Tompkins Square is releasing a new album-book about 78 rpm records — is the shellac era making a comeback?
“All you need is a three-millimetre stylus,” says Josh Rosenthal, offering a golden key to the forgotten, mysterious and magical world of 78 rpm records. With the recent release of the album-book *Treasures Untold* on his Tompkins Square label, he is celebrating the most enigmatic format for record geeks, with all its anachronistic glory.
Before the LP era, 78 rpm records, made from shellac (rather than vinyl), were the dominant format from the 1920s to the 1950s. Today, they represent a bygone era which, for some, was the golden age of the blues, jazz, country, folk and more.
Tompkins Square, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, has previously released material from 78 rpm records. However, the CD section of the ‘Treasures Untold’ box set — featuring songs from the shellac era interpreted by contemporary artists — offers potential new fans a glimpse into the past.
A leap into a forgotten format
“I think there were different starting points that brought people closer,” says Rosenthal. “Whether it was the 2003 gospel archive box set ‘Goodbye Babylon’ or Jack White’s ‘Paramount’ box set.”
“I hope the book will give this a bit of a nudge. That’s part of the reason why I’m also doing the CD – to bridge the gap. Perhaps someone who’s a fan of Gwenifer Raymond will hear her sing ‘Coo Coo Bird’ and say, ‘That’s brilliant — I want the Clarence Ashley 78.’
The book, edited by Rosenthal, features contributions from performers, historians, top collectors and others. Passionate 78 rpm enthusiasts — music documentarian Joe Lauro, author/musician Kinney Rorrer, guitarist Nathan Salsburg and producer/music entrepreneur David Katznelson — delve into every conceivable aspect of the 78 experience.
Gen Z and shellac
One chapter of the book, written by Jay Burnett — a secondary school pupil who hosts a radio show — describes Gen Z’s journey into a 78 obsession. “He discusses music with such sophistication that it’s mind-boggling,” marvels Rosenthal.
At the other end of the spectrum is British collector, dealer and former music industry executive Bob Bell — who is, fittingly, 78 years old — shares first-hand memories of the first American rock ’n’ roll records to arrive in England in the 1950s.
Practical collecting
Nothing beats the enthusiasm of a new enthusiast. Rosenthal’s foray into this world is fairly recent — he has only been building his already impressive 78 rpm collection for a couple of years, and one of the benefits of ‘Treasures Untold’ was the chance to learn from the experts.
“I’ve got an Audio-Technica turntable, just like everyone else,” he says. “But I unscrew the headshell, fit my 78-rpm cartridge with a 3 mm Ortofon stylus, and that’s it. I do this all day long. I skip forwards and backwards. It takes five seconds.”
As with anything else, collecting 78 rpm records offers the chance to delve deeper. But starting a quality collection doesn’t have to be expensive. “There’s a stratospheric tier of 78s that I’ll never reach,” declares Rosenthal. “I’ll never buy a 78 for a thousand dollars. Perhaps I’ll buy a record for $200 — I’ve only done that once. It was a signed Louis Armstrong ‘West End Blues’ on the Okeh label, bought from a trusted source.”
Good records for little money
Shellac records with astronomical price tags are just as common as those on vinyl. But there’s certainly no shortage of quality material available at reasonable prices — especially if you’re not chasing the obscure.
“There are people who never recorded anything bad,” says Rosenthal. “And their records are everywhere. Coleman Hawkins was incredible, but his 78s aren’t expensive. Hank Williams — arguably the greatest songwriter of the 20th century — most of his 78s are cheap, and all the MGM material is readily available. Fats Domino — who’s better than him? All his Imperial shellacs are dirt cheap.”
The question of condition
One difference between vinyl and shellac collecting is that, with shellac, the relationship between condition and playability can be more of a mystery. And in any case, finding a 78 rpm in ‘mint’ condition is a Herculean task.
“I like records that present a condition challenge,” says Rosenthal, “because sometimes they sound brilliant. The other day I found Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five ‘Heebie Jeebies’. The seller said, ‘Oh, there’s a tiny bit of a crack here.’ I said, ‘I’ll give it a go for $10.’ It played like a dream. Sometimes you find a 78 rpm record that looks absolutely stunning – it looks as if no one’s ever touched it.”
A record as a history lesson
With a 78 rpm record, the recording can be like a history lesson or a part of history itself. “I was listening to Jay McShann’s 78 rpm ‘Confessing the Blues’,” recalls Rosenthal. “It was a familiar tune — I said, ‘I know this song, the Rolling Stones played it.’ Then I found out that various blues musicians had played it, but this is the original version. This record is where the song came from. It’s brilliant, and it happens all the time. With 78 rpm records, you can see the lineage of 20th-century music much more clearly.”
Online tools for 78s collecting
Despite the fact that 78 rpm collectors deal exclusively with the past, there are still plenty of opportunities for new discoveries. For example, Rosenthal recently bought a large collection containing rarities he hadn’t come across before.
And whilst the thrill of record hunting takes place ‘out in the field’, Rosenthal believes that online tools are now essential for the 78 collector. “I have my entire collection listed on the Discogs platform. I’ve checked – at any given time, there are around 200,000 78 rpm records for sale on the Discogs marketplace. There’s been a big push amongst a number of collectors to catalogue everything.”
“Sometimes Discogs is also great for buying,” says Rosenthal. “You can use filters — ‘Country’, ‘Shellac’, ‘Newly Listed’ – and you’re looking at all the newly added country 78 rpm records. It’s a brilliant way to find records; you can do this with any genre.”
If you’re just starting a collection, the ‘Treasures Untold’ box set can point you in interesting directions. Each track is a different artist’s interpretation of a song they like from a classic 78 rpm single. Even if the original is hard to find, it can still lead you to other great music. You start with something new, then trace the path back to the original. With 78 rpm records, the real joy lies not only in what you discover, but also in where that music takes you.
This article is based on material from Discogs Digs (“Before Vinyl: The Obsessive World of 78 Collecting”, by Jim Allen). Translated and adapted by the iMuzika team.
