On 8/9/2010 12:29 PM, Malcolm Rockwell wrote:
> Great stories, thanks! Now, has anyone got all of the little Blues
> magazines Lenny put out?
> IIRC, it didn't last long, maybe 10 issues.
> Malcolm
>
> *******
>

It was at issue 14 in 1967, and sometime after he started to
"incorporate" it into the main magazine. For some reason I never got a
set, only about two or 3 issues. It was in 67 when I discovered RR on
the counter of a 78 store in the neighboring town of Hackensack, NJ. I
bought the 3 or so different issues he had, one being the current one.
I bid on the auction and was flabbergasted to win about 20 of the 30
records I bid on. I was working in Manhattan at the time and I called
Lenny and asked him if I could pick up my winnings to save the postage
-- all it would have cost me would be one addition subway fare to make a
detour on the way home from work. I met Lenny, had a quick look around
the place that was stuffed totally with records, and met Bob Colton for
the one and only time. A couple of issues later when I noticed one or
two of the available issue numbers removed, I sent in a check and rather
than order by number I asked for the earliest 25 or so, and got a couple
that were no longer on the available list. There were only a few before
20, but I have NO 5 (which was still mimeographed) and 9 which was the
Bix issue.

There also were some copies of Record Americana, which were the Record
Research Bulletins. All are mimeographed. It turns out these were not
from before RR, they were supplements to RR. Largely reports of
correspondence, there also are a few articles, reports on research and
results, and some had auction lists. These might have been sent to
subscribers free upon request. I have #3 (unnumbered but it refers to
#s 1 & 2), 4, 8, 13, 14, and 15, the latter 3 being reports on RRA
meetings. The material in these do seem to be a necessary component to
RR, as many of the letters are noted to be in response to RR items.

I also disagree with Mal and Steve S on the value of the auction lists,
although Steve seems to be OK with them as an appendix. Mal is skipping
them altogether. I find these lists -- and the ones that are in Record
Changer from the 30s and 40s -- to be fascinating and interesting
indicators of what was available back then and what was already
considered rare. Not including them in some fashion means that the
originals would still be just as necessary. It is just like removing
the ads from magazines -- often time you get more info from the ads than
from the articles, or there are often relationships between the ads and
the articles.

Mike Biel [log in to unmask]


> On 8/9/2010 3:57 AM, Don Chichester wrote:
>> My collection of RR is less ironic. It began at the Hempstead (NY)
>> Salvation Army. I was a teenager, going through the huge pile of 78s
>> at the back
>> of the store. As I was reading the titles, a man who was also looking
>> came over and asked if I collected 78s. I said "Yes", and he told
>> me he and a
>> friend were beginning a magazine for record collectors. The
>> subscription
>> was cheap, so I subscribed, and got #2 by mail the next week. The
>> man was
>> Bob Colten (sp?), whom I never met again. It was years later that I
>> met
>> Lenny Kunstadt. I continued RR until it was no more. I got a
>> photocopy of #
>> 1 to complete my run of RR. Thank you, Lenny and Bob!
>> Don Chichester
>>
>>
>> In a message dated 8/9/2010 9:43:23 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
>> [log in to unmask] writes:
>>
>> I only check ARSClist every week or so - so I just found this thread. I
>> wanted to share my "ironic moment" with RR.
>>
>> I started subscribing in the 1970s when I first got into
>> collecting old
>> records. Lenny wasx always advertising the "Once in a lifetime"
>> offer of
>> run
>> of back issues from about #50 (at that time, it was a "rolling
>> number" as
>>
>> time went on.
>>
>> So I bought them. Then in late 1990s I was at a paper collectibles show
>> and
>> saw a pile of RR's. The guy wanted to sell it as a lot. I looked to see
>> what #s were there and they were complete from #5 through # 49.
>> (exactly
>> the
>> ones I needed except the first four issues). So I bought them. Then 2
>> months later Kurt Nauck's auction catalog came. He had issues #1-70 or
>> so. They
>> were available individually or as a lot bid. I wrote Kurt and said
>> that
>> if
>> they sold as a lot, would he xerox the first four issues for me.
>> They did
>> and he did (for a very reasonable price.) I planned to go back and
>> read
>> them, but - of course - we never have time for that.
>>
>> Anyway, I thought it ironic how my run all came together.
>>
>> Steve
>>
>
>