- CBSSports.com

Help Me Digitize My Record Collection

Posted on: April 29, 2008 12:41 am

Score: 96

Log-in to rate:

Log-in to rate:

Slowly I've been digitizing my records one by one. It takes about an hour each and can be quite painful if I get distracted and miss a track and I half to rerecord a track or start over. Or, if my turntable decides to go into 16 1/2 mode, making Neil Young sound like Louis Armstrong, well, that's a problem as well. Anyway, while I've recorded many, I've done a little inventory and found that I've missed a number of great albums and hidden gems, so I'm asking for help in prioritizing the many albums I have left. I will list a small portion of my collection I consider digitization worthy and would like for you to rank the top ten, twenty or all if you want. Then I'll publish the results or go with the currently popular bracket system, or try something new, like pit each record in a schedule against another and post the standings each week. In the meantime, if I digitize anything, it will be something not on this list. For lesser known acts, I will add a bit of an explanation to help you decide. Thanks and have fun. To make it easier on you and me both, simply put your rank to the right of each artist. If you have any commentary to add, please do so, especially if you have a memory of an artist you are surprised to see on this list or you think nobody else has ever heard of. Here we go, in no particular order.

1972-6 Kerrville Folk Festival - featuring live performances by Townes Van Zandt, Willie Nelson (Turn Out the Lights), and Guy Clark, among many others
Who's Next - Somehow I missed this one
Loudon Wainwright III - Final Exam - features a sports themed tune - Golfer's Blues
Loudon Wainwright III - I'm All Right - Includes a minor hit "Wine With Dinner"
Joe Louis Walker - Cold Is the Night - Robert Cray-ish blues
Stephen Stills - Illegal Stills
Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells A Story
Steely Dan - Pretzel Logic
Maurice John Vaughn - Generic Blues Album - bought this at used record store years ago and never listened to it!
Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs - Best of (Little Red Riding Hood, Wooly Bully)
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Mardi Gras (post John Fogerty except Sweet Hitchhiker and one other)
Asleep at the Wheel
Beat Farmers - Tales of the New West - Country Dick Montana sings the unforgettable Happy Boy and The California Kid.
Harry Chapin - Verities and Balderdash ( one of the first 5 albums I ever pruchased- includes Cat's in the Cradle)
Lil Ed & the Blues Imperials - Chicken Gravy & Biscuits - Always a sucker for food songs, I bought this for the title cut.
Marshall Tucker Band - Searchin For a Rainbow - Nearly wore the grooves off this one 20 or 25 years ago, haven't heard it since!
Lynyrd Skynyrd - A Christmas present from my brother after it came out.
The Doors - Classic debut album on MFSL
Heart - Dreamboat Annie
Robert Gordon with Link Wray
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Southern Accents
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Long After Dark
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Hard Promises
Blues Brothers - Original Soundtrack
Kansas - Leftoverture
Carole King - Tapestry
Doobie Brothers - Stampede
George Thorogood - Move it on Over
Warren Zevon - Excitable Boy
Robert Johnson - King of the Delta Blues
John Fogerty - Centerfield
Weird Al Yankovic - In 3D (featuring "Eat It")
George Thorogood - Bad To the Bone
Graham Parker - Squeezing Out Sparks
Chuck Wagon and the Wheels - Red Hot Women and Ice Cold Beer (the featured band at disco demolition night because of their only hit - Disco Sucks - and one of my favorite regional bands of the late 70s and early 80s)

Feel free to influence other voters with your opinions. Let's make this interesting!

