Vinyl Magic

 Waylon, Harlan, Johnny And Me…

You know, in the days when I started, if you had Chet Atkins' name on your record as a producer and it was on RCA, you could work the road. It didn't have to be a big hit record, it just had to have that on it.

               Waylon Jennings

I get a lot of questions about my record collection. How many records? How many are signed? What's the most valuable? The rarest? Your favorite? I don't readily know or have the answers. I have been diggin' in crates almost as long as I can remember, searching for elusive and (hopefully) mispriced vinyl. My strategy is akin to risk arbitrage: look for poorly priced, inefficient markets which can be exploited. Without leverage.

So, when I traveled to Nashville in the 1980s, I would not buy country where demand was strong, I would buy soul or jazz. I fondly remember clipping a store in Nashville for four or five Lou Rawls albums from the 1960s still in shrink wrap for $2 each. That is an inefficient market. Similarly, I would not buy jazz in New Orleans, rather, country or punk or rock and roll, equally mispriced, unloved and neglected. The Internet changed all that. It is the great equalizer. Now, you can be impossibly informed and hip whether you live in Dubuque, Dekalb, or Darien. Information is just a point and click away. It was not always thus.

In the late 1980s, I was digging through bins at Joe's Record Paradise in a nondescript strip mall in Wheaton, Maryland. I already had an eclectic stack of albums, when I came across Waylon Jennings' Folk-Country, released in 1966, with several songs written by Harlan Howard. It was marked 'signed' on the front cover, $7. I flip to the back cover and start reading:

"Hello Johnny,

I still think you're a hillbilly at heart. This is my first album for RCA. I think every home should have one, here's yours. Johnny, after meeting you in Phoenix, I felt I had made a friend for life. I hope I see a lot more of you in years to come. Thanks for being so nice. Me + ole Harlan put you through the mill + you came out all right. So we decided to send you a record. See you soon.

Your Buddy,

Waylon"

"Little John -

we are sitting around talking about you - are your ears burning? We thought you'd like this album, in return you owe Waylon + I a copy of your next one -

Best Wishes little buddy, come see us -

Your friend

Harlan Howard"

Now my pulse quickens and adrenaline starts to pump. "Johnny" and "Little John" has got to be Johnny Cash. This is Waylon's first album, and he's sent a copy to his friend Johnny Cash. Waylon was a DJ in Phoenix when he started his career, so it makes sense that Waylon first met Johnny in Phoenix. Harlan Howard famously described country music as "three chords and the truth,” and he wrote classic songs like "I Fall To Pieces," "Busted," and "Heartaches By The Number," which were performed by Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Ray Price and so many others. I can't believe this album is in Wheaton, Maryland at Joe's Record Paradise. For $7.

I place the album in mid-stack, and head to the checkout. Gnarly record store dude at the counter starts going through my albums and ringing up the purchases. He gets to the Waylon album, and says to his friend working with him behind the counter, "Hey look, this is signed by Waylon and Harlan Howard." His buddy checks it out and hands it back. I'm thinking $7 is soon to be re-priced at $700. He rings up $7. I pay for the rest of the stack and leave. Quickly.

I sprint to my car with my stash. I'm not really sure what else I bought that day, but I do remember paying $7 for Waylon and 'ole Harlan.' Inscribed to Johnny.

It pays to dig in crates. Always.

all signed albums from the Kirk vinyl collection  

Copyright 2019