Fats Waller RCA/Bluebird recordings question

[Bol]

I wanted to get some of these CD sets, but find that they are all out of print. Too bad. Here is my question: How commonly or uncommonly available are these in used record stores and on ebay? Are they really rare so that if I really want them I should grab them whenever they are available with little concern for their condition? Or are they often available so that I can be discerning about conditions of copies?

Edited March 7, 2004 by Bol

[Hackensack]

I think they pop up fairly rarely. I had these on Bluebird vinyl reissues, so wasn't to quick to go after them, then they disappeared. I've managed to grab a few used copies though. Last time I looked on ebay, there were no bargains to be had.

[jazzbo]

I have the series on King Jazz cds and love them. . . . I don't see the Bluebird cds (or the King Jazz) pop up at all frequently in these parts, or on the net.

[neveronfriday]

Man, now that I'm reading this here I remember the many times I stumbled over these second hand. I never picked them up. There was always something else and the feeling that you could pick them up some other time. They used to be all over the place. That's one of the big problems with jazz ... things have a knack for just disappearing quietly. If you don't have an incentive or the cash to go for things pretty much straight away, they just vanish into thin air. I was just reading the thread on the West Coast Classics series and remember seeing those around ... now they are damn hard to find and I would love to have them.

Cheers!

Edited March 7, 2004 by deus62

[Out2Lunch]

Try Half.Com, I have purchased one or two through them, also try Amazon.com, they have used copies listed through sellers ocassionally.

[Shrdlu]

Did King Jazz issue all of the selections, or just a sample?

This material deserves to be permanently available. Too bad that Fantasy does not own it .

[jazzbo]

They reissued almost all the And Rhythm sides and the Victor jam, they skipped organ pieces; they had fourteen volumes. . . .

[A Lark Ascending]

I started buying some of these as they disappeared. I have three.

I'm gradually filling in the spaces with Jazz Chronological Classics discs.

A pity. This is the sort of package that should never be OOP.

Edited March 8, 2004 by Bev Stapleton

[Tjazz]

I assume RCA will put out the complete box set again - just when? Probably remastered again too. Maybe sold this time as a Box set.

Course, I'd like to see the RCA Goodman complete and Artie Shaw complete on CD too.

I'm trying to remember, was the Complete RCA Ellington ever released on LP in any series?

[brownie]

I'm trying to remember, was the Complete RCA Ellington ever released on LP in any series?

French RCA issued a series of 23 LPs in the '70s 'The Works of Duke Ellington' which had all the Duke RCA sides up to the 1952 concert in Seattle. With a number of alternates that were unreleased at the time.

[Hank]

BMG Music Club has got The Middle Years Part 1 (1936 - 38), which is a 3 CD set.

bmgmusic.com

Edited March 9, 2004 by Hank

[Tjazz]

I'm trying to remember, was the Complete RCA Ellington ever released on LP in any series?

French RCA issued a series of 23 LPs in the '70s 'The Works of Duke Ellington' which had all the Duke RCA sides up to the 1952 concert in Seattle. With a number of alternates that were unreleased at the time.

Thanks brownie,

Now I remember all those French RCA (black and white overs) reissues. I got some of the French Blues series on LP too.

Just was remembering all the funny colored 2-fer Bluebird LPs that made up of most of the other complete series. Like Fats Waller, Bunny Berigan, Glen Miller, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey...

Edited March 9, 2004 by Tjazz