 |
 |
I remember Meltzer fairly well, though I visited his shop only a few times. I recall him as a very knowledgeable (about records) but crotchety person. One time, I looked through a pile of 78's of Fritz Kreisler, but selected only one quite rare disc to buy. He grabbed it out of my hand, saying that, if that's the only one I wanted to buy, he wouldn't sell it to me. Harold Zamansky ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kevin P. Mostyn" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Friday, May 07, 2010 1:51 AM Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] My new book: The Jazz Man Record Shop > Many years ago (40 years or so) I visited his shop. I asked if he had a > particular 78 with Titta Ruffo. Unfortunately, I couldn't remember the > name > of the song or the composer. He asked if could sing it. I hummed a rough > approximation of it. His eyes lit up. He went directly over to a shelf, > reached out and grabbed a copy. I was most impressed. Thereafter I visited > his shop many times. He had a wonderful memory. > > --Kevin Mostyn > > -----Original Message----- > From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List > [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Art Shifrin > Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2010 11:45 AM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] My new book: The Jazz Man Record Shop > > Cary, this is a great concept (at least for those of us in this flock). > > Do you or anyone else on the list remember the Merit Music Shop on West 46 > street in Manhattan? I think that the proprietor's name was Jack Meltzer. > He had two hunched over elderly chaps working there: they might have been > around as adults for the dedication of NYC's subway system in 1904. > I was there one day when people from the NYS dept of labor came in & > NAILED > him for paying the guys less than minimum wage since the Spanish American > War (slight exaggeration). Analogous to a 'perp walk' they made it very > clear to the patrons there what was going on. > > Jack (if I have the name correct) had a database memory for 78 catalog #s, > but only for Victors. You could browse to any page in any of their > catalogs > (up to some year), give him the title & artist & he'd correctly tell you > the > catalog #! I don't know or remember if he knew which side, nor do I know > if he had the same 'talent' for set #s. > > Best, > Art (Shiffy) Shifrin