Good Album Hunting, Saturday, May 3, 2025: Friends of the Springfield-Greene County Library Book Sale

Yesterday morning, I drove my beautiful wife to the airport so she could jet away to speak at a conference. And the airport is practically at the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds (where the scale of Springfield means everything is “practically at” or nearby to everything else compared to actual large cities), and the Friends of the Springfield-Greene County Library was having their semi-annual book sale and it was bag day. Since it was on the way home (“on the way” meaning “not actually on the airport property”), my youngest son and I stopped.

I found some records.

More than four, actually:

Dylan Thomas Reading A Child’s Christmas in Wales and Five Poems. I was just thinking about the Edna St. Vincent Millay record I have here somewhere, and now I have Dylan Thomas as well. I also have Rod McKuen, no doubt, but probably not Robert Frost. Which would be a good score. It’s the only LP I got from the Better Books section, so I paid a buck for it. Discogs says it is worth two. As it has “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” on it, I think it’s priceless.
Mancini Country which I probably already have, but it was four bits.
Baroque and Contemporary Concertos for Trumpet and Orchestra. Because I can always bring home more trumpet music.
Light-Airy and Swinging by George Shearing. A later record, as he looks older on the cover.
Italian Baroque Trumpet Concerti. I might already have it. As a matter of fact, my other copy might even be on the desk in the parlor where I’ve stacked recently played records. But at fifty cents, I’d be a fool not to.
Trumpet Concertos by Johann Wilhelm Hertel, Leopold Mozart, Johann Nepomuk Hummel. A Nonesuch record I surely do not already have.
I’m Yours by Dean Martin. I probably already have it, but I had to be sure.
The Dancing Sound by Les Elgart and His Orchestra.
Our Golden Favorites by The McGuire Sisters.
I’m a Dreamer by Gale Robbins. Pretty Woman on Cover (PWoC). Discogs classes it as Jazz/Pop listed at $4.
Let’s Dance with the Three Suns. Might already have it, but….
In a Sentimental Mood by Los Indios Trabajaras. I have one or more record by this artist. Maybe one or more copies of this platter.
Elgart Au Go-Go by Les & Larry Elgart. A lot of the Elgarts today. Less when I finished my pass.
Französische Blockflötenmusik, a collection of French recorder music.
Romeo and Juliet by Jackie Gleason and his orchestra.
The Baroque Trumpet. I have another collection by this name. Perhaps the same collection with a different cover. Perhaps not.
Verities and Balderdash by Harry Chapin ~~Carpenter~~. I don’t generally buy 70s folkies, but I was with my son in one of the dwindling number of instances we’ll do this together (it might be the last–it might always be the last), so I was feeling all “The Cat’s in the Cradle”. Which is the lead cut on this record.
Baroque Flute Sonatas which is not as welcome, quite, as trumpet, but my beautiful wife also plays the flute and won a regional high school jazz award on it.
Polka Dots and Moonbeams by the Johnny Hamlin Quintet. Why? Because I was rolling.
Harry James and Tommy Dorsey’s Greatest Hits, a compilation album. “What does Harry James play?” I asked my son. “Here’s a hint: You don’t play it.” Which is true: After his freshman year, he stopped playing his horn after, what, five years?
Making Our Dreams Come True by Cyndi Grecco. PWoC. I’ve discovered (now) that it’s the theme from Laverne and Shirley.
Love in the Afternoon by the Three Suns. I don’t think I have it, but I might soon run out of new Three Suns records you can find easily in the wild.
That’s All by Vikki Carr. Spoiler alert: It was not, in fact, all.
Love is Blue by Claudine Longet, whom I’ve not really cottoned to. Maybe I should give her another chance.
Scottish Splendor: The Pipes and Drums and Regimental Band of the Black Watch.
Artie Shaw in the Blue Room in the Café Rouge.
Today’s Romantic Hits / For Lovers Only Volume 2 by Jackie Gleason. Probably already have it. But, apparently, I must HAVE THEM ALL.
Four Centuries of Music for the Harp. My youngest asked me if I had given up on learning the guitar and wanted to learn the harp. I responded that failing at six or four strings and moving onto more strings and having to wear a gown did not seem like a logical progression.
My Kind of Girl by Matt Monro. PWoC. Three times.
Big Band Hootenanny by Les and Larry Elgart.
I Suoi Success by Perry Como.
The Fabulous Victoria de Los Angeles. PWoC. But opera.
Warm and Tender by the Three Suns. Didn’t have it, I don’t think. I do now.
Latin Luboff by the Norman Luboff Choir. PWoC.
The Band with That Sound by Les Elgart.
The Best of Cugat by Xavier Cugat and his Orchestra. PWoC. And, it would seem, on the vocals.

That’s like 37 records or two-record sets, and it cost $18.50. You can’t beat that with a stick.

As we–well, I was flipping through the records, a college-aged young lady was joined by a friend, and she, the young lady flipping through the records, told her friend she was looking for jazz records.

Jumping Illinois Jones, she passed the Elgarts, the Cugat, the Shearing, the Jackie Gleason…. Was she hoping to find Miles Davis records for fifty cents? Dealers coming in on the preview night would have snapped that up. Half price day is about taking fliers on bands you’re not familiar with. Or about setting your taste to match what you can buy for a dollar or less (as I do).

I greeted my wife on her arrival in the conference city with the innocent question, “You know how we set the stereo on a set of record shelves? What if we did that with the sofa, too? Wouldn’t that be cool?”

It’s a wonder I’m still married. Which I presumably am, but this time might have gone too far.