often wonder when i see something like this for sale and you look at the sellers other stuff, more often than not tosh, has the seller stumbled across this at a garage sale etc, done a bit of research and found out he has a little nugget like this for sale. never happens to me lol but surely theyre out there to be found?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lou-Ragland-45-I-Travel-Alone-b-w-Big-Wheel-very-rare-northern-soul-Amy-Records-/261122523394?pt=Music_on_Vinyl&hash=item3ccc1d8102

im sure there is people over here and over there sourcing for that magic gem which i am sure is out there,i know some lovely stories

Edited November 7, 201212 yr by soulcarp

That's a rare record. I found a copy via one of Lou's original 'managers' who was down on his luck when I bumped into him in 1977. That's the only copy I ever turned up.

Oh, I just remembered that I probably missed one when a guy who used be involved with a UK publisher turned up at a Wimbledon Record Fair with a box full of Amy/Bell/Mala US promos but sadly Lou Ragland and Bernie Williams were missing......

I think it's fair to say that the majority of stuff has surfaced over the last 40 years but there's still stuff that's under the radar even now.That James Gilstrap record on Bell is still impossible to find but it's still out there somewhere. The sheer volume of records which were released from '63-'79 inevitably means that there's still great titles to find. You can probably expect hithertoo unknown caches of 60's, 70's & 80's stashes to feed into the market anytime as the former record company/publishing company/management company/pressing plants/mastering personnel from those eras get old, downsize and clear out their lofts, cellars or garages. There'll be some great records that everyone missed just via the majors I believe......

But we're talking serious digging here, not weekend enthusiasts.

Ian D

Edited November 7, 201212 yr by Ian Dewhirst

  On 07/11/2012 at 23:08, Ian Dewhirst said:

.......Oh, I just remembered that I probably missed one when a guy who used be involved with a UK publisher turned up at a Wimbledon Record Fair with a box full of Amy/Bell/Mala US promos but sadly Lou Ragland and Bernie Williams were missing..........

But we're talking serious digging here, not weekend enthusiasts.

Ian D

This just reminded me of a funny true story.

A few years ago my son was at the Buena Park record show. He'd looked at all the tables & was just killing time until his wife arrived to pick him up.

He then spotted a seller that he'd not bothered to check out, reason being we both knew him well, and knew he was well & truly Manshipped up ! no bargains to be had there then? But any way, he had a box of mint Amy/Bell & Mala. Think they were $10 a shot, so to pass time my son flicked through them. Geeeez !! Timmie Williams - Competition - Mala, mint !! So he pulled out a couple of other numbers so it didn't draw attention.

I'll take these thanks, he said. He paid for them, went to turn & walk away, snatch ! The seller pulled them back out of his hand ! Hang on a minute, I just want to write down what you've taken, said the seller. My son had to stand there & watch as this guy wrote down all the titles....wait for it...whilst resting his bit of paper on his manship price guide

By the time the next show came around the seller had looked them up...

the record in the picture is clearly heat damaged

There's plenty of records like this in the US, sure, the number goes down with time but they turn up. I find maybe 5-6 records like this a year for cheap (relatively). Sometimes I get inexplicable prices like $50 for Johnny Caswell on Decca (why $50? you would think it would be $400 or $5). I don't really try that hard, if I really had the time or interest I'm sure I could find more. Regarding Lou Ragland, I've known a few people that have found one in a junk shop or whatever. Not nearly as many as RCA label 45s though. I got a copy for 50 cents probably 25 years ago and have missed a couple since then.

  On 08/11/2012 at 08:41, George G said:

There's plenty of records like this in the US, sure, the number goes down with time but they turn up. I find maybe 5-6 records like this a year for cheap (relatively). Sometimes I get inexplicable prices like $50 for Johnny Caswell on Decca (why $50? you would think it would be $400 or $5). I don't really try that hard, if I really had the time or interest I'm sure I could find more. Regarding Lou Ragland, I've known a few people that have found one in a junk shop or whatever. Not nearly as many as RCA label 45s though. I got a copy for 50 cents probably 25 years ago and have missed a couple since then.

Actually whilst we're on this subject, does anyone have a solid figure for what the majors would have pressed up for promo in the mid to late 60's through mid 80's? I've found some unbelievably rare 80's major promos which I've never seen before or since, so I'm curious. I would have thought it would need to be at least a couple of thousand on the basis that in the UK an average figure for that period would be 500 copies and we don't have that many radio stations.

As you say, RCA having such a massive distribution network may well have pressed up a lot more promos in the 60's, especially since they continue to turn up all the time. It wasn't unusual to bump into dealers that had boxes and boxes of just RCA promos and others with Warners, Columbia, Epic, Capitol etc, etc, so I'm guessing 2K for some titlles....?

Ian

My Lou Ragland story takes place in 1984. As some people know, I was a huge Bowie collector and loved to collect live tapes, I made friends with a girl called Julie in Hartford CT, and we did loads of swaps, anyway the one day I asked her if, next time she was in New York, she might be able to check out any record shops and gave her a small list of titles. About a month later, a package arrived containing Lou Ragland on Amy, The Larue on decca demo, Kenny Smith on Gar, Dean Courtney on MGM demo and...wait for it..Carmel Strings

she paid something like $3 apiece for these and charged me 5 live tapes for them.

Following on from the post by Pottsy. I came back in October from a fly/drive through California. Picked up a few things but nothing rare. I had found out that there was a record show in Buena Park over the weekend we were there and promising to lavish gifts on my wife I was given a passout to go. It was literally half a mile from the hotel and I was told they start selling at 5.30 am in the car park. Leaving my good lady tucked up in bed and setting out 5.30 I arrived to find loads of sellers and buyers busy buying and selling. Picked up some nice LPs at a few dollars each. At 7.00 am everyone moved into the hall. My heart was pumping when you actually saw how many records were on offer, but this was a mix of all sorts. As I walked around the hall I think I counted about 15 John Manship record guides, my heart sunk, no bargains here today for me then.

One dealer had a few nice northern 45s but when I looked they were twice the price of anyone who sells them in the UK. The dealer asked if I was interested and I politely said that I could get them for half the price in the UK. " Well go buy them in the UK then " was his answer.

Like Ian said, they are still out there somewhere, but try finding them. My only saving grace was that after waiting nearly 2 hours walking past a stall which was covered over with sheets I ask the next stall holder where the seller was. He said, " he would be around here in about 10 to 15 minutes, and anyway there is only boxes and boxes of 45s of that soul rubbish " Bingo ! nothing rare but lots of nice goodies.

Kev Jones

There has been at least two Lou Ragland's other than this one on eBay recently, one in ex nick other not so, and one on here

I quite like the way that the fist bidder bid $19.99 then decided that wasn't going to be enough so put a second bid in ..........

............. of $22.99

The winner was quite lucky too as that last bidder (who came second) bid 899.87 which looks to be exactly the same as the winning bidders highest bid. Phew!

  On 08/11/2012 at 14:54, paultp said:

The winner was quite lucky too as that last bidder (who came second) bid 899.87 which looks to be exactly the same as the winning bidders highest bid. Phew!

The second highest bidder bid $889.87 ($10 less than the winning bid). The winning bidder might've had a top bid of $2000, there's no way to tell.

  On 08/11/2012 at 15:26, Sebastian said:

The second highest bidder bid $889.87 ($10 less than the winning bid). The winning bidder might've had a top bid of $2000, there's no way to tell.

Yeah, I didn't read it right, I'll put my specs on next time.