Zither Magic

I'll admit, I sometimes buy record albums simply for the cover.  Particularly if they evoke something Halloween related.  This album fits that category.

"Alias" Barbarino

I decided the cure for the winter doldrums was to do some gleaning of my past finds that laid dormant and push some content through (lucky you).

First up is actually a recent find from this past weekend.  I admit I bought it strictly for the sticker alone.

Punk Metal

I didn't buy this, but I couldn't resist taking a picture of it at an estate sale today.  You expect to see this sort of thing on a school notebook, but a toolbox?

Spook House -- Digging through a Load of Sheet...Music

Sheet music is something I sometimes find myself thumbing through at estate sales.  If there's a piano or organ in the home, you can guarantee there's a huge stack of sheet music gathering dust (or mold) somewhere.

I say "sometimes I find myself thumbing through" because usually the stack is so daunting, I pass on it. But occasionally I will look to see if there are any interesting covers.  

While this piece isn't quite a thrilling as last year's "Carbarlick Acid Rag", it's a fun cover with cute lyrics.  From 1977, it's "Spook House".

Things are dark and hard to see, stumbling all around.

Creepy, crawly things are here lying on the ground.

Spider webs and icky stuff hanging in the air.

I sure hope that I don't get any in my hair!

Spooky goblins, ghosts and things making shrieks and moans.

Skeletons and monsters peer up from piles of bones.

Carbarlick Acid Rag

I frequently see old sheet music at sales, but rarely see a piece that catches my eye.  These devils dancing around a bottle of poison did.

On October 31

I found this album of 78's at a garage sale last weekend.  The black cat and Jack O' Lantern caught my eye.

We Interrupt this Countdown for an Important Radio Announcement...

I was contacted by Neil Pellegrin who hosts a 1950's R&B show on WWOZ radio in New Orleans. He had come across my recent post about Ernie "The Whip" Bringier and requested permission to play the tracks on his show tonight at 7:00 p.m. Central.  It's fund raising season and he'll be hosting a few local R&B legends as well as a protege of Ernie, "Tee" Eva Louis Perry, an R&B performer herself.  Neil thought everyone would have a good time hearing Ernie's voice again.

If you'd like to listen in (and maybe throw a few bucks their way), the show will be streaming at wwoz.org.

The Whip

Ernie "The Whip" Bringier was a name unfamiliar to me before I found this record at the "fire sale" a few weeks ago.

Æolian Encounter

Back in 2011, I received a 1920 Singerphone phonograph for free from a local Freecycle group.  It works well, but the condition is a little rough and frankly, it has a fairly large footprint.  So when I saw this smaller phonograph last week at an estate sale marked for $60, I was excited.

Notes on Christmas

While phonographs have been available to the public for home entertainment for over 100 years,  within those years you were just as likely to find a family making their own music on piano or organ.  My grandmother would always tell of her father playing "O Tannenbaum" on the pump organ on Christmas Eve while they all gathered around and sang.

Because of this, sheet music is fairly common and I see it at estate sales frequently.  It's not worth a lot, but I still pick it up if I like the subject or cover.  Here are some Christmas related music sheets I bought at the church tag sale a while back.

Cherry Pink, Apple Blossom White and Gill-man Green

Technically, today's post isn't Halloween related.  I picked this up with a bunch of other vintage sheet music at a tailgate sale a few years ago.

The GIGO Effect 1983

I found this among some other papers at an estate sale a while back.  The cheesy computer image on the cover caught my eye along with the fact that it dates from the earlier days of home computers.

Flash Cards of Note

I found these music flashcards at the estate sale of a former music teacher.  They date from the 40's.

We laugh in your face, Mr. Creepy Note

While the box has "Henry Teller & Son" on the front, the inside note attributes the cards to Musigame Features.

