Hard-To-Find 45s On Volume 2: 1961-64

I just bought ten of this series and have picked Volume 2: 1961-64 as an example, though most of what I have to say could be said of all the volumes in the series. Eric Records, based in San Leandro, California is one of those labels which specialize in oldies and neglected material, similar to Sundazed, Ace, Bear Family and a number of other companies that license material from the big media conglomerates who are generally not interested in putting out anything that is not potentially going to sell a million. What these companies share are a very knowledgeable staff that is dedicated to the music itself and excellent sound engineering. Of course they want to make a profit, but they are also committed to getting the material out there in good sound with booklets that explain the background of every song.Eric primarily does collections of singles rather than catalog albums by a single artist, and in this they are most like Ace, a British reissue label.They cast a slightly wider net than Ace, which tends to do Fifties through early Sixties only, and have even included some Eighties songs. The label is oriented toward serious collectors, completists and people who may need particular songs for projects. What a serious collector soon finds is that most various artist anthologies contain the same songs over and over. Buy any twenty "Greatest hits of the 60's" and they will mostly have the same songs. Lots of songs are left out, typically follow ups, songs that only got to number 20, instrumentals, and songs from groups who didn't leave that big an impression. Sometimes even big hits got forgotten.But if you need a certain song (or three) you have little recourse. Many times I used to have to buy yet another anthology that finally had the song I wanted and fourteen other songs I already had. Or, more interestingly if available, I could buy a "Greatest Hits" CD of some one-hit wonder group and sometimes they did some interesting things (other times throwaway tunes and covers). Still there would be gaps, usually due to who owned the material. Eric is one of the labels that for the most part fixed a great deal of that. They study what's out there and know what's missing and than license that material. Often I've been able to get a whole group of songs I've been looking for on a single disc; that's how good they are. The emphasis is on the fifties and early to mid sixties because they were singles eras when there were many artists and labels and that's when songs get lost. The mid-Sixties on is the LP Era and it's not hard to find most of that. You would think that buying MP3 versions of songs would end the need for discs like this, but there are still many songs not available that way.This particular disc has lots of great early sixties songs. 1961 was still firmly in the rock'n'roll era, 1962 was more pop in its sound and 1963 was the new sound of girl groups, folk and surf music. Much of that is here, and it's all in chronological order. What can you say when you're getting two of Dickie Lee's hits, both of Joe Dowell's hits, Marcie Blane and Diane Renay, the Caravelles and the Murmaids and throw in Richard Chamberlain and the Singing Nun? It's an embarrassment of riches. Because of the strict time period it even plays nicely as a whole without jumping around too much stylistically.Get them now while they're still around at a reasonable price. Labels like Eric can only afford to license material for a limited time after which they must stop producing the discs. Then the CD scalpers take over and as you know, the prices run from unaffordable to astronomical. Right now (Aug. 2015) volumes 3 & 4 are going for $60.00 each and volume 1 is around $100.00 to start. These all fell out of print once before and for a while all the volumes were high priced. But now they're back by popular demand, and likely helped by availability online because in earlier days few CD stores carried them.I've seen two unwarranted comments here that I wish to correct. One reviewer complained they were pirated discs. Maybe he got one from an unscrupulous seller, especially in the days when they were all out of print. But it's wrong to call the label a pirate label, it simply isn't. Secondly, someone said they sounded terrible. Eric goes to great extremes to use only original masters and engineers them to sound like they originally did. They are not some cheap discount bin label offering tinny sound and re-recordings. Some people are fooled by a stereo version of what they originally heard in mono. Some people have poor equipment. And we all know virtually every disc on Amazon has somebody giving it one star and saying the sound is terrible. Some of these sound people seem to be obsessive and fanatical and seem to never be pleased. We all heard these songs originally on old 45's, little transistor radios and car radios, I'd bet the sound wasn't so great.

Contrary to the suggestion elsewhere that this contains some "regional" hits, allow me to point out that ALL 21 were Top 40 on the Billboard charts and, in fact, the LOWEST charter among the bunch was 1961's I Really Love You by The Stereos which settled at # 29 Hot 100 and # 15 R&B.Admittedly, some among the 21 do not really fit the definition of "hard-to-find" - being readily available on any number of compilations or "best of" sets. But what you CAN be certain of in Bill Buster's Eric Records releases is that you are getting the ORIGINAL versions.Among the truly "hard-to-find" in this volume are Joe Dowell's Little Red Rented Rowboat [# 23 Hot 100 in 1962], Dear One, a # 11 Hot 100 by Larry Finnegan in 1962, Paul & Paula's # 3 Adult Contemporary (AC)/# 6 Hot 100 hit Young Lovers [1963], The Wedding by Julie Rogers [# 1 AC for 3 weeks amd # 10 Hot 100 in 1964], and You Don't Have To Be A Baby To Cry - # 2 AC/# 3 Hot 100 by The Caravelles in 1963.As usual in this series, the liner notes [6 pages of them] by Fred Bronson [author of The Billboard Book Of Number One Hits among others] are most informative, and on the back you get the Billboard Pop Hot 100 chart performances for all 21 selections. The sound is just fine, and you can rest assured that this is among the very best series of CDs containing oldies on the market today.

