The GREATEST HITS, and record stores

[rockdoctor]

Here is another bit of a puzzler in this series. Why was there a 3 number gap for the Brasil'66 issue? The first four were numbered 4245, 46,47,48 and then there is the gap. I would have expected it to be in a direct line with the others, and maybe even at 4246,

 

[Harry]

I think that we obsessive types put a lot more stock in catalog numbers than those running the company did. They were just numbers, and in fact, after changes in the company and reorganization of the catalog, many got new numbers for new pricing schemes.

A couple of things we know. 4245, Alpert, did not get the HAECO-CSG treatment - but right next door at 4246, The Sandpipers did, along with Baja, Wes, and Sergio. Phil Ochs next album then slid into 4253 and was titled GREATEST HITS, but had nothing to do with this "series".

 

[Michael Hagerty]

I think that we obsessive types put a lot more stock in catalog numbers than those running the company did. They were just numbers, and in fact, after changes in the company and reorganization of the catalog, many got new numbers for new pricing schemes.

Exactly. I think A&M fans are more conscious of them because the label’s uniform cover design made the catalog numbers prominent for so long.

So did other labels (RCA, Columbia), but with hundreds of releases a year, it was harder to keep track.

 

[Rudy]

And the catalog numbers never guaranteed the albums were released in that order. Album release dates have more to do with promotional considerations rather than keeping the catalog numbers tidy. If an artist has recorded a new album and the label has assigned a catalog number to it, but the prior album is still selling well, they might hold it back weeks or months until the timing is right to release the new one. That was more true in years past when artists typically released albums once a year or, in the 60s, often two or three times a year, not in the present era when artists often have three or more years between albums.

 

[Harry]

Scanning the GREATEST HITS series is taking a lot longer than I anticipated. My first discovery was that the green Brasil '66 wasn't a gatefold, so I'm doing the "sienna" colored one. My copy of Baja was in a slightly battered condition, so it required a lot of Photoshop work to get it to presentable.

Meanwhile, several searches have turned up nothing for the Sandpipers entry. I thought sure I had one of each of these. So a purchase on Discogs will have to suffice. It's not here yet.

I'm most of the way through the four pages of Wes Montgomery, but have yet to start with the TJB.

 

[Rudy]

I had a Sandpipers somewhere in the house, but no idea where--my grandmother bought it when it came out.

 

[rockdoctor]

I have never seen the Wes Montgomery or Baja Marimba hits albums. I did see Sandpipers years ago but did not buy it. I am watching for it. I did have their Foursider but I do not know what happened to it.

 

[Harry]

OK, with all five originals here, present and accounted for, here's a quick factoid.

On the back of 4245 Herb, advertised are: 4247 Wes, 4246 Sandpipers, 4248 Baja
On the back of 4246 Sandpipers, ads are: 4245 Herb, 4247 Wes, 4248 Baja
On the back of 4247 Wes, advertised are: 4245 Herb, 4246 Sandpipers, 4248 Baja
On the back of 4248 Baja, advertised are: 4245 Herb, 4246 Sandpipers, 4247 Wes
On the back of 4252 Sergio, advertised are: 4245 Herb, 4246 Sandpipers, 4247 Wes, 4248 Baja

So it might appear the 4242 Sergio was a bit of an afterthought, or delayed for one reason or another. No other Greatest Hits record advertises it, and its the only one with four titles on the back. (True of both green and sienna covers.)

 

[rockdoctor]

OK, with all five originals here, present and accounted for, here's a quick factoid.

On the back of 4245 Herb, advertised are: 4247 Wes, 4246 Sandpipers, 4248 Baja
On the back of 4246 Sandpipers, ads are: 4245 Herb, 4247 Wes, 4248 Baja
On the back of 4247 Wes, advertised are: 4245 Herb, 4246 Sandpipers, 4248 Baja
On the back of 4248 Baja, advertised are: 4245 Herb, 4246 Sandpipers, 4247 Wes
On the back of 4252 Sergio, advertised are: 4245 Herb, 4246 Sandpipers, 4247 Wes, 4248 Baja

So it might appear the 4242 Sergio was a bit of an afterthought, or delayed for one reason or another. No other Greatest Hits record advertises it, and its the only one with four titles on the back. (True of both green and sienna covers.)

It does look like it was an afterthought. As previously stated, it seems that other artists in the catalog might have been in this series, such as Claudine Longet and Chris Montez if the singles were getting released and got the air time needed for sales. I hear Montez more on radio now than I did back in the day on AM radio.

 

[Harry]

Since we don't really know, the situation also might have been a hold-up in the artwork, or even just getting Sergio's signature on some paperwork. And maybe Jerry Moss wasn't happy about repackaging all of this old MOR stuff as he was trying to steer things in a rock direction.

 

[rockdoctor]

Since we don't really know, the situation also might have been a hold-up in the artwork, or even just getting Sergio's signature on some paperwork. And maybe Jerry Moss wasn't happy about repackaging all of this old MOR stuff as he was trying to steer things in a rock direction.

That could be. A Greatest Hits set does not guarantee sales. I remember seeing Captain and Tennille Greatest Hits in the cut out bins less than a year after its release.

