Lovin' Machine

As I scour my local car boot sales looking for collectable vinyl I rarely buy 78s. They are too heavy and far too fragile, plus really good ones are hard to find. So I focus on fifties and sixties 45s and LPs, of which I have many thousands now. But now and again a pile of rock and roll 78s catches my eye and I buy a few. One such that I picked up for 50p last weekend (along with a great Fats Domino 78 that I didn't previously own) was such a great record that it's worth mentioning on the blog. It's Wynonie Harris singing Lovin' Machine, released on the Vogue label in 1952, with Luscious Woman on the b-side. How many would have been sold at the time? And how many survive now I wonder? Listen to the tune of this Youtube clip and you'll see why I'm raving about it. A great track and one of the first genuine rock and roll tracks . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XP5J8lN3gY

Incidentally my most collectable 78 is also on the Vogue label. It's Muddy Waters singing Walking Blues, with Rollin' Stone Blues on the flipside - the record that inspired Mick Jagger and his mates back in the sixties.

As I write this blog it looks like New Orleans has been spared the worst of Hurricane Gustav. But I'm still keeping my fingers crossed.