Category: General

Comments

Add a Comment

bluezhound32 Reputation: 94 Level: All-Star Since: Nov 8, 2007	Posted on: April 29, 2008 1:18 am Score: 92 Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Help Me Digitize My Record Collection i have not heard chuck wagon and the wheels in a long time and had forgotten about them .a friend of mine had the album...good stuff steely Dan -one of the best bands ever Marshall tucker -a timeless classic warren zevon -talented song writer and musician kansas-classic rock at its best lynrd skynrd-nuff said Robert Johnson-i have a soft spot for the blues as it is one of if not my favorite music lil ed -blues see above harry chapin -my senior year of high school,hazely i think nice collection [ Reply to Comment ]
Skydog Reputation: 99 Level: Superstar Since: Sep 30, 2006	Posted on: April 29, 2008 3:04 am Score: 95 Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Help Me Digitize My Record Collection Hey FH! Start with that MFSL copy of the Doors! If you have any other MFSL master recordings do those next. Love Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs. They are back in business btw! [ Reply to Comment ]
The Bong Show Reputation: 94 Level: All-Star Since: Sep 24, 2007	Posted on: April 29, 2008 3:14 am Score: 88 Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Help Me Digitize My Record Collection Nice collection. But can I ask WHY are you doing this? Why do you want a poor quality digital track for? Most (if not all of that) is available on iTunes (many of them remastered). iTunes may be going unlimited soon: http://www.sportsline.com/mcc/messages/chrono/7192029 So I don't get why you would want a scratchy sounding track when instead you can have one at a SUBSTANTIALLY higher quality. I still have a bunch of LP's, 45's and cassette tapes, but why would I listen to those when instead I can play a MUCH better quality version digitally? I'd encourage you to do this: Pick one song and listen to it on the LP and then listen to the EXACT same high quality 320 digital file right afterwards. If memories are what you are after, I'd personally prefer the memories without the inferior sound quality (but that's just me). Anyway, good luck with it! If I had to pick my favorite album of the bunch, it would be the Blues Brothers. (BTW... the second Blues Brothers, while not nearly as good of a movie, has a great soundtrack.) Cheers! [ Reply to Comment ]
A Flamingohead Reputation: 99 Level: Superstar Since: Sep 3, 2007	Posted on: April 29, 2008 10:57 am Score: 95 Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Help Me Digitize My Record Collection Excellent points Bong, and unlimited itunes may well be the answer, but with hundreds of albums and living one a single income with a wife and 5 kids, for now this is my only option. And I do have to admit, I have a soft spot for the scratchy old vinyl, although my collection is in excellent shape actually, and some (Neil Young comes to mind) just don't sound right without a little hiss to go with the occasional scratch and pop. As it is, I've recorded around 200 albums over the last 4 or 5 years, and many cassettes of live shows that are not available digitally any other way. Enjoy the ride! [ Reply to Comment ]
bluezhound32 Reputation: 94 Level: All-Star Since: Nov 8, 2007	Posted on: April 29, 2008 11:20 am Score: 91 Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Help Me Digitize My Record Collection hey flamingo i have stuff on vinyl that was never released on CD .i have not checked to see if they are available on itunes .you have motivated me to dig a little further to find out ........good luck my friend .a little pop and hiss never hurt no one [ Reply to Comment ]
The Bong Show Reputation: 94 Level: All-Star Since: Sep 24, 2007	Posted on: April 29, 2008 5:17 pm Score: 89 Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Help Me Digitize My Record Collection Excellent points Bong, and unlimited itunes may well be the answer, but with hundreds of albums and living one a single income with a wife and 5 kids, for now this is my only option. Sort of. Your other option is to find the music elsewhere. :) http://www.limewire.com/ You shouldn't feel bad about it because you have already supported the artist by purchasing their music. You already own the music, you are just getting the same music in a different format. This is probably a much better use of your time IMHO. And I do have to admit, I have a soft spot for the scratchy old vinyl, although my collection is in excellent shape actually, and some (Neil Young comes to mind) just don't sound right without a little hiss to go with the occasional scratch and pop. I used to think that way as well. After hearing them side by side though, I wondered what I was ever thinking prior. :) As it is, I've recorded around 200 albums over the last 4 or 5 years, and many cassettes of live shows that are not available digitally any other way. Those one of a kind items are the only ones worth transferring over. However, I think you'd be surprised at what is out there in digital format. For instance, Dave Matthews will be back out this direction in September where he will be doing two different live concerts in Berkeley. Within days (perhaps hours), I could get both of those concerts in digital format on the web from various sources if I really wanted to. This applies to older concerts as well (note... many of the older concerts recorded by fans will not be of "great" quality for obvious reasons). If you are referring to shows that were put out by the artists (not the fans) on cassette tapes, chances are that some of those are available in a nice digital format now. The other option is to ask your friends what they have in digital format. People at work, neighbors, parents of your kids' friends, etc, etc, etc... then share with them. You can get HUGE amounts of storage really, really cheap now even at places like Costco. Or you can just burn them on to blank DVD's which are dirt cheap now when you buy them 50 or 100 at a time (20 cents each). iTunes is also GREAT!!! I purchased AirTunes as well. It plugs into any electrical outlet and then I can wireless stream my music from my wireless laptop to my 5.1 surround sound speakers that my TV also uses. ;) In fact, if your neighbors have iTunes, you can even share music between each other via iTunes. Thus, if your neighbor has tune "XYZ" in his collection and you don't, all he needs to do is click a "sharing" button and then you can access his music files and play them in your home and vice versa. :) If you don't have iTunes, you can get it for free. Really easy to use and great features. Moreover, you can go into the store and listen to "samples" of every song they have for free. http://www.apple.com/itunes/overview/ Anyway, hopefully that was helpful/informative. Good luck! Cheers! [ Reply to Comment ]
Amelas Reputation: 99 Level: Superstar Since: Sep 23, 2006	Posted on: May 11, 2008 1:50 am Score: 95 Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Help Me Digitize My Record Collection Robert Johnson - King of the Delta Blues I have King of the Mississippi Delta Blues parts 1 & 2 on cassettes. His entire recorded collection. I've never had the records though I've seen them. The tapes were mastered off of records from the sound of them. Primitive comes to mind. Sadly they are in my storage room from a different life. If you really need them I'll dig them out. I'm sure as Bong Show and others have said, you can find them on itunes or other sources for next to nothing. I lost custody of original Every picture Tells a Story, Tapesry, Who's Next and Hard Promises. Not to mention the rest of the Who and all Stones, Beatles, and Kinks. The list would be long. Very sorry. [ Reply to Comment ]

A Flamingohead

Enjoy The Ride!!

Help Me Digitize My Record Collection

Help Me Digitize My Record Collection

Help Me Digitize My Record Collection

Help Me Digitize My Record Collection

Help Me Digitize My Record Collection

Help Me Digitize My Record Collection

Help Me Digitize My Record Collection

Help Me Digitize My Record Collection