Your Favorite Collector's Find at a Bargain Price

Friends,

I was ruminating in another thread about the old "cut out bins" in record and discount stores where you could rummage through hundreds of LPs and maybe discover some hard to find collector's item at a bargain price. I thought it might be fun to have us share what we feel was a great find; a real collector's item we found the old fashioned way - by searching for it in stores or happening across it in some other more or less random way.

Sticking to the cut out bins, I remember when growing up in Detroit finding all the out of print titles that were listed on the album insert sleeves. For example, that was when I first found out there was a Workshop Jazz label, or that there were out of print albums by the Miracles, Marvelettes or Vandellas which I didn't know about.

I remember even calling Motown [[when they were still in downtown Detroit) and asking how one could find the old albums. Of course, they had no idea!

My first "epic" discovery was finding the cut out bins at a department store called Federal's. Federal's was a store similar to the more recent Mervyn's. They had clothing, housewares, and of course records. I think the first time I found they were a great source for old records was at the Federal's on Grand River and Oakman a few miles from downtown Detroit. The albums were strangely priced at $1.67 [[how did they ever get to that number!). It was there I found the early albums by the Marvelettes such as "Please Mr. Postman," "Greetings We're the Miracles," "Stubborn Kind of Fellow" by Gaye, and many other early titles. To me it was like finding something akin to buried treasure. Of course, they were all brand new, sealed copies.

What's your favorite story about how you found something rare that you had looked for, or perhaps never expected you might find?

Back in the late 70s, after buying the SOPHISTICATED SOUL album and then their ANTHOLOGY, I really got into the Marvelettes. From looking at some old inner sleeves, I saw that they had a live album, ON STAGE. I was still a kid and couldn't get to every record store so I wrote letters with pages of albums I wanted. Only a couple of stores actually wrote back but one did have the album. The cost? A whopping $8.00, which was a fortune to me at the time. But I bought it [[via mail) and when it came, it was used but the vinyl was in great shape.

Later as an adult, I was in my favorite used record store and I found a copy of the Mary Wells album BYE BYE BABY. I already had the 80s reissue but I couldn't pass up getting the original. Plus it only cost $.99. Surely that had to be a mistake. The cover was in great shape. I didn't bother looking at the vinyl. When I got to the cash register, the cashier pulled out the vinyl to examine it. That's when I saw that it didn't have the Motown map label that I was familiar with. It was a rather plain white label with blue lettering. At this point, I was sure they were going to tell me the $.99 cost was a mistake but they didn't. I sailed out of the store feeling very happy.

OK Kenneth, you didn't stipulate that it had to be records related, although I spent years snagging "treasures" from record gatherings in LA and from used record stores etc..

My most exciting collector's find:

Back in the eighties, my partner and I decided to load our bikes from our place in SF and drive over to Davis and ride bikes on the trails there on the UC campus. Somehow we got the idea that we weren't that far now from Reno and decided to go there as well. After gambling into the wee hours we trekked back to SF arriving early early morning.
I talked my partner into stopping at a yard sale being set up as we passed by. An old guy was selling and I opened a little box and it was stuffed with mint condition baseball cards from a 1919 west coast team.
How much for your cards? ....."Oh two dollars." which I didn't even have that just coming from Reno. Mark give the guy two dollars ....Why??
Please!!

Yep they were worth around 15 hundred , we sold them and took a trip to Australia.

Went to a carboot sale in my teens [[this will have been mid-2000's) and someone was selling vinyl records, 50p for regular 7", £1 for picture discs. I got Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney's The Girl is Mine picture disc for £1.

In NYC, I went to a charity flea market. While perusing one of the tables, I found a copy of The Supremes Right On in excellent condition [[poster still attached), as well as The Supremes Greatest Hits [[the blue album) with the three posters still intact. They told me it was $2.00 for both [[$1 a piece), but I gave them $5 as it was for charity.

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Originally Posted by kenneth

Friends,

I was ruminating in another thread about the old "cut out bins" in record and discount stores where you could rummage through hundreds of LPs and maybe discover some hard to find collector's item at a bargain price. I thought it might be fun to have us share what we feel was a great find; a real collector's item we found the old fashioned way - by searching for it in stores or happening across it in some other more or less random way.

