I'm looking for some good ol' down home gritty stuff...like the records that Crumb played in the movie "Crumb." ...anyone have any recommendations? I can't forget the label .."Vocalion" ...only thin g is, I wouldn't know the artists... Thanks G.

i saw the movie, but i do not recall the music per se, however, i suggest you hit an antique store, head for the old 78s, i mean the one's that shatter if you drop them, find an old hifi with a diamond tipped needle and have at it, I recommend some Johnny Otis...at least thats what comes to mind when i think of "gritty, down home" music.......

i'm a fan of r. crumb and the cheap suit serenaders.

Months later but before the millenium ...Thanks waffles for the reply. Those old 78s ..ahh...carbon. If you saw "Crumb"...see how he has stacks of those things in shelves? Crazy. I have a friend that found an old record player at a swap meet. Really nice one, looked like a late 40's model or something. I found one too but it wasn't as nice as his. So we were playing some old blues on there and it sounded great. Last time I remember though, he took that thing apart and it looked like crap. Oh well ....so much for that.

i have an old magnavox hifi, it's in a cherry stained wood cabinet, it sits about 3 feet high with the trademark 50's tapered legs. the speaker is a tube so you have to wait thirty seconds or so before you have full sound....it has a diamond tip. The auto function doesn't quite work, or rather it's erratic. It usually will play the record over and over when it's done, however it drops the needle about 1/4" into the record. It's used to 78s. But the warm fuzzy sound that fucker produces (and man what good sound for something twice my age, you wouldn't believe the bass) is something everyone should experience, screw dvd, laser disc, digital yada yada yada.....thats all good an all for sya the b-boys or the new fatboy slim crap......BUT there is an inherent value in this old hifi and the records that are meant to be spun on it.....i scored mine for $15 at a thrift store many years ago when thrift stores still had clothes and crap from the 70s. Now all you find is ugly shit from the 80s...........

Aw man it's amazing how these small conversations get preserved here, I mean it's almost 2002 and I'm looking at something I wrote back in '99. Well the world has changed somewhat, of course, but my love for old old jazz still persists. Yes I love old hi-fi's, yes I love old blues. Yes one of my heroines was a heroin addict talkin about strange fruit. I'm still here, just checking in. Anyone else out there dig the stuff I dig, say something.

Wow, 2 years later and the last post was still by me. Trip. Anybody out there?

coincidentally, my hi fi no longer works. i think the tube speaker finally blew. i need to get it fixed. it would be a fine addition to the baby room.

I love those old entertainment centers. Does yours have the golden frilly cloth on the front? I gotta get me one.

no, its not like that. its no where near that big. it looks similar to like this only better, i think http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2505003106&category=20092

The glowing green signal strength tube sold me on mine. Call it a bad marraige, I'm going to create a sleeper system with my CD & ARs packed away inside just to keep using the turntable. They do a nice job heating a small room, no?