THE RAREST OLD FAVORITES BY JIM LOWE KATS KARAVAN 1958

$

41

PLEASE TAKE TIME TO CAREFULLY READ THE DESCRIPTIONS BEFORE BIDDING, THANK YOU!

Most of the albums you will be viewing are from my 50+ year old collection and are original issues. Sometimes I include albums given to me or purchased from friends or relatives. I do not go to swap meets, garage sales, or thrift stores. I do go to record conventions as time permits. You will be bidding for original issue, quality albums. Sometime I will list rare re-issues and the will be stated as (re) in the listing. I use Goldmine Standard Catalog as a grading guideline and tend to get somewhat conservative. 

All records are played through prior to listing for accurate grading.

GRADING GUIDLINES

(NM or NM-) NM records are shiny with no visible defects such as writing, stickers or needle marks on the labels. The album cover should have no creases, folds, seam splits or any signs of human handling. It also will have no ring wear.

(VG+) or (Excellent) May show some slight signs of wear, including light scuffs or very light scratches that do not affect the listening experience. Slight warps that do not affect the sound are OK. Minor signs of handling are OK. The cover might be marred by a cutout marking, small hole punch, a cut in the spine or a promotional stamp and even a tiny bit of ring wear.

(VG) Have more obvious flaws such as lack of gloss, groove wear, light scratches and needle marks. When played there will be surface noise that will not over power the music overall. Noise in the passages, between songs is common. The cover may have minor seam splits, writing, tape, stickers, ring wear and scuffs.

(VG-) Is just a compounding of the VG category. Many obvious flaws but if the record is rare, may very well be worthwhile. I usually do not list records lower the above grades.

Remember, when you are bidding, most of these records are usually 50+ years old and have been out of print for a very long time. When you consider that, damage, loss, and normal use or wear has reduced the market to the point that few of these wonderful treasures are even available today.

I ship worldwide and accept Paypal, Cashier's check, or personal check. My auctions usually close Saturday or Sunday and I ship the next day (Monday morning) with a delivery confirmation or Customs Declaration. If you are not getting your albums within a few days, check with your post office.

POSTAGE RATES

Due to an increase in our postal rates as of May 11th, 2009 my shipping rates will have a small increase. Media Mail Rates in the United States will remain $4.00, no change. Shipments to Canada will be as follows; $9.00 for 1 album and $4.00 for each additional album. Asia, Europe and South America: $17.00 for 1 album (an increase of .70 cents). Additional albums will be discounted $9.00 per album. These changes take place May 15, 2009.

I will ship worldwide and accept Paypal, Cashier's check, or personal check. Due to the value of my collection, I will help save you shipping fees. I have ordered special album boxes for shipping. All boxes will have FRAGILE, Phonograph Record stickers. This is an attempt to let the postal people know they are handling sensitive boxes. Albums will have clear covers with inserts. Thank you for your interest. I hope the information is of value to you. Be sure to review my feedback and PLEASE TAKE YOUR TIME AND CAREFULLY READ THE DESCRIPTIONS BEFORE BIDDING! Thank you and good luck bidding!

FROM My PERSONAL COLLECTION; You are bidding for a very, very rare and almost impossible album to find, Old Favorites by Jime Lowe and recorded in 1958 on the Kats Karavan label LP-100. This is the Gold label with Black print. Now read closely! Although the Vee Jay logo is not on the label this is in fact, a Vee Jay release and you can take that to the bank.

Kats Karavan was a Rhythm-and-Blues radio program broadcast from Dallas from 1953 to 1967 on WRR-AM and Jim Lowe was a Disc Jockey on the program. The program aired R&B music to a primarily white teenage audience with burgeoning interests in music previously off-limits to them because of contemporary race relations. In the 1950s, white-owned radio stations across the country were just beginning to dabble in play music made by African Americans. Unsure of the commercial prospects of such a venture, many radio stations were reluctant to cross racial lines in their programming. Kat's Karavan defiantly played early R&B music performed by blacks, even though the show was hosted by and aimed at whites. The show was particularly influential because of its formatting, its personalities, the large region it broadcast to, and the number of famous musicians who came of age while listening to it.

The album cover with Jim Lowe in the middle of the record, is in pretty good condition for being 51 years old and counting. There is no ring wear, discoloration or tears. The seams have been carefully repaired to protect the very valuable record and there is a dark mark at the top of the cover. The liner notes in back are clean, with only a hint of discoloration. The very thick, shiny  record has retained much of its glossy look and the labels are in near mint condition. I inspected the record under a 100 watt light and there were no feelable scratches, scuffs or grooves, just a few light surface scratches that did not affect an excellent listening experience. I also played the record just prior to listing. There were no sticks or skips and few light pops or hisses from minimal use and primarily between a few of the songs. As I stated a moment ago, it was an excellent listening experience. The songs include; Side 1, All Nite Long (theme song) Rusty Bryant, Play It Cool (The Spaniels), Your Tender Lips (The Clovers), Honest I Do (Jimmy Reed), Over The Mountain Across The Sea (Johnnie & Joe), My Lovin' Baby (The El Dorados). Side 2, One Mint Julep (The Clovers), It Was A Tear (The Drifters), Sincerely (The Moonglows), Money Honey (Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters), You Can Make It If You Try (Gene Allison), Goodnite Sweetheart Goodnite (The Spaniels). There you have it, a history lesson of the beginning of Rhythm & Blues on the radio in Texas, A star studded recording group and one of the rarest album I own. Based on the Goldmie Guide, the album cover is graded a strong VG, the quality of the listening experience NM- and the record VG+.  I would suggest that this album is really best suited for the person looking for Rhythm & Blues History in its purest form. There is no reserve.