Sticking to the cut out bins, I remember when growing up in Detroit finding all the out of print titles that were listed on the album insert sleeves. For example, that was when I first found out there was a Workshop Jazz label, or that there were out of print albums by the Miracles, Marvelettes or Vandellas which I didn't know about.

I remember even calling Motown [[when they were still in downtown Detroit) and asking how one could find the old albums. Of course, they had no idea!

My first "epic" discovery was finding the cut out bins at a department store called Federal's. Federal's was a store similar to the more recent Mervyn's. They had clothing, housewares, and of course records. I think the first time I found they were a great source for old records was at the Federal's on Grand River and Oakman a few miles from downtown Detroit. The albums were strangely priced at $1.67 [[how did they ever get to that number!). It was there I found the early albums by the Marvelettes such as "Please Mr. Postman," "Greetings We're the Miracles," "Stubborn Kind of Fellow" by Gaye, and many other early titles. To me it was like finding something akin to buried treasure. Of course, they were all brand new, sealed copies.

What's your favorite story about how you found something rare that you had looked for, or perhaps never expected you might find?

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As far as the $1.67 per album, did you remember seeing anything that said anything close to "...or 3 for $5"? If so, that's where the $1.67 price comes from.

Picked this [[CD) up at Borders Outlet store for $2.95...right before they closed their stores.
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....L._SL1500_.jpg

Attachment 19218
Most of my 40,000 45s and 4,000 LPs were found in bargain bins, 10¢ sales, and in thrift and junk stores. So, I'd have literally hundreds of different stories. I might die before finishing this post if I tried to type them all. :p

"Dance Party" MR & V in record bin for $1.99 original in brand new condition
"Shotgun" Jr. Walker in used record store original brand new condition for $5.00
"Uptight" Stevie Wonder in record bin for $2.99 original brand new condition.

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Originally Posted by lockhartgary

As far as the $1.67 per album, did you remember seeing anything that said anything close to "...or 3 for $5"? If so, that's where the $1.67 price comes from.

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I don't remember seeing it advertised that way, but that would certainly make sense! Thanks!

In the early days of the CD [[late 1980s to early 1990s), major record labels, with the exception of independent Motown would only issue greatest hits packages and not individual albums on CD in North America. The mindset was that to do so was commercially unviable because Black people wouldn't buy the albums or lacked the ability to invest in equipment to support the new technology. The European and Japanese subsidiaries were allowed to do reissues with the understanding that product couldn't be introduced into North American markets. Remember, this pre-dated the internet and global commerce.

I was fortunate in having travel access that allowed side trips to London, German cities, Paris and Tokyo [[Tower, HMV, Media Markt, Saturn-Hansa, FNAC). Most of my collection was amassed with individual albums years before the majors came to their senses and permitted North American reissues. Surprisingly, most of these artists had royalty-super star status in foreign lands while sometimes being a bit obscure at home. I always enjoyed combing the bins and letting out the YES! Have Mercies with good finds.

This is probably a little off topic, but part of my story.

I remember buying the Elgins' Heaven Must Have Sent You 45 in a bargain bin. I had never heard of the group or the song at the time, but I knew that VIP was a Motown label and I was into Motown at the time. When I got home and played that song, I flipped for it and to this day it remains one of my top five all time songs.

As for non-Motown memories, I think virtually my entire Ann Peebles' LP collection came from bargain bins. I paid .50 for the Handwriting is on the Wall album, although I had never heard of her. Within weeks I had grabbed up every album I could find by her even though her tenure at Hi was over by then.

Several years ago I purchased 2 large boxes of original [[1960 - 1967) Motown albums [[M&V, Tempts, Marvelettes, Sups, Miracles, and Marvin) with some misc. R&B at "junk store" a couple of miles from my farm in Michigan. The store was open hit or miss, but finally I was able to stop in to see what it was all about. I bought it all for $25. The owner was so happy because they weren't selling and she needed the space. I also purchased an original Meet the Supremes for $2.00 @ a garage sale. The cover was in great shape, but the record itself would be graded as average. I had the album cover framed.

