I can't see the spine well enough to tell which one it is, but Mosaic did issue that King Cole Trio box set in two formats: a box of 18 CDs and a box of 27 vinyl LPs. I think they discontinued the two format policy not long after they released this set.
I spoke to this gentleman a couple of years ago. He was a broadcaster for many years, and his work was good. He may have started as a fan, but he developed the collection around his radio work, which reflected tastes that he makes apparent in the video, and he did this with some focus and discipline. My recollection is that he was willing to donate the whole thing to someone, preferably an institution, that would take ALL of it. In any case, I don't think that high financial expectations have been an obstacle to him giving it up. He has had lots of offers for collectible rock and other items that he happened to receive as promos in the course of his radio work or acquired as part of his project to collect records that charted in the Billboard. I'd guess that he has more than a few desirable white label promos as well. He knows he can move that stuff, and that the other recordings are much less valuable, but he's dedicated his life to those other kinds of music, and he'd like to see that do some good somewhere.
Some of the more popular classical recordings of the era may be in the collection, but I don't think this was ever a major focus for him.
It would be a good record collection for an institution that doesn't have one yet, that has the space, for whom rarity is not consideration, and who is willing to deal with vinyl, shellac and an old school card catalog. That's a tall order these days, and we all know the reasons. Still, this collection reflects a very good, if not complete, range of American musical taste in a vital period, collected largely in the original release formats in which it was first distributed and consumed.
Matthew Barton
Library of Congress
-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Donald Clarke
Sent: Thursday, August 22, 2013 9:47 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Another collection for sale but too much common stuff
The Nat Cole collection, he says, is all LPs; prominent on the shelf is the Mosaic box of the complete Nat Cole Trio on CD. Anybody can collect everything.
Donald Clarke
On Aug 22, 2013, at 8:31 PM, Steve Ramm wrote:
I remember getting a DVD from this guy (DAvid Custis) about a year ago trying to sell his complete record collection. Apparantly he now has it on You Tube.
You folks might enjoy watching his video but, like the Paul Mawhinney collection and many others, he wants to sell the whole thing and it's loaded with common items that no archive or collector will touch.
So much for hoping that collection filling your household will bring big bucks as a unit.
_? DAVID J. CUSTIS Music Library 215 233 3258 Now available - YouTube_
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFu6S3xlFbA&feature=em-upload_owner)
Steve Ramm
|