 

[Rudy]

I actually bought Captain & Tennille's Greatest Hits from a cutout bin back in the day. 😁

 

[rockdoctor]

I actually bought Captain & Tennille's Greatest Hits from a cutout bin back in the day. 😁

I did too but I do not have it anymore. I think that was the A&M album to get to the cutout bins the fastest. The first A&M albums that I ever saw as cutouts was in the late 70's and they were 60's releases.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

My first discovery was that the green Brasil '66 wasn't a gatefold

Dang, I could have sworn that I had seen a gatefold version of that one, as I remember reading the liner notes on one of my surreptitious trips to the record store -- but maybe my mind has swapped that album for the TJB one. The mind reels!

 

[Harry]

According to Discogs, there were green-covered ones that had the Unipak gatefold. My two however, are the later issue with no gatefold.

 

[Rudy]

I did too but I do not have it anymore. I think that was the A&M album to get to the cutout bins the fastest. The first A&M albums that I ever saw as cutouts was in the late 70's and they were 60's releases.

I never encountered cut-outs until I started shopping regularly at Peaches, when they were in our area for about a decade or so. I used to see a few records in there that had been #1 hits the year or two before, selling for $0.99 or $1.99 but, at least in our local Peaches, I rarely saw A&M cutouts.

 

[Michael Hagerty]

I did too but I do not have it anymore. I think that was the A&M album to get to the cutout bins the fastest. The first A&M albums that I ever saw as cutouts was in the late 70's and they were 60's releases.

The first cutouts I saw from A&M were in early 1971---and they were all CTi albums---SP 3016 through SP 3020 inclusive (BETWIXT & BETWEEN, CALLING OUT LOUD, WHEN IT WAS DONE, COURAGE and TELL IT LIKE IT IS).

I bought all five.

 

[Rudy]

None of our local stores had cutouts until Peaches came to the area. Our area was mostly dominated by a regional chain that had a fairly good selection of titles--no cutouts though, especially since they were jam-packed with records. Once I got a driver's license, though, that allowed me to get to Peaches more easily, so I didn't see cutouts until maybe 1980 or so.

 

[Harry]

I recall being surprised when reading the track lists for SOLID BRASS and GREATEST HITS VOLUME 2 that several of the Tijuana Brass albums were listed as no longer in print.

 

[Bobberman]

I recall being surprised when reading the track lists for SOLID BRASS and GREATEST HITS VOLUME 2 that several of the Tijuana Brass albums were listed as no longer in print.

Me too the track list for Greatest hits Volume 2 was my first clue that some of those albums were discontinued seeing the track list for solid brass afterwards further confirmed it and explained why many of the songs were credited to solid brass and looking at solid brass those songs were from unavailable albums

 

[Rudy]

My parents never understood why I wanted the TJB's Greatest Hits and Solid Brass. We already had the music in the house...but these were my own copies, and also weren't as beat up as the old mono copies I grew up with.

 

[Harry]

I recall wanting GHV1 for TJB just to get to hear stereo versions of songs on the first two albums.

 

[rockdoctor]

I never encountered cut-outs until I started shopping regularly at Peaches, when they were in our area for about a decade or so. I used to see a few records in there that had been #1 hits the year or two before, selling for $0.99 or $1.99 but, at least in our local Peaches, I rarely saw A&M cutouts.

Here in eastern Virginia, nearly every department store that had records had cutouts galore. Very few stores did not have them including some record and tape stores. You could always find a huge pile and sometimes you'd see an album in quantity at regular price, then it would disappear and later reappear in the cutouts. A&M albums were never in them until the mid to late 70's and they were few and far between. We had a very large record store called Tracks and that was where I saw Crystal Illusions on Pickwick and then never saw that issue again. They had tons of cutouts. Peaches came later and they also had tons of cutouts but bailed out of the market about 5 or 6 years later. Tracks held on with lots of albums but as CD's and videos got popular, the lp's slowly disappeared. My cutout list for A&M would be less than 10 items.

 

[Rudy]

Here in eastern Virginia, nearly every department store that had records had cutouts galore. Very few stores did not have them including some record and tape stores.

Our stores here were primarily the Harmony House chain, and the larger national chains really didn't have much of a presence except in the shopping malls--most of ours carried the most popular sellers and not much else. If it wasn't for Peaches opening up stores here, I never would have known about cutouts until much later.

I do miss Harmony House though, especially when I was buying LPs. I would usually save up a list for half a year and buy during their June "Gran Prix" sale (which lasted 2-3 weeks), which coincided with a local Gran Prix race. I credit them with having a lot of 12-inch singles, and being within biking distance of the house, it was a regular weekly stop to go in and pick up a couple more singles that had been released during the week. Those were the days when 12-inch singles were $2.99 and $3.99.

In my younger years in the late 60s and early 70s, E.J. Korvette was the place to go for records. That's where I got some of those A&M purchases.

 

[rockdoctor]

Our stores here were primarily the Harmony House chain, and the larger national chains really didn't have much of a presence except in the shopping malls--most of ours carried the most popular sellers and not much else. If it wasn't for Peaches opening up stores here, I never would have known about cutouts until much later.

I do miss Harmony House though, especially when I was buying LPs. I would usually save up a list for half a year and buy during their June "Gran Prix" sale (which lasted 2-3 weeks), which coincided with a local Gran Prix race. I credit them with having a lot of 12-inch singles, and being within biking distance of the house, it was a regular weekly stop to go in and pick up a couple more singles that had been released during the week. Those were the days when 12-inch singles were $2.99 and $3.99.

In my younger years in the late 60s and early 70s, E.J. Korvette was the place to go for records. That's where I got some of those A&M purchases.

We had one Korvettes and I loved that store. I hit them up a lot back in the late 70's.