2010 - the final analysis

Another year almost done.

This year I took it upon myself to list everything I bought at charity shops, car boot sales and second hand shops. (But not ebay, specialist record shops, or record fairs – where, of course, I spend all the more serious money!).   

In the final analysis I would appear to have bought 137 pieces of vinyl (plus 168 singles I bought in one hit at a boot sale). The total outlay on all these was £110.55 and I have since sold a handful for a total return of £49.38 (I have a breakdown of purchase venues and condition of records too – after alI, I am male, and lists is what I do!). So £60 is not a bad outlay for the thrill of the chase and the pile of vinyl that has been acquired.

Here at Feel It over the course of the year I have recounted some of my digging stories, and shared some of the music found. To round off the year, and feed my withdrawal symptoms now we are in the car boot sale close season, here is one more tale. I don’t think I’ve mentioned this one before, apologies if I have.

If you are a regular around here you will know that I am a fan of Judy White, a lady blessed with as soulful a voice as you could wish for. I’ve written about her before and Judy herself wrote a comment on one of my posts! Judy released a handful of singles in the late Sixties. I only have a couple of her singles (the best though, I think) but I am always on the look out for others. Previous research on Judy led me to her father, Josh White. It’s fair to say that, although Josh was better known than Judy, neither were ever anything approaching household names, especially here in the UK.The Judy White connection led to me to pick up a couple of her father’s albums along the way out of curiosity. For the most part I’ve found his work a bit too folksy for my liking, but nevertheless it seems I still end up buying a Josh White record if I see one. 

So it was one day last July at a boot fair I bought another one of Josh’s albums – an early Sixties compilation. Then about 20 minutes later, on another stall at the same fair, what did I find? A single featuring Judy! None of her singles were ever released in the UK and it’s the first time I have ever found one of her singles “in the wild”. It didn’t look in good shape and I probably would have passed on it if I hadn’t known it featured Judy White.

The Rudy of “Rudy and Judy” credited on this single is in fact Rudolph Isley, a singer I also hold in high regard. It can’t be said that either side of this single are strong songs, and as good a singer as Rudolph Isley is it’s when Judy White joins in that the tracks are lifted above the mediocre.       

So a family affair of a story, and a major coincidence that will stick in my memory.

After all that I’m not going to post the Rudy & Judy single for two reasons: 1) it’s a bit too scratchy and 2) I fear a takedown as somebody had put it on YouTube but it has since been removed.      

Instead listen to this:

Happy New Year to you.

PS: I’m off to celebrate my birthday , and passing 200,000 hits on this blog.