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Originally Posted by robb_k

Attachment 19218
Most of my 40,000 45s and 4,000 LPs were found in bargain bins, 10¢ sales, and in thrift and junk stores. So, I'd have literally hundreds of different stories. I might die before finishing this post if I tried to type them all. :p

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I love imagining your collection. Can you pick one good story to share ?


I just thought of another treasure. Whenever I'd venture somewhere , I'd do my best to hit the local used record stores. I could spend hours combing through a well stocked 45's section. [anybody here frequent this store , https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...R8Low&usqp=CAUsometimes they would have purchased huge collections of 45s, boxes of them to sort through ]

In Vegas one time I went into a somewhat tired looking record store and once inside I could sense it wasn't going to offer a bonanza treasure trove . I found their obligatory and limited disco section , as would be expected of me , but it was going to take me only moments to comb through it. I even looked at the Donna Summer [and Village People] designated bins, although I don't know why , I owned virtually everything of hers in triplicate. But the I REMEMBER YESTERDAY LP caught my attention, something was scribbled across it. Looking more closely it was a promo copy addressed to ? ....saying something like I hope you enjoy my latest record , thanks for ..? ... fondly, Donna Summer [I haven't looked at it in a long while to quote it accurately.]
Suddenly I was holding a Donna Summer record that I knew she herself had held , and so it became very valuable to me. It was regularly priced , the same as the rest of hers , and the guy behind the counter could care less what I was buying.

Kenny, you and I are among the older folk who remember those marvelous bargain bins from the mid-to-late '60s. Most of my finds were at the Family Bargain Center in Geneva, NY. A huge table of 45s contained an array of Motown 45s on all of the major labels by artists including Brenda Holloway, Kim Weston [[both Tamla & Gordy), Marvin Gaye, Eddie Holland, The Velvelettes, Tommy Good, The Hit Pack, Tony Martin, etc. -- all of which were brand new copies with the punch hole indicating close-out copies. What a thrill it was for a Motown collector to find these amazing records -- oftentimes by artists we had never even heard of. The only negative aspect to these otherwise thrilling experiences was that there were so many 45s heaped and piled up on those massive tables, some of the records had cracked under the pressure. [[Yes, I was a victim of the crack when I got home and discovered that my Eddie Holland "Just Ain't Enough Love" was cracked. But it played fine for years and was more cosmetically-challenged that aurally. I've gotta admit that those bargain bins containing so many Motown close-outs were among my fondest memories of record collecting -- especially Motown.

Can't comment on the 45 close-out bins without giving equal time to the LP bins which were loaded with close-out albums by Motown artists. I can remember the joy of finding these LPs like it were yesterday -- THE MARVELETTES - Please Mr. Postman, Playboy, Live On Stage; STEVIE WONDER - Stevie At The Beach, 12-Year-Old Genius, A Tribute To Uncle Ray, The Jazz Soul Of Little Stevie; MARY WELLS - Bye Bye Baby, The One Who Really Loves You, Two Lovers; CHOKER CAMPBELL - Hits Of The Sixties; EARL VAN DYKE & THE SOUL BROTHERS - That Motown Sound; THE GOSPEL STARS - The Great Gospel Stars [[Tamla LP); AMOS MILBURN - The Blues Boss; RALPH SHARON - Modern Innovations On C&W Themes [[Gordy), etc. As Kenny mentioned above, these were brand new Still Sealed copies for a buck or less. Those were the days, for sure!

About 30yrs ago I went to my local second hand record shop and found a mint condition copy of Syreeta's cancelled 45 "Love Fire"..it cost me 75p...BARGAIN lol.

