Music Memorabilia--Music Collecting Stories

Music Collecting Stories

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Records

I was eleven years old when my brother went to Oklahoma for the summer to bale hay. It was a great paying job and he came back with stacks of records. They had been removed from juke boxes. He paid five cents each for them. There were lots of Brenda Lee and Connie Francis 45's. I learned every word and sang loud enough for the neighbors to appreciate them, too.

The following summer, he went back. Same thing. He added another 30 or 40 more 45's to the stack. We couldn't afford new records, but I found a local record/book shop that sold used records for ten cents. I gave up lunch some days to get records. I remember getting "24 Hours From Tulsa", "Pretty Woman", and "Help Me Rhonda" ...among others.

My brother started a band that played during intermission at the basketball games for our high school. Kids would bring records to play between live songs. Sometimes they would leave them and not come back to claim them. Our stacks grew.

In 1968, when I left home, I took the records. My brother had gone into the Air Force and I felt responsible for them. I married and had kids. Through this time, I met another mom who liked records as much as I did. We had a contest going to see who could get the most records. This was through 1970-80. We hit Goodwill, Salvation Army, garage sales, and even found throwaways in boxes left on the corner when somebody moved.

In 1976 I helped clean out an apartment for a manager and netted over 30 albums including a double LP by Kansas. "Smoke on the Water" was one of my favorites for a long time. With every move, I carefully packed my records in the backseat, not trusting them in boxes.

I left my first husband in 1983. I took my kids and my records. I met the man who would be my next husband, and he still says he married me for my records (well, ...That and my ability to cook and work on cars).

I have willed my records to my fourth child. She is a music and theater arts major with the uncanny ability to hit F above high C. We go to garage sales, record stores, Goodwill, and Salvation Army together. I no longer count my records. I have about 35 feet of records stacked vertically in one room. We proudly framed "Meet the Beatles", "Breakfast at Tiffany's", Janis Joplin's "Pearl", and the "Blues Brothers". We have alphabetized, categorized, and organized. We have 45's, LP's, and a large collection of 78's by Sinatra, Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, Jo Stafford, and Doris Day. One large section includes soundtracks. My daughter could sing before she could talk. We have a turntable ( and one really cheap record player from Ebay). We play them. We sing with them. We cherish them. They are art. They are history.

Judy Ross

Midland, Texas