Ashwoods RIP. The end of an era. I stood there stunned, then took this photo. July 2003.

Ah yes, record stores. I recall my Saturday morning pilgrimage into Sydney town back in the seventies, down the bucket end of Pitt Street , all grime, dust and debris as another building dropped to the ball. Squeezed in there were Ashwoods, Lawsons and Martins, second hand record stores by appointment to collectors, browsers, and those who merely sought human contact, the flotsam and jetsam of humanity from out under rocks, the dispossessed and possessed, classicos, rockers, pinko academics and punks, shoulder to shoulder, bum to bum, riffling the racks for that elusive bargain, to put a smile on yer weekend dial.   

Ashwoods had their one-dollar bin where deleted obscurities could be found. Me, I was more interested in catching up on stuff I'd missed when it had been released, the record condition was not a major factor and most Saturdays I would come home aglow with yet another rarity being recovered, and adding to the glow, a bargain to boot. And some of these had been booted and frisbeed, barely a groove for the needle to travel. But I loved 'em all and still do and they love me.  

Remember Chuck Berry's Chess hits, the original in the blue cover? A bit scratched, but that's how it should be, the price in pencil on the disc label  - 75 cents!! I bought the Chess 3 CD box set later and thought the CD sound too clean, the remix with the voice marginally to the fore seemed to have lost some power. By comparison the LP production has more of Leonard Chess' big bed of sound, I guess it's who does the remix.  Other Chess remixes, Howlin Wolf, Muddy, Walter and Sonny Boy, are pretty bloody good.  

Rare vinyl can still be bought if that's your medium, and perhaps for 75c at St Vinnies or those country antique stores. I remember when I took my son Brendan to a collectibles fair a few years back, him for the comics and me to check out the LPs and CDs, soul sustenance, and there were obscurities available everywhere - a sighting of the Wilmoth Houdini compilation from the States was enough to warm the heart. I didn't buy it; to know that it was available was sufficient.  

I stood next to two blokes who were discussing the finer points of jukeboxes from the early sixties "no ..1960.. the Princess - not the one with the wings - shit I've nailed that -  no the one with the pink chrome escutcheon on the corners -I'm fixing up thirteen at the moment..."   

A counter salesman was discussing Junior Parker with a bloke who'd just purchased a couple of Junior's LPs from another table. I listened with interest because I have some JP and I like his recordings but these guys didn't mention his music once but the recording labels in Junior's long ephemeral career dripped off their tongues like the fat off so much collectible recorded bacon. Music? The salesman asked "D'yer ever play 'em?" "Yeah, I might put 'em on sometimes, otherwise there'd be no point in buyin' 'em......"  

Collectors are a strange breed - humans probably. I guess we're all collectors in our own way. Hunters are hungry collectors. Some people collect memories, some collect ideas, some collect definitions or information in order to define. Some collect more tangibles in order to be definite. Yer human likes to bang things into boxes, sorted. The reason for being? Sorted. Even chaos must be defined by those who feel that chaos is the definitive of the human condition. Some may be totally satisfied by a sighting of  the rare greater spotted wandering egret which is definitive in it's way, others by the complete recordings of Jimi Hendrix, Nick Drake, Wilmoth Houdini, Red Hot Ole Man Moses, or Buddy Holly which is an essence of perfection, once achieved.  

Buddy is dead. No doubt about it. Well for 99.9 percent of the world's rockologists. If he does live he's walking around bumping into Elvis at Hungry Jacks cos McCartney owns his specs. Some would prefer to believe it, and good luck to them. So to collect his complete recorded output given that he didn't record beyond 1.15am 2 February 1959 when he lost his specs should be an achievable goal one would think. Wrong.  

I thought I had it. Perfection, the complete remastered recordings in one definitive set. I bought it and that's what it said. But I'd read the Goldorosen biography which had quoted his drummer Jerry Allison saying that Buddy's overdubbed versions of the '56 recordings, prior to the Decca recordings were a travesty of his music. And were the original undubberied versions in the set? Not on your life me old son.  

An important element of collectivity is it's elusiveness. If it's not elusive it holds no value and no relief. Relief is a huge thing in a collector's ambition. Relief from the all encompassing need to be whole. A passion not merely to own, but to hug, sleep with and spiritually in most cases, graft the ephemeral item to parts of one's.. being.....  

