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Home recordings at Urban Ore

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Posted on October 19, 2009 at 10:58:20
Marantzguy
Audiophile

Posts: 2411
Joined: June 21, 2002
 Hi:

I picked up several promising open reel tapes at Berkeley's Urban Ore yesterday. The tapes were all home-made and very meticulously labelled.

The ones which I hope are still intact and playable are some older 2-TK monos. One mentioned an interview with Pete Seeger about "Broadsides". The others include a recording where Dr. Edward Teller discusses Nuclear arms with Dr. Linus Pauling. Now, there are TWO very different personality types and perspectives.

Then, there is a recording from 1954 where Albert Einstein discusses a recent test of the H-bomb. On the other side was listed a transcription of "I was a Communist for the FBI". There again, you have a most intriguing combination of topics.

Then, there is a 1970 tape featuring the Grateful Dead in concert. Alan Watts speaks on other tracks, apparently. I just wonder what the source was for these recent donations.

Ah, Urban Ore, where you can never predict what may show up!

BTW, I left behind some other tapes which appeared to be unique off-air recordings of various classical events. Some looked promising.

Richard Links
Berkeley, CA
RE: Home recordings at Urban Ore, posted on October 19, 2009 at 20:32:00
ironbut
Audiophile

Posts: 1115
Location: no california
Joined: February 21, 2004
 Richard, you're my freakin' hero man!

I was just wondering when your next shocking find would be posted.
Broadsides, (I'm assuming you're talking about the magazine?)I haven't heard that in a while. I can't say that I've ever read more than a few of those but a buddy of mine had a big collection of those and "Sing Out".

Father of the A bomb vs. Dr. Vitamin C? That's gotta be interesting.
All the tapes you've mentioned are the kind of thing that makes you look around and pray that there's someone who'll appreciate what they are.
Thank god for the internet!

RE: Home recordings at Urban Ore, posted on October 20, 2009 at 10:49:11
Marantzguy
Audiophile

Posts: 2411
Joined: June 21, 2002
 Hi, IB:

When I was at Cal Berkeley in the late sixties, I was a huge fan of folk music. I not only started obtaining copies of Folkways stuff, but also purchased some lps issued on the "Broadside" label. Interesting stuff, indeed! Related to this activity was my search for old back issues of Sing Out Magaine. One time, I literally cleaned out an entire shelf of such issues over at the old Moe's Book Store along Telegraph Avenue. I think they had them priced at about 35 cents apiece. How could one resist?

Time to load up!

I still own this stuff. One of the most interesting issues is the one from about 1962 featuring Bob Dylan on the cover and within the pages, published for the first time, was "Blowing In The Wind", and I believe "Song to Woody".

How cool is that!

I am a huge fan of Pete Seeger. I am now very anxious to see if the purported interview material is intact on that open reel tape.

Incidentally, while we are on the topic of old folk music, you should know that I happen to own original correspondence of Lou Gottlieb, the bass player and co-founder of The Limeliters. Among this correspondence, written to his whife (El Cerrito, CA) from his residence in Aspen, CO in the late fifties and early sixties, are seminal letters which chronicle the formation of the famous folk group.

I also own original demo tapes which once belonged to Lou Gottlieb.

The source of the letters was Urban Ore, Berkeley and the tapes showed up at the Berkeley Flea Market about twenty-six years ago.

Lou's ex-wife told some young ladies to "clean out the garage". They sure did! They brought everything out to the flea market, where I spotted it and purchased boxes full.

I still own that material, as well.

Being there does pay off!

Richard Links
Berkeley, CA
RE: Home recordings at Urban Ore, posted on October 20, 2009 at 10:38:08
Marantzguy
Audiophile

Posts: 2411
Joined: June 21, 2002
 Hi, IB:

Believe it or not, I just seem to find these things. And, mind you, I am not feverishly looking for such items at all.

I have not yet played any of these tapes, but if you are interested, my suggestion is to go there yourself and explore beneath the shelf where they keep the cds and whatnot. I did leave a lot behind, you know.

One of my favorite related oddities is an lp recording issued by General Dynamics Corporation in the fifties and it contains Dr. Edward Teller "explaining" the Theory of Relativity. He is very careful that the listener correctly understands how Professor Einstein's name is to be properly pronounced.

It's a kick! The gatefold lp also came bundled with a sort of comic book promo on the great "benefits" of nuclear power for the future. The lp was issued around 1958 or 1959 I think. I own three copies, all found around Berkeley or Oakland, CA, naturally. Where else would such things turn up?

You wanted to know what other interesting stuff I have recently "discovered".

Well! In the realm of rare JBL speakers for home use, among the very best they made were their model L-300 "Summit".

Can you believe it? Two weeks ago, I walked right into an Oakland Salvation Army Store around 4:00 PM and right there on the main floor, what did I spot? Why, a nice clean pair of these valuable babies. As I later discovered, the speakers did not come from private donation but had been deleted from their private internal chapel, where they had been used for band practice.

I also happen to own two identical pairs of L-65 "Jubal" speakers, which also came to me from similar circumstances. I had the woofers re-foamed on one pair (by 'A. Brown Soun' (sic) in San Rafael), and the second pair had apparently had this done professionally before I got them. I am now contemplating the eventual sale of my other pair of L-65s.

Thrift Stores here in the Bay Area rule!

Richard Links
Berkeley, CA

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