beg, scream & shout!

the other day, i skipped out on work (due to my ailing shoulder). i went up the street to find some lunch. there's a music shop along the way, that i rarely see open. however, they were open this time, so i decide to pop in. i'm browsing, wondering if i should purchase anything when i stumble upon a box set i've been seeking for the past year or so. it's rhino records beg, scream and shout!; 6 cd's of 1960s soul. released in 1997, i passed it up at the time, thinking i might get it later. bzzzt. wrong answer. the next time i checked, it was out of print. argh! i gave up and forgot about it until last year, when someone on bowlie mentioned it in passing. i could only find copies on ebay for about $200 or so, which is a bit pricey. pricey enough to make me wait. so i'm in this store on ocean avenue, the creative music emporium (which i think is a cool name for a music store), and there it is on the shelf.

brand new in shrinkwrap.

$100 price tag.

holy fucking shit.

seriously, i let out an audible gasp and whispered an "oh. my. god." i picked it up and looked at it, the burgundy color was bleached out to a dull brown from having sat there for so long. big deal.

i bought it.

i mentioned to the store-owner (super nice guy called joe) about my search for this holy grail. he laughed and said he was so used to seeing it on the shelf, he was surprised that someone was buying it. he had been planning to keep it for himself if someone didn't buy it at some arbitrary point in the future. we talked about some other sets that were being released by motown, coupla music fans just shooting the breeze. how fucking cool is that?

i can't begin to tell you how good this set is. it's 6 discs, 144 tracks. the cd's are packaged in little trays that resemble 45s. if you don't know what that means, i won't bother explaining it. also included is a set of cards, one for each song. the card lists the artist and the story behind the track. i haven't gone through them all as of yet, but i will soon.