Being I was born in 1976, I never had the pleasure of being able to acquire any Motown releases via the cut out or bargain bins in original sealed or brand new condition for bargain prices. I sure wish I could have!
I started seriously collecting all the 1972 and before releases in 2012 and have amassed a nice collection, the majority from Ebay and the Ann Arbor Record Shows. Although it's difficult, I have been lucky to find a few underpriced nuggets on Ebay. My best find was quite recent though, about a month ago. I was doing one of my multiple daily searches and saw a listing for Reuben Howell's "You Can't Stop A Man In Love", a minty white label promo release with the picture sleeve in GREAT condition. It was listed at a Buy It Now of $21.99! The seller even listed it as "rare", so must have had some idea that it was a more collectible title, but I have no idea why he priced it so cheaply. Although it's a post '72 release, I wasn't about to pass it up for THAT price!! It was a nice addition to the collection, as I wouldn't have ever paid the normal going price for this record being it was past my collection cut off date.
Darin

In Maryland, we had an S. Klein store. There record department wasn't very big but they had large cutout tables - one for LP's and one for 45's. They would wrap the LP's 3 to apack. You could see the front cover of one, the back of another and the spine of the third. It took a while to get through the table as you had to pick up each one to see the third title [[if you could read it!). The pack was usually $3.99. I got a Meet The Supremes cloud cover, a Martha & The Vandellas Ridin' High, and a third album I didn't care about at all. I just wanted those two! The 45's were 5 to a pack. Aside from the front & back titles, you took your chances with the other three!

Attachment 19223
Many different finds of mine were fabulous, and brought me many records I probably wouldn't have gotten otherwise. So it would be really difficult to choose one over the others. But one was totally unexpected and serendipitous. It was in Chicago in 1964, in a Salvation Army Thrift Store on my regular Saturday All-Day route of record shops, thrift and junk stores, and furniture stores that sold records, and record distributors that included The South Side, Near South Suburbs and East Chicago, Hammond, and Gary, Indiana.

It was a place I hit one Saturday out of 4, as one Saturday a month I hit Detroit, and one I hit The Loop/Record Row Distributors, Near North, The North Side, Near North Suburbs and sometimes Milwaukee, and the other I hit The Loop/Record Row Distributors, The West Side, Harvey, Cicero, and some other Near West Side suburbs.

Once in the familiar books and record shelf area, I went over to the tall record shelves, which often were already heavily picked through and had nothing, and other times, just after a new shipment from the warehouse, had a bonanza of R&B and Soul goodies. This time, I was disappointed, as there was nothing I hadn't seen a few weeks before. But, after finishing a disappointed scan of the remaining shelves, and turned to leave, I noticed the edge of a 45 record sticking slightly out from between the back of the wooden shelf and the wall. It was wedged between the wall and the shelf, and the protruding portion was too small for me to get my fingers around. So, I hoped I could move the ridiculously heavy record laden shelf enough to slide the record out. I was determined to see what record it was because I hated finding nothing at one of my stop, and it had a thick edge and a groove trail that told me it was from between 1952 and 1955, which were often Pop garbage, but sometimes early R&B at this Southside store. At 18, I was still very strong, from lifting weights for ice hockey. I managed to edge that shelf out tiny bits at a time until I had a small gap where I could slide the record out. It was a Swallows record on King from 1952 in almost mint condition!!! That was already a great find for the whole day. But, as I was down on my knees rolling it out, I saw farther down the crack about 20 other 45s leaning against the wall, and lying flat on the floor or piled atop other 45s on the floor, under the bottom shelf board. So I took the LP cover and reached my arm along the crack and pulled more and more of the 45s out. It was a bonanza of old rare R&B records from about 1948 through 1955 [[clearly from a family's collection), all in very good condition for a thrift shop find. I got 2 Five Keys on Aladdin, 2 45s by The Aladdins on Aladdin, the super rare Royals on Okeh from 1952, 2 Gems 45s on Drexel, a couple rare group records on Chance subsidiary, Sabre Records, "Homesick" by Homesick James on Chance, A Flamingos on Parrot [["I'm Yours"), The Orchids on Parrot, "Baby It's You" by The Spaniels on Chance, and "219 Train" by The Moonglows on Chance. There were also some Jazz 45s from that period, I bought as well. There were, I think 33 45s. I tossed them into a cardboard box. The cashier asked me how many I had. I hadn't counted them and guessed slightly low. I ended up getting them for an average of about 6¢ apiece. It was by far the highest quality find I ever made. Had they not fallen back behind the shelf, I NEVER would have had a chance to get them, because I was rarely the first to arrive after new records came in. They were 10 cents a piece. Several of them were worth over $100 apiece even in 1964 [[which was a lot of money back then). But those got up to over $1,000 each at the height of the R&B prices. Now they are lower again due to most of the people who collected them having died off.

