The Beatles At 78 R.P.M.

In 1948, Columbia records unveiled the 33 1/3 r.p.m. record to the public. One year later, RCA Victor introduced the 45 r.p.m. single.
For more than fifty years before that, music recordings only existed on 78 r.p.m. (r.p.m.=revolutions per minute). By 1958/59, the U.S. had phased out the 78 format for good, but it still went strong for at least ten more years in countries such as Africa, India, South America, The Philippines etc. As the Beatles gained international notoriety by 1963/64, these countries released many singles by the Fab Four on 78’s. Over the years, these pressings have gained a great deal in value and are highly sought after by Beatles completists.
Check out this ultra cool website dedicated The Beatles At 78!

Charles Mingus-Rare & Early Works

“Finding gold in the city dump” is how Charles Bukowski once described his elation when first discovering the writings of John Fante. I have had similar experiences in my hunting for rare and obscure music. Case and point- one day while sifting through boxes of old junk at the local swap meet, I found an extremely rare Charles Mingus 78 rpm record entitled “Inspiration” on the REX Of Hollywood label. It was an interesting find and I knew it must be of some significant value. Ten years later I received a phone call from Dr. Bob Sunnenblick, who was on a mission to locate and compile Mingus’ complete works from 1945-49 for the very first time, and he informed me that my copy of Inspiration was the only known copy. I was more than happy to contribute to this project, which took several more years to complete, including a comprehensive 96 page booklet with lots of great photos and interviews. The final product is worth it’s weight in gold, especially for the price, and I have just found a web page with the MP3’s for sale as downloads.
http://www.emusic.com/album/Charles-Mingus-Charles-Baron-Mingus-West-Coast-1945-49-MP3-Download/11142166.html