Library of Congress Publishes Recordings for Free!

The Library of Congress has created an outlet for people to enjoy old recordings in their archives, called the National Jukebox!

"At launch, the Jukebox includes more than 10,000 recordings made by the Victor Talking Machine Company between 1901 and 1925. Jukebox content will be increased regularly, with additional Victor recordings and acoustically recorded titles made by other Sony-owned U.S. labels, including Columbia, OKeh, and others."

I don't expect that there will be any Disney Records related selections included anytime soon! However, one can safely assume that there are numerous selections posted, that had once been on our beloved vinyl records. I feel as if they have a similar mission as us, in preserving these recordings for many future generations to enjoy.

So, if you haven't already, go start creating your playlist on the National Jukebox now!

I Need That Record!

A short while ago I came across a mention of a new DVD being released called .

As I usually do, I checked Netflix to see if they had it, and then added it to my queue. This past week, the DVD showed up in my mailbox and I was able to watch it.

The documentary investigates the trend of record stores disappearing in today's society. Being a record collector, this film certainly hits a soft spot in my heart. I am sad to say that I am too young to have been able to participate in the glory days of record stores. Music tends to have a very important impact on peoples lives, and often brings people together. Throughout the story, you are provided very interesting perspectives, stories, and presumed facts about the music industry. The film was fairly well produced, with a clear passion for the subject.

Overall, I highly recommend you checking out this documentary if you are a fan of record stores and/or vinyl in general.

If you are a fan of indepedent documentaries, I would also recommend checking out:

Disneyland Records - Sleeve Insert

I am often surprised when I go through the records to digitize them. I sometimes come across interesting items, which are unexpected. I was recently pulling a record out of the cardboard sleeve and came across a Disneyland Record sleeve. Since I buy many of the records from eBay, the records have been through quite a lot before they get to me. I often find people have discarded the paper sleeve, or used one from some other album. The album that I found this in was marked as being $1.98, in what appeared to be a fairly original price tag. I found it interesing that this sleeve shows the price as $3.98.

     

How Vinyl Records Are Made

This month, Make Magazine highlighted a video showing how vinyl records are made.
From the blog post:
"For the last couple of years there has been a resurgence in popularity of vinyl records. Largely due to digital downloads rending the portability of compact discs obsolete, people are starting to gravitate to vinyl as the physical format of choice. In this short documentary from Nick Cavalier we get a behind-the-scenes look at the production of vinyl records at Gotta Groove Records, a new vinyl pressing plant in Cleveland, Ohio."

Gotta Groove Records - "Groove With Us" from Nick Cavalier on Vimeo.

Original Post on Make Magazine blog.

Halloween Time

Since it is the Halloween season, I figured it would be fun to have a week themed around it. Come back each day this week to find a Halloween themed vinyl posted! Some of the planned postings are among the absolute classics!

Let me know if there are ones missing, that you'd like to see next year. If this goes well, I plan on doing something similar for the Christmas season as well.

UPDATE : Check out the post Halloween Vinyl!

Time for a Souvenir!

All of the postings, up until today, have been the "See, Hear, and Read" records with matching books. I have begun to reach the end of my current collection of these records, and figured I would start another series. I'll continue to add these "See, Hear, and Read" records as I acquire them.

For the next few days you'll be seeing posts of souvenir records from the 1964/65 New York World's Fair and from the Disneyland park. I have really begun to enjoy these souvenir records and hope to collect many more for this section of my collection. Enjoy!

More about Dal McKennon

Since Dal McKennon was such an important contributor to the Disneyland Records being featured on this site, I felt it was appropriate to provide people with links to more information about him.

Dal McKennon: Disney voice actor passes away at 89

Dallas McKennon has passed away at the age of 89. Often known as Dal, he was a common voice actor used by Disneyland Records in its earlier years. Dal voiced characters in: Stories of Uncle Remus Storyteller album, the Jungle Book Storyteller album, The Boatniks, and numerous others. His voice was used for characters ranging from Uncle Scrooge McDuck to Bert from Mary Poppins. Throughout his career he worked with many of the other notable voice actors, such as Robie Lester and Lois Lane.

While a major contributor to the Disneyland Record projects, he was also heavily involved with Disney's animation films and theme park attractions. You can learn a little more about Dal McKennon at: HERE

Using the Force

Those watching closely will have noticed that the first Star Wars album was published on here today (HERE). It seems they used the original John Williams music, but not the original voices. They seemed to have cut corners on the voices, and tried to make them sound like the original actors. I've really enjoyed these albums, and seeing how they cut down the story to fit into 24 pages with pictures!

Keep a close eye out over the next few days, as we have multiple albums in the Star Wars series to be published!

100 Stories Told

There are now 100 "See, Hear, and Read" albums posted on the site! Hopefully almost all requested albums from the series have been posted by now. I will soon be shifting into more of the Buena Vista Distribution side of the catalog, which will include titles such as Star Wars, Star Trek, and Gremlins! Stay tuned!

Syndicate content