For two years I slept fitfully knowing that somewhere some bugger had ears that were able to hear the undubbed versions of the songs which I ached with every part of my consciousness to hear. I didn't want the specs which McCartney owned - I wanted to hear Buddy's soul. I thought of writing to his mum and actually started a letter one night after a couple of beers...Dear Mrs Holley, ....it's as far as I got. I wondered did the ex Beatle put the goggles on occasionally and say philosophically to Linda "Hey man, Buddy watched the lights turn upside down through these, seconds before they went out..." Probably did, the prick.  

An interesting and creepy story. Goldorosen in his biography states that Buddy used to fly light planes. The plane in which he, the Big Bopper and Richie Valens crashed to earth in the snowstorm was equipped with a new type of altimeter. One which registered the height of the craft in the reverse way to the standard type of plane which Buddy was used to flying. He was seated next to the pilot. Goldorosen just mentions it, off handedly.  

In my Saturday morning wanderings through the denizens of lower Pitt Street, and just remembering now - I used to take my daughter Cara there in her stroller ( Sat. morning babysitting task),  where in the bump and bustle of the smoky confines (as it was then), one remained alert to the proclivities of the patrons, some of whom were more freeform in their expression than one would hope for  [ "you took me there Dad ???" ]  -  I saw in Lawson's window, I can see it there now, vividly, Buddy Holly For The First time Anywhere Previously Unreleased Recordings, and my heart went DUH DUH DUHDUH DE DE DUH DUH DUH - Bo Diddley. One of the undubbed original tracks. It was there. On it. And the rest. The undubbed stuff. NIRBLOODYVARNA. I remember driving home, there it was in glory sitting on the passengers seat with my coat covering most of it so that the sun wouldn't warp. Home now. Put it on the turntable. Bo Diddley was taped from a very scratched acetate but I could hear it...the way it had sounded back in '56 when Buddy and Jerry had played it at the ice rink soc hop. It was pretty ordinary. Jerry was a wanker. They'd overdubbed it for an obvious reason. But I'm sated now. I've got all that is worth hearing, and more. Now....yer Wilmoth Houdini...  

Canberra , where we now live, has at least three excellent music stores. Impact Records is the best I've seen in OZ, an extensive selection, and for the most part reasonably priced. JB is making inroads, not as good a selection for roots music, but can be very competitive pricewise.  Abels of Manuka has a wide range, and for second hand, Revolution CD can be a goldmine for obscurities and bargains. Also, a mate of mine has found rare vinyl out at Revolve, the store at south Canberra dump. Depends what you seek. I make the pilgrimage to lower Pitt St. when we're in Sydney , just for old time's sake, and you can jag an obscurity there but the patronage has changed. The eccentrics have vanished like the old buildings, the patrons now as conventional as the new architecture. Look in the mirror you say?

Since this piece was written back in the 90s, Impact Records here in Canberra has sadly closed down. The slack has been taken up to some extent by JBs, but the whole music industry has undergone a revolution with the advent of the IPOD. Tracks can be purchased over the web, zoom in from the ether from many sources - you can reach just about anything.  Back in the vinyl days the ownership of a rare LP or single would provide a glow which lasted until someone else managed to find it. These days it's all out  there, and in excellent sonic format. The industry has perfected the remastered quality, in fact the Buddy Holly track mentioned above 'Bo Diddley' was released in 2007/8 on two CDs 'Ohh! Annie!' and ''Hollybilly' issued by companies which appear to have found access to very rare tapes, Lubbock sessions including the garage recordings, Clovis recordings and Decca's Nashville recordings. Two versions of 'Bo Diddley' are on each, both vastly superior to the acetate version. Jerry wasn't a wanker at all, however my view is that the recording did benefit from the additional lead. Check out my review of 'Ohh! Annie! on Amazon.

Roots music aficionados like yourself will always want to own the official release replete with liner notes, photos and recording information - who played on what track, dates etc. Despite IPOD downloads there will always be a market for CDs, and I note the LP is having a resurgence. So, if you happen to be travelling south on the Princes Highway, past Batemans Bay you will come to the hamlet of Mogo. The first shop on the right upstairs is a roots goldmine called 'Raw Art and Blues' owned by the lovely Steve Fox. Steve loves a chat and you won't find a better collection of raw art and roots music outside the capital cities. Do yourself a favour and check it out!!