It was a day I'll never forget. The kind of day that kept me thrift shopping all the way to mid 1972, just before moving to The Netherlands, after the thrift shop finds started drying up because of too much competition.

Other great days were Woolworth's and Kresge 10¢ 45s and 50¢ LP sales, and record shop closeout sales of store stock, with many original store mint stock 45s at 10¢, 25¢ and 50¢, and LPs at 75¢, $1, and $2.

And I also had a great day at Dolphin's of Hollywood record shop in 1965, when I got rewarded for helping carry in loads of heavy LP boxes into the storage room and Mrs. Dolphin let me have any 45s I wanted from the bargain bins, and I asked her if I could have any from the old 45 boxes [[which included mint store stock copies of almost all the Cash, orange [[old)Money, Ball, and Knight, records, as well as several of Recorded in Hollywood, Lucky, and other related older John Dolphin's labels. So, I ended up getting a whole mint collection of almost all on John Dolphin's L.A. R&B labels entire discographies. I worked part time for their chain of 3 record shops for a few years during my college undergraduate years at UCLA, during the mid to late 1960s.

I also did well at Music Man Murray's record warehouse, in Hollywood, where I went through his walls of 45 mint record DJ copy runs of Columbia, RCA, MGM, Capitol, and Decca/Brunswick, Coral major labels, almost complete from 1959-1966, where I grabbed one copy each of all the rare, cut-out, and unreleased late R&B, Soul, and Jazz records. I bought hundreds at 10¢ apiece.

I did the same at Ray Avery's warehouse in Glendale, where I regularly bought hundreds.

I also did very well during my time in L.A. in Jane Hill's House of Records. She and her husband had been a Juke Box distributor from 1948-1965, so they had amassed a warehouse full of old records they sold in their store all through the years. I found many old gems there, too.

Also I had many great Saturdays looking through the record shops bargain bins, thrift stores, junk and furniture stores, in Detroit one Saturday a month from 1962-1965. I bought an awful lot of rare Detroit records for 10¢ and 25¢ apiece during that time, and got a lot of rare DJ issues, as well. I had some good days at Bob May's and Cappy's Record Mart, too.

I took a few cross continent trips hitting the stores all across Canada in one direction, then across northern and central USA on the other. I had some interesting experiences.

My rarest find was in a small record bin in a store [[I have forgotten where) was
the "Darling Baby" LP by the Elgins in brand new condition still wrapped in cellophane
and dusty. I always thought I would never find that and was not really looking for it.

Back in the day, there were also "Mom & Pop" record stores that specialized in "Oldies"
and would order records for you. I remember hearing "Helpless" and "Love's Gone Bad"
on the radio but could not find them in the record stores, but got them thru mail order.

There was a "House of Oldies" out of NYC which did national mail order that had rare one
hit Motown 45s and LPs. I ordered "More Hits" LP by the Supremes from there. Also there
were many Record Mart chains in the country then. 5&10s like Woolworth's and Murphy's also.

I was in Detroit one year [I don't recall what year] but I managed to find Bob May's on my last day to be there around 2:30 PM. I was the only customer in the store. He must have had 500,000 45's and they were totally disarranged, no rhyme nor reason. It was hit or miss. He was a sleazy character and didn't want to rush me but he had to leave at 5:00 PM. I was the only one in the store at that time. By my next visit to Detroit he was history. It would be very interesting to know what became of all his record stock. He probably sold it for next to nothing. He charge 50 cents a record or something like that.

I have also been to Cappy's Record Mart but it was not in a great neighborhood. He knew how to gouge people especially if they inquired about a certain record. He was
the world's most knowledgeable expert on Fortune Records. I also have seen the former Fortune Records building before it was torn down. It was a small building. I don't know how they accomplished anything there like they did.

