bigmck I have a massive Elvis collection, too many to list here, '45's and LP's. I have one 45 which I believe is quite rare and it is in absolutely pristine condition: "All Shook Up" which has "That's How Your Heartaches Begin" on the 'B' side. Why is it rare? Because here in the UK, most Elvis recordings were on the RCA label. This one was HMV, and the majority of the UK production of this one. were in 78 format. Now I know what can and did happen to 78's. People sat on them (I know - my older cousin sat on about a dozen on his bed, and broke every one!) and there are very few left in playable condition. The UK HMV 45's are very rare: just a short run, then a move to RCA.
I also have a Beatles rarity: "Please Please Me" album, on a studio tape. I would not be sorry to see that go when it does, as I was never a big fan. I liked their early stuff, but after the navel-gazing of "Pepper" I turned off. I much preferred the Stones and Creedence. Now, there's a rock band! And John Fogerty is still doing it.
I soon realised, when I first began collecting records, that these things would suffer wear. So I bought an old Open Reel tape recorder and recorded them all as I bought them. Later I bought a better AKAI tape machine, later still a tape cassette/record player combo. I continued to record the collection and nowadays they are all either on CD, or will be soon. As not one of my vinyl records has been played more than 5 times (Some only once) they are all in mint condition.
I served in the army in Germany and every year my unit exercised with various US units, mostly around the Frankfurt area. I then had access to a PX, thanks to friends I made, and could get US Imports. So I wound up with a pretty mixed bunch of UK/US records. As an aircraft technician, I also had contacts with Netherlands Airforce guys and those fellows had some really good stuff. No, I mean vinyl. Not vegetable smoking material...
As has been said, ageing ears means losing the top end of hearing and I cannot differentiate now between CD and vinyl sound, except with a really good set of headphones. That may also be due in part to all the years I attended Rock concerts, especially the Stones!
Some years ago my son gave me a wonderful Christmas present. He had just broken up with his dragon of a wife and was fighting to get custody of our 2 lovely grandchildren, (he won, thanks be) consequently he was very short of money. I told him not to spend what little he had, but he got around that by seeing a mate who had just begun (legal) music downloads. He put onto CD every Elvis record he could find - 50 Cd's, some with 2 or 3 albums. It is a mark of the character of my thoughtful, quiet son and I loved him for it.
I think that those of us whose lives span the vinyl/tape/cassette/cd/digital downloads eras, may feel that we are always one step behind the technology. I struggle to keep up, which is where the grandchildren come in handy! Eldest has just set me up my Christmas present: a NAS/Media Player. Over the next few weeks (months?) I will be attempting to record all my vinyl to PC and then to separate storage, at which point I will probably see what the collection is now worth.