Great mastering! Especially on the particular selections we were looking for! Great value! Thanks foraling it so easy 6 of the selections were on our list. A few extra surprises we'd forgotten about and are pleased we now have! Goes into the player regularly. Want the entire series!Eres tu could have better mastering or find a better source. But, still love the song.

music was great, thanks

This is truely a must have CD of hard to find hits! The recording is great, delivering great sound & clarity. I love all types of music but hold a special place for the golden oldies from the 50's, 60's & 70's! This CD really does have a lot of hard to find hit's, that I haven't been able to find anywhere else, at any price! You can't go wrong getting this CD, If you do get it, you'll be able to kick back & enjoy the hit's as if they had just come out yesterday. The recordings are the originals & the remastering is tops! I have gotten several of the CD's in this series & can hardly wait to get the rest!!!

You can trust Eric Records to give you the tracks that were originally on the charts, not remakes like you get from Madacy, K-Tel and St. Clair. That pleased me so much I was planning on getting the entire series of Hard To Find 45s. Unfortunately, the mixing and mastering went somewhat awry. Sugar Shack comes out with the organ kind of low in the mix, unlike on the 45. Bobby's Girl vocalist Marcie Blaine is lacking most of her familiar echo (BMG has that song on a CD and it's just like the 45). Possibly younger folks who hadn't grown up listening to the songs did the mastering. Mind you, I listened to this CD with headphones on. I didn't try it amplified through speakers.

Another Chapter of Americana, When Life was Simpler, Even though we lived under the Shadow of Nuclear Armageddon, there were still plenty of things to be Thankful For. Unfortunately if something drastic isn't done & soon we may no longer have much to be Thankful for. This CD is Another Document of Early Rock & Roll, back when "Richie Cunningham & Th'Fonz", were Still Combing their Hair.

All these Eric compilations are pretty well done technically, and there is some rare stuff on here. (For example, I believe Dear One is quite hard to find, at least on CD) Obviously, this CD leans toward MOR/Pop/Schmaltz, but not a bad collection.

Not Too Sure That Most Of The Tracks On This CD Are " Hard To Find " Either On Vinyl And / Or CD....I Can Locate Most Of These Included Tracks, But For Example, Why Pay Big Bucks For A Diane Renay CD, When The Original Recording Of " Navy Blue " Is Included Here And Her Other Two Hits Can Be Found On Other CDs.None-The-Less, A Good Many Selections On This CD From ERIC Are In Their Original-Issue " Mono " State ( As Recorded From The Master ) Instead Of The Often-Ridiculous " Enhanced " Or " Re-Channelled For Stereo " Which Several Of These Re-Issue Outfits Often Try To Flog To The Public And Ruin The Track In The Process.The Other Thing I Like About ERIC Releases ( CD ) Is The Year Of Release, Highest Chart Position Reached ( USA ) And Beat Of All, Like ORIGINAL SOUND, ERIC Gives Credit Where Credit Is Due:Example- They Thank OLD TOWN Records ( Hy Weiss ) For Larry Finnegan's " Dear One " And CHATTAHOOCHIE Records ( Ruth Conte ) For " Popsicles And Icicles " As By The Murmaids *( * This Track Was Written By David Gates, Later Of Hit Group, Bread )Rather Than Getting Stuck In A Year, These Tracks Cover A Number Of Years, And Most Of These Tracks Made The National Top-20 ( USA ) In The 1960s.Like ORIGINAL SOUND / STARLA, HAMMER, RELIC, CATAMOUNT, And COLLECTABLES, I Have Added ERIC To My CD Collection ( Mainly To Preserve My Precious Vinyl Copies Of Much Of Their Output )This Is A Great Series, With A Wonderful Mix From Yester-Year, From A Company That Has Done It's Homework, Rather Than Just Throwing A " Hits " Package Together.....I'm Pleased....

Just one of the many in the Hard to find series, 'Too many To mention' Many little gems on this cd as if of most of the series.

Très bon produit à un très bon prix. Je recommande ce produit à tous les bons collectionneurs de musiques souvenirs.