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Originally Posted by woodward

I was in Detroit one year [I don't recall what year] but I managed to find Bob May's on my last day to be there around 2:30 PM. I was the only customer in the store. He must have had 500,000 45's and they were totally disarranged, no rhyme nor reason. It was hit or miss. He was a sleazy character and didn't want to rush me but he had to leave at 5:00 PM. I was the only one in the store at that time. By my next visit to Detroit he was history. It would be very interesting to know what became of all his record stock. He probably sold it for next to nothing. He charge 50 cents a record or something like that.

I have also been to Cappy's Record Mart but it was not in a great neighborhood. He knew how to gouge people especially if they inquired about a certain record. He was
the world's most knowledgeable expert on Fortune Records. I also have seen the former Fortune Records building before it was torn down. It was a small building. I don't know how they accomplished anything there like they did.

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After Bob closed down the walk-in facility, he still stored his records, and he switched over mainly to online sales, and only let special customers go into the warehouse by appointment [[very little of that).

The Browns originally used the smaller, back room as a recording studio. That's why so many of their recordings sound so muddy and unprofessional. They even tried recording in their bathroom. I forgot to mention that I got a lot of good records at Fortune from 1962-65.

Like Darin, I was born too late to have the experience of shopping the cut-out/discount bins at department and record stores, and most of my "major scores" at flea markets/junk shops/thrift stores were lesser condition records that I bought as placeholders. But I was fortunate enough to work as a buyer at a used record store in Detroit for a number of years, so I'll share one of my favorite stories from that time:

The shop I worked at normally didn't do house calls, but we received a call from an older woman who lived a little northwest of Hitsville that said she had a garage full of 45s, which was one of the coolest things you could've told us, so we left another employee in charge of the shop and the owner and I headed over. We arrived at the house, met the woman, and walked around back to the garage. There's sort of a weird caveat with record buying that when someone tells you that they have X amount of records, you can usually expect at least a zero to be removed from that number, and that was the case with the garage full of 45s - an entire garage full was actually only a quarter of a garage full, but still, we came there to look at 45s, so that's what we did. They were all neatly stacked in milk crates, so we would each take a crate and flip through the 45s. When we were about 3/4 of the way through what was in the garage, we realized that neither of us had found anything. Usually, to go through that many 45s in Detroit and not find anything means that someone has gone through them before, so we asked if anyone had gone through them in the past and she replied, "Yeah. Someone from St. Louis was here about a month ago and bought a bunch." Darn. We started to talk our way out of looking through the rest as everything we had looked at so far was in rough shape and if the notorious eBay seller from St. Louis that we were assuming it was had just been there, we weren't going to find much if anything. As we were walking back to the car disappointed and empty handed, she remembered the guy from St. Louis didn't look at the records in the house and invited us in.

We entered the house from the side, and she told us that the records were in the basement. We started down the stairs and the first thing that you could see on the left when you got to the bottom was a makeshift hair salon with a barber chair and one of those plastic hair dryers that goes over your head. As I stopped to look in, she directed us forward saying that the records were behind the bar that was just ahead. We entered a cozy room that was tiki-themed with a bar in the corner. On one of the walls I noticed a large poster of the Supremes, a picture you see a lot, the one where they're standing in a line with their arms behind their backs in the silk gowns with fur at the bottom. I remember thinking, "Wow!" because I had never seen a poster of that image before. Then, looking around the rest of the room the rest of walls were covered in 8x10s of different Motown artists - still wow-ing to myself. Upon closer inspection, they're all inscribed! They're all inscribed to "Winnie" with sentiments like "Couldn't Do It Without You. Love, Marvin Gaye". So, full of curiosity, we asked who she was, and she coolly replied, "I'm Winnie Brown. I did all their hair." Incredible! We sat at the bar in Winnie Brown's basement for about three hours while she shared some of her memories with us like loaning Tammi Terrell the black dress she's wearing on the "You're All I Need" album cover, and showed us the grand opening photo album of the beauty shop she opened up with Paul Williams.

