to arrive via "Book Rate" (still in business today as "Media Rate", but was like ninety eight cents then). It only took a couple of months to score your sides! Bitch all you want about ebay, but it takes about 4 days to accomplish what used take a couple of months. And a lot of the sellers were no better. Anyway the Record Changer was focused on Traditional Jazz (Moldy Fig stuff) as Bop was current at the time and not "rare" yet. But the cover art, mostly by illustrator Gene Deitch was pretty cool and modern. I'll post a couple of images here. More can be seen in large res on my Flickr gallery here: www.flickr.com/photos/54616231@N04/albums/72157660953915473   |
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Post by gregorythefish on Jan 10, 2018 14:22:27 GMT
these are awesome! thanks for sharing, and welcome!
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Post by clifford on Jan 10, 2018 16:41:30 GMT
wow!
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Post by gst on Jan 10, 2018 18:36:46 GMT
Very cool. I only really started collecting in the internet age (late 90s). I can't help but think of all of the albums i would have never heard had it not been for the exposure of forums and blogs over the years.
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heavyp
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Post by heavyp on Jan 11, 2018 22:41:15 GMT
awesome! thanks for sharing
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Post by Martin on Jan 12, 2018 10:17:27 GMT
Wow, those are really cool scans. Got any more? They're really redolent of the period. We all know that Riverside Records' Orrin Keepnews was involved with Record Changer, yes? He writes about his role as its Managing Editor in the early chapters of "The View from Within" - a book I heartily recommend to you all.
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Post by gregorythefish on Jan 12, 2018 14:24:30 GMT
wasn't keepnews kind of an asshole? i read in the monk bio that he conned his artists out of a lot of money...
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Post by jonwms on Jan 12, 2018 15:24:15 GMT
Wow, those are really cool scans. Got any more? They're really redolent of the period. We all know that Riverside Records' Orrin Keepnews was involved with Record Changer, yes? He writes about his role as its Managing Editor in the early chapters of "The View from Within" - a book I heartily recommend to you all. There's a link in the original post to more images. Yes, Keepnews was a collector before label owner and had a lot to do with the magazine. |
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Post by jonwms on Jan 12, 2018 15:27:13 GMT
wasn't keepnews kind of an asshole? i read in the monk bio that he conned his artists out of a lot of money... It would seem most of the best records ever made were done so at the hands of "assholes". It was just the nature of the business.............. |
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heavyp
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Post by heavyp on Jan 12, 2018 17:05:55 GMT
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Post by jonwms on Jan 12, 2018 21:06:47 GMT
Cool that it is back in print. A friend of mine got one when it first came out. It's a nice collection. |
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Post by gregorythefish on Jan 13, 2018 16:29:05 GMT
It would seem most of the best records ever made were done so at the hands of "assholes". It was just the nature of the business.............. i disagree! RVG, lion, wolff, bob thiele, ertugen, bernard stollman... all seem nice. keepnews and weinstock are the major jerks that i am aware of! |
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pjd
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Post by pjd on Jan 13, 2018 17:02:56 GMT
It would seem most of the best records ever made were done so at the hands of "assholes". It was just the nature of the business.............. i disagree! RVG, lion, wolff, bob thiele, ertugen, bernard stollman... all seem nice. keepnews and weinstock are the major jerks that i am aware of! What might be considered "asshole" today was how things operated back then. Producers and the labels held the power, acting as though they were responsible for the music, with the musicians simply employees. Look at how many Impulse albums have pictures of Bob Thiele inside the gatefold, lounging about smoking cigarettes. Keith Richards recalls arriving at Chess Records in Chicago to find the great Muddy Waters on a ladder painting the ceiling. In the absence of agent representation many artists signed away publishing to the labels (In House That Trane Built there's a story where Thiele took the publishing from some musician). Blue Note was considered to be one of the better ones, but even Grachan Moncur had a problem with them. For all the criticism of Stollman for not paying royalties, I can't imagine he ever sold many records. These were all tiny indie labels begun by fans of the music. Poor accounting and a lack of transparency no doubt compounded the musician's perception that they were being taken advantage of. |
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Post by jonwms on Jan 13, 2018 17:17:55 GMT
It would seem most of the best records ever made were done so at the hands of "assholes". It was just the nature of the business.............. i disagree! RVG, lion, wolff, bob thiele, ertugen, bernard stollman... all seem nice. keepnews and weinstock are the major jerks that i am aware of! I may have used a broad stroke but the reality is independent record labels were a cutthroat business run by men who were usually more interested in making money than the music. Jazz musicians may have had it "slightly" better than their R&B and R&R counterparts who could have a hit record and never know why they were sharing writing credit with a couple of Italian guys. And some of the jazz labels were run by people who did have an obvious respect and dedication to the music and musicians. But here's a lot of levels to "seems nice". Then there were the club owners, concert promoters, etc.......... |
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Post by gregorythefish on Jan 14, 2018 16:38:19 GMT
well i don't claim to be an expert, but just because that was the practice, doesn't mean it isn't shitty.
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