Circles, Broken and Not
Crate Diving in Modern America
An old Looney Tunes cartoon from my childhood has a dog whose name I no longer know singing as he journeys along a dusty road,
“Oh, you never know where you’re going till you get there!”
I take that as my mantra, especially when I go diving into crates in random junk shops or vintage record store. And damn me, but I almost always forget to clean my hands after, and so yet again I have a cold that I’m sure I got from holding that copy of Bloodrock II that I decided not to buy because who really wants to hear “D.O.A.” one more time?
If you’re careful and lucky, for under $5 you can score pretty big on those albums you didn’t know you were looking for until you found them.
I thought, for instance, that I had enough Kitty Wells in my collection, but when I saw Kitty Wells Showcase (Decca DL-74961) featuring “My Big Truck Drivin’ Man,” I had to get it. An original pressing from 1968, it needed a home in my stack of older female country artists. And for $5, what kind of fool would i be if I left it sitting all by its lonesome?
Then for $4, I found The Carter Family: I Walk the Line ( Harmony HS-11392), with a lovely photo of June, her sisters and mother all in matching horizontal blue-striped dresses. Along with the title track, they cover “That’ll Be the Day,’ “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’,” “I’ll Never Find Another You.” This was released ion Canada in 1967, and if you’re looking for it on Discogs, there are only two copies, neither of which is as good as mine, and both costing more — one substantially more.
I went crazy and spent $6 on Soft Touch (Epic 85727) by Tammy Wynette from 1982. It’s a fine copy but Discogs offers some still in the shrink wrap if anyone cares about such things. What I do care about is that it nearly completes my Tammy collection and it has her singing “What’s It Like to be. A Woman,” a question we’re asking in so many ways these days.
For $5, I also picked up another copy of Buffalo Springfield’s final album Last Time Around from 1968 (ATCO SD 33–256), featuring my favorite, “On the Way Home” and “I Am a Child.” I have a copy already but couldn’t stand to leave this one behind, either. I’ve got a friend who might want it for his birthday. I know I would love such a gift.
And finally, for $1, I got the album I alluded to in the title. It’s a very clean copy of this three-album set, though the cover does show ring wear. Who cares? I’m sure The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Earl Scruggs, Vassar Clements, and all those others playing on it wouldn’t. Will the Circle Be Unbroken (UAS-9801) restored bluegrass to its place in Americana amongst the hipper, hippier set. I remember when some college friends wanted to go see. The Earl Scruggs review, and I didn’t go because I knew Earl only from Lester and appearances on “The Beverly Hillbillies” and I really didn’t know where all of this was going or had gone. I didn’t know myself very well either back then in what i thought were my own hippie days.
But I know now and I’m here, wherever that is with amazing finds from old and out-of-the-way and places near Staunton, VA.
Thanks for reading!