We only bought a handful of jazz albums and a couple of Jackie Wilson 45s from Winnie, but it was well worth the trip just to meet her and hear her story. We returned to the shop still grinning from that experience, and while the owner took a phone call, the employee we left to run things directed me to a small stack of 45s that came in while we were gone. I started flipping through it, pretty whatever stuff, and then at the bottom of the stack was a STOCK copy of Dennis Edwards "Johnnie On The Spot" on International Soulsville. Probably the rarest record I've ever held in my hands.

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Originally Posted by robb_k

After Bob closed down the walk-in facility, he still stored his records, and he switched over mainly to online sales, and only let special customers go into the warehouse by appointment [[very little of that).

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After Bob's 8 Mile shop closed down, he sold records out of his house and at local record shows up until he passed away last December.

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Originally Posted by nsoule

After Bob's 8 Mile shop closed down, he sold records out of his house and at local record shows up until he passed away last December.

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Yes, now I remember. I got the online part mixed up with another long-time seller. He just sold out of his house. The last 20 years or so is much more cloudy than 30-40 years ago. And 50-60 years ago is much clearer than the rest. I'd better enjoy these last few years of whatever clarity I have left. But, I guess, it won't matter much after that, because I won't know the difference anyway. ;)

That is a very cool story Nsoule. There are so many people still in Detroit with Motown ties. I wish that the Motown Museum would collect oral histories from people such as Winnie Brown, as they too are/were a part of the Motown story. From the few people I've been able to talk to that lived in Detroit at the time, I discovered the artists were quite accessible and almost anyone of a "certain age" has a Motown encounter to share. :)

When I was at Hitsville in May for the "What's Going On" 50th tour, there was a couple in my group that were older so of course I had to ask them any Motown stories they could share. They both used to attend the Motortown Revue shows at the Fox, and attended Motown Mondays at the Roostertail, so they had "seen them all!" and had small interactions with artists over the years. Then in the course of our conversation, they told me that they share a grandchild with Diana Ross' sister. The world is a small place, haha!

robb_k , great job of storytelling! I was right there with you pulling those shelves away to find out what else could be lodged there !!:cool:

nice one nsoule, what a great unplanned experience.
These stories are terrific !:)

Nothing notable or even specific, but I did love in the very early 70's seeing cut-out 'dumps' at my local Woolworths - lots of Atlantic and Motown titles for under $1.00

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Originally Posted by DWSheffer

That is a very cool story Nsoule. There are so many people still in Detroit with Motown ties. I wish that the Motown Museum would collect oral histories from people such as Winnie Brown, as they too are/were a part of the Motown story.

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Duplicate post.

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Originally Posted by DWSheffer

That is a very cool story Nsoule. There are so many people still in Detroit with Motown ties. I wish that the Motown Museum would collect oral histories from people such as Winnie Brown, as they too are/were a part of the Motown story.

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Funny, because Wini Brown [[spelled WINI) was a great Jazzy ballad singer, and city Blues shouter, who had a LOT of big hits during the 1940s and beginning of the '50s. My father had a lot of her records, along with many other early R&B singers and Blues singers from the 1930s and '40s, that gave me my start in listening to, and liking music. She was born and raised in Chicago. But, after she started recording and singing in clubs, just after World War II, she was on the road a lot with Lionel Hampton, Cootie Williams, Arnett Cobb, and Joe Van Loan's bands, plus later as a solo artist, almost until she retired.
Her bio said that she retired from singing in 1962, and settled in Michigan [[presumably Detroit). She died young, at only 50 years old, in 1978. Is the name, and the fact that she lived the last 16 years of her life in Michigan too much of a coincidence? I'm wondering if these two were the same person? Winnie is short for Winnifred, and maybe she made her stage name "Wini" because it is shorter, and more exotic, and so, easier to remember. After stopping making a living as a singer, she MUST have taken another career and jobs between the still working ages of 34 to 50, because as we all know, record companies and music publishers didn't pay their artists much of what should have been coming to them. So, Winnie/Wini would not likely have been able to stop working and live off her savings from her music career. She could have slid easily into hairdressing, getting part-time hairdressing work while attending hairdressing school. She might have even worked for Carmen Murphy's "House Of Beauty", knowing Carmen from The Music Business.

