Well Tom,as you know Estrus,Hillsdale,and a couple of other labels in the 90s, put out records lovingly aping the designs of the Fleetwood,Riverside racing Lps.Here's an example:
http://www.timkerr.net/discography_lhfixers.html#80
Sensational Sounds Of The 1995 Estrus Invitationals EP
Format: 7"
Label: Estrus
Release Date: 1996
Ref.: ESP 3233
Some of the Fleetwood Lps are out on CD:
http://www.ecrater.com/product.php?pid=1960174
http://www.ecrater.com/product.php?pid=1958372
http://cgi.ebay.com/Bakersfield-1963-5th-Annual-Fuel-Gas-Racing-CD-NEW_W0QQitemZ140083953310QQihZ004QQcategoryZ2875QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262
And others have put out private issue CDs doing the same stuff,like
http://www.gamutrecords.com/3.html
http://www.racinguniversity.com/sounds.htm
So,it's not a forgotten little genre.
Roger
- On Sun, 9/7/08, Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> From: Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Riverside Race Car Records
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Date: Sunday, September 7, 2008, 2:35 PM
> I remember that Ustinov album. We played our copy to death
> when we were kids.
>
> I think the whole "big world in stereo in my living
> room" genre was a bit of a money-maker in the
> early days of stereo. Trains, planes, automobiles and
> musical effects. I always imagine the guy
> somewhere between the old John Doormat cartoons and the
> swells of "Mad Men" using these records to
> convince the wife to get comfortable with the second
> speaker in the living room. But the cars racing
> around the room and jets flying left to right just
> don't do the trick. She frowns, pours another
> drink and resigns herself to dusting one more large
> surface.
>
> The somewhat analog of this scene today is the guy rolling
> up on his McMansion with a 60"
> flat-screen in the back of the SUV.
>
> There are plenty of good documentaries out there about auto
> racing in the 50's and 60's. It was very
> different from the videogame-esque NASCAR scene today. Both
> road racing and drag racing and even
> grand prix racing were more dangerous and interesting --
> for both drivers and spectators. It wasn't
> quite a blood sport but there were plenty of injury-causing
> mishaps to be witnessed. Many of the
> early hi-fi and stereo enthusiasts were war veterans, so
> the idea of some danger combined with large
> machines and loud motors probably brought back some
> memories and sold some records. I like these
> records because they are something like historical
> artifacts -- you don't hear a lot of these sounds
> at a modern-day racing event. I've often wished Rhino
> or some other "vintage"-oriented label would
> put together a CD box set of the best of them, maybe
> combined with some over-the-top TV and radio
> ads from the day.
>
> -- Tom Fine
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "David Lennick"
> <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Sunday, September 07, 2008 3:53 PM
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Riverside Race Car Records
>
>
> > John Ross wrote:
> >> At 9/7/2008 11:39 AM, Tom Fine wrote:
> >>> Apparently, Bill Gauer, Keepnews' partner
> at Riverside, was a racing car nut and was very into
> >>> making these "environmental audio"
> recordings.
> >>
> >> This raises a question I've always wondered
> about: Who bought all those Riverside sports car
> >> records? They still show up in secondhand record
> bins, so SOMEBODY must have bought them new, but
> >> did they sell enough to break even, let alone make
> money, or were they just an excuse for Grauer
> >> to talk his way into the pits at races with his
> microphone?
> >>
> >> I suppose they didn't cost much to produce. No
> studio time, no royalties or performers' fees.
> >> Could they have been a profitable sideline like
> the Elektra sound effects records?
> >
> > Further amazing that they had enough of a sense of
> humor to issue Peter Ustinov's hour-long parody
> > of the whole genre, a disc which stayed in print long
> enough to be reprocessed in fake stereo
> > (aaaaaak).
> >>
> >> There's a Riverside comedy record by a standup
> comic whose name I have forgotten in which the
> >> comic muses about a phone call:
> >> "Riverside Records, can I help
> you?"
> >> "Yes, Bill Grauer please."
> >> "I'm sorry, he's under a
> Porsche, taking a level."
> >
> > I can recall about 3 comedy albums on Riverside (aside
> from Ustinov)..Henry Morgan, "George
> > Crater" (Ed Sherman), and Louis Nye (Heigh Ho
> Madison Avenue). Was it one of these?
> >
> > dl
> >>
> >> John Ross
> >>
> >
