By ted cogswell (68.165.77.95) on Sunday, February 23, 2003 - 01:31 pm:

I'm brand new at the record-collecting thing, so I'm hoping for a hand from the good folks here at soulfuldetroit. My greatest area of interest is in Philly soul, so what I'd really like to collect are records released by the following labels: Gamble, PIR, Neptune, North Bay, Golden Fleece, and TSOP. I'm also interested in all of the Intruders pre-Gamble/Huff 45's. Does anyone have discographies that could help me get on my way or know how I might dig those up?

Thanks in advance!

t-co

By dvdmike (12.84.96.171) on Sunday, February 23, 2003 - 02:56 pm:

I would suggest visiting your local public library, they may have something, or try searching the web, it may take a while, but it may prove fruitful. There is also a book titled, "The Directory Of American 45 RPM Records that has discographies on PIR, Gamble, Neptune and TSOP, though they're not totally complete. Good luck in your searching.

By Jim G (152.163.188.68) on Sunday, February 23, 2003 - 03:08 pm:

There is some info in Bob McGrath's "The R&B Indies" (Eyeball Productions: 2000). For example, it lists the label, owner(s), years of operation, individual releases (artist/title) and approximate year of release.
The two volumes cost about US $150.

By ted cogswell (68.165.77.95) on Sunday, February 23, 2003 - 04:48 pm:

I've seen that book online, and it looks pretty comprehensive, but it is of course VERY expensive, and also I've heard that it is less reliable for the later soul stuff.

My online searches have not been very succesful for specific information,... I will take a look for the "Directory of American,..." book though.

Thanks for the tips, keep 'em coming.

By MEL&THEN SOME (195.219.7.20) on Sunday, February 23, 2003 - 05:12 pm:

I suggest that anything Mel tells you,
that you always double check afterwards.
Mel.

By R&B (138.238.41.118) on Tuesday, February 25, 2003 - 12:04 pm:

HEY TED,YOU MENTIONED 45'S THERE ARE THREE WAYS YOU CAN GO..A RECORD COLLECTORS CONVENTION,WHICH CAN BE EXPENSIVE IF THERE'S ONE IN YOUR CITY..FIND A FLEA MARKET WHICH MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE WHAT YOU WANT OR USE THE METHOD THAT HAS ALWAYS WORKED FOR ME WHEN HUNTING DOWN 45'S,THE OLDIES SHOPS NEVER FAIL TO HAVE WHAT YOU WANT OR TELL YOU WHERE TO GET IT.AND BY THE WAY,ALL ADVICE GIVEN HERE IS GOOD AS GOLD ESPECIALLY MEL'S.

By David Meikle (62.252.128.6) on Tuesday, February 25, 2003 - 12:45 pm:

To get started try http://www.recordmaster.com/

By ted cogswell (69.3.160.168) on Wednesday, February 26, 2003 - 01:37 am:

David- that's a great site, how complete have you found those discographies to be?

Thanks everyone, please keep the tips comin'.

By David Meikle (213.122.147.5) on Wednesday, February 26, 2003 - 03:50 am:

Ted

I haven't used it to create discographies so I can't tell you for definite.

I was surprised however at some of the "lesser known" entries when I was checking out the Golden World story, so it's maybe pretty good.

Try putting the list for Neptune together and see how it goes.

Try also http://www.nightowlclub.com/ which has databases of Soul 45's.

Once you've got gaps come back and we'll try and help further. I've got hundreds of fanzines which have tried over the years to document these smaller labels.

best of luck
David