Here's a link to "Unca Marvy's" [[Marv Goldberg's) bio of Wini Brown:
http://www.uncamarvy.com/WiniBrown/winibrown.html


Here's a nice one of hers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9eDLMuDSsI

Nsoule stated that he too was born too late to enjoy the cut out bins and I stated I was born in '76, so if he's anywhere close to my age I doubt he was visiting the same person you mention above.
I did a quick Google search and it said that Winnie Brown that Nsoule mentions is/was Florence Ballard's cousin and was a hairdresser for the Supremes. [[and presumably other Motown stars as mentioned) But this was just a quick search.....others on the forum can probably confirm this either way.

I thought finding this CD was like finding a collectors gem.
I mentioned it in another thread, but it also deems mention here.

I love the double CD "One By One"
with 35 tracks solo work of David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, Dennis Edwards, & Paul Williams Sr.

edafan

Darin is correct. Wini Brown and Winnie Brown are not the same person. The story I told above about meeting her happened in 2013, and Winnie was a similar age to most of the Motown artists she did hair and makeup for in the 60s.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DWSheffer

I did a quick Google search and it said that Winnie Brown that Nsoule mentions is/was Florence Ballard's cousin and was a hairdresser for the Supremes. [[and presumably other Motown stars as mentioned) But this was just a quick search.....others on the forum can probably confirm this either way.

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Attachment 19227
But why couldn't The singer Wini Brown have been Florence Ballard's cousin??? Cousins can certainly be in different generations. I know many of those in my own extended family alone. Secondly, Wini's bio stated that she settled down in Detroit, and quit singing or a living in 1962. She was only 34 years old then, and must have landed a job, as she didn't have the money to be one of the idle rich. She could have spent 1962 and 1963 learning the hair dresser trade. She probably worked for a Black-owned shop. She had been in the music business. Gospel and R&B/Soul record compay owner, Carmen Murphy, was in the music business, too. Their paths could easily have crossed. IF Wini was a cousin of Florence's, she might have not returned to Chicago because she needede a job, had family there, who might have introduced her to Mrs. Murphy, because they both had been in the music business, and hair dressing was a reliable job, which could earn decent money, and mrs. Murphy could train her.

Say that by 1964 or 1965 Wini/Winnie became good enough to be one of Mrs. Murphy's star hair-dressers, and so was picked to get a lot of Motown's work, as not only Florence was a connection, but Gwen Gordy, and the entire Gordy family had had a connection with Mrs. Murphy for a long time.

Remember, I didn't say the two women WERE the same woman. I just stated that it is an interesting and intriguing possibility.

At first, I thought it couldn't be true. But, I didn't know before reading Unca Marvy's bio on her, that she had been a fairly young teenager when she started singing professionally in 1946.

I definitely wouldn't risk "the farm" on a bet that they absolutely WERE one in the same. But I haven't seen any evidence yet to rule out that possibility.

Late Edit: Now I have - nsoule's last post. As Rosanne Rosanadanna saidmany times, NEVER MIND! :p

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nsoule

Darin is correct. Wini Brown and Winnie Brown are not the same person. The story I told above about meeting her happened in 2013, and Winnie was a similar age to most of the Motown artists she did hair and makeup for in the 60s.

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Sorry! I didn't notice this very short post when I made my last post defending the possibility the two singers COULD possibly have been one in the same.

Still, it's an interesting coincidence.

Was walking down Lambeth Cut in about 72, during a lunch break, and came across a market stall selling import singles for 30p each or 4 for a £1. Was not expecting much when I found there were loads of Motown singles from c61-63. Amongst the number that I brought were the Supremes 'Buttered Popcorn' on Tamla and Lee & the Leopards on Gordy as well as a number of other obscure singles. A latter bargain was the Lamont Dozier album on Invictus for the princely sum of 50p at a Kent record fair.

Also have fond memories at getting early singles at a reasonable price at the Moondogs record store in East Ham. The owners were more into 50s Rock & Roll hence the soul stuff was never expensive. Acquired most of the pre-hit early Temps and Supremes singles as well as Valadiers etc.