56 West 103rd Street, Chicago, Illinois.  Former site of Henry Teller and Sons.

 21421 Sloan Drive, Harper Woods, Michigan.  Former site of Musicgame Features. 

The teacher is advised to track their students progress.

"Name a Note" was somewhat simple.  The letter note on one side of the card:

And the bar note on the other.

"Name a Chord" is a little more involved.

Singerphone Sings Again

While the subject of this post stretches the boundaries of a garage sale, I thought it worthy of writing about considering it came free, and I owe a friend big time for it.  About a week ago, a friend of mine, who belongs to the St. Louis Freecycle Yahoo! Group, received the following Freecycle post:

"Wind-up 78 rpm phonograph console. 50" tall. "Singerphone" model made by Singer Talking Machine Co. of Milwaukee."

My friend, John, shot a message to me asking if I wanted it.  "GET IT!" was my reply as fast as I could type.  He replied back, but then heard nothing.  We'd given up on it, although he had never seen a "taken" message.  Then last Wednesday evening, he heard back from the person offering it.  It seems the person who was going to take it was a no show and it was mine to get.  My friend John arranged for it to be picked up today at noon in Kirkwood, MO.

The post didn't say whether it worked nor what condition it was in.  I've become accustomed to being disappointed with freecycled items, after all, they are free.  When we showed up, it appeared no one was home (the person offering it had been out of town leading up to today), so I thought it was going to be a wash.   But suddenly, the owner came speeding up in his car, just in time.  He opened the garage and we found the phonograph to be in very nice condition, and much larger than I initially expected.  I was concerned it wasn't going to fit in my van even with the seats out, but laying it on it's back, it did barely fit. John and  I thanked the gentleman and after dropping my friend back off at his house, I brought it home.

After a little cleaning up

A Pickin' and a Salin'

Many Summer holidays of my youth were spent at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri.  If you're not familiar, this theme park is located in the Ozarks mountains of southern Missouri.  The park is themed in 1880's rural with a touch of hillbilly (okay, a heavy dose).  Bluegrass music plays throughout the park and bands perform it at various stages within the park.  For me, this music became associated with happy times, but I never listened to it outside of our trips there.  Years later, I developed a love of bluegrass and it's performers, from the classic Flat & Scruggs of the Foggy Mountain Boys to Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers.  Yes, that Steve Martin.  Who, I might mention if you're a fan, has another bluegrass album coming out next week.  If you're unfamiliar and so inclined, you can download a free song from the new album at his website.  I also highly recommend his 2009 album, The Crow.  KDHX, 88.1 here in St. Louis plays the Bluegrass Breakdown show every Sunday at noon.

What does all of this have to do with garage sales?  Well, earlier this week I received my weekly email of upcoming estate sales from estatesales.net.  This picture caught my eye:

The sale began this morning at 8:00, and having set out at 9:30, I wasn't optimistic, figuring I might have missed it, but I was nonetheless determined to not come home banjo-less.  I was not disappointed:

It's a Harmony, so it's by no means an expensive banjo, but it appears playable with no major defects, other than the fact that it needs new strings and a bridge.  I paid $25 for it.  It's a 4-string Tenor Banjo and from what I've read, this model was made from the 1940's to about 1970.  I thought the soundboard was plastic, but reading online has lead me to believe might be bakelite, although I'm not sure how late bakelite was used.  I'll have to test it the next time we have some 409 in the house (rubbing a q-tip sprayed with 409 will turn yellow on bakelite).

I spent the better part of the day digging around on the internet learning about the different types of banjos, different ways of tuning them, and different ways of playing them.  I even learned the official name for a pick -- a plectrum.  I learned more in that afternoon than I could have in a class.  While I realize the internet is ceratinly not the place to believe everything you read, I read enough from multiple websites to get the common concensus whereas in a class, you're limited to just one person's teachings. 

I played guitar in my younger days, so hopefully I can pick up the banjo with a little practice. Something about picking a banjo while I sit on my porch on a summer day appeals to me.