How To Organize Your Jazz Vinyl . . . Who Knows!!??!!?
I’m thinking of reorganizing my records (again). I’d love to have all my Blue Notes in one place and all my Prestiges. Not necessarily in number order — then I’d feel compelled to fill in every number — but at least by artist, by label. It works for Blue Note, Prestige, Riverside, Verve, but what about the off labels — the RCAs and Columbias and Atlantics, and the smaller ones like Bethlehem and Transition. Do you want them all categorized by label in your collection? And can you ever find anything? It’s an endless conundrum, right? Once I had them organized by label and I didn’t like it. Now I have them alphabetically, but not all in the same place. It’s complicated, but I segregate original pressings from before 1970 from any non-original pressings and all pressings after 1970. It may be wacky, but that part works for me. Anyway, I’m thinking about this because I have a few new Blue Notes to incorporate into my collection and because when I watch on eBay my eyes often go straight to the Blue Notes, and I would like to capture that same feeling in my collection. For instance, here are some of the records I’m watching now:
Jackie McLean, Swing, Swang, Swingin’, Blue Note 4024. This is an original pressing that looks to be in VG++ condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. Great record, right? This one is more than $500 already with a few days to go.
Bennie Green, Back on the Scene, Blue Note 1587. This is an original pressing in VG++ condition for the vinyl and VG+ for the cover. The price is around $250 and it closes later today. If I were to organize my records by label and I’d this record even more desperately than I do now, since I don’t own an original copy and just have a Japanese re-issue. The question: Is that a a reason to reorganize, or should it be an impediment? I think the question is an existential one and probably does not require an answer, although I would love to hear answers, knowing in advance that there is no right answer. Or wrong one, for that matter.
Falling into the same existential category is this: Duke Jordan, Flight To Jordan, Blue Note 4046. I have a copy of this but, alas, it is a Japanese pressing. This one is not. It is an original pressing and it is in VG++ condition for the record, M- for the cover. The current price is nearly $300. Would I like an original? Do you really have to ask?
I am organized by Label and then by Number. I also keep stereos separate from monos for most labels. All the jazz discogs online make it easy to find whatever you are looking for should you forget the LP #. A side effect is that you definitely feel like filling in everything in…but that is already part of our collective “JC disease”, I fear….
Al, ithink it is Not about How you organize, it is about THAT you organize.. being busy with your LP’s is what it is about, you should enjoy THAT… because there is no reason or perfect way to organize your collection.. it’s all irrational behaviour that has only vallue to us collectors.. as i stated before.. it is often Not about the records,organising them etc.. it is about YOU/ME…
i only collect Blue Notes.. i put them on number, but you are right, you only tend to see the gaps.. not what you do have..
I guess I’m as quirky as the rest of the bunch on here. I organize mine by instrument. Trumpet (Miles Davis, Blue Mitchell, Art Farmer, etc.) , Saxophone (Sonny Rollins, Coltrane) , Piano (Horace Silver, Monk). To give you an idea. It’s for whatever I’m in the mood for.
My organization philosophy is similar to others. Major labels(or any label I have more that say 25 records) are all together. I put them in label number order. The remaining lps I organize alphabetically. I don’t think there is a wrong way to do it, like MaartenKools says “it’s all irrational behaviour”. I do enjoy hearing how others do it though.
Cazoon, when I was digging through record shops in Japan they tend to organize by instrument as well. I had never seen that before. It does make sense, sometimes I just want hear a trumpet player. And, in Japan using an roman character alphabetical system doesn’t really make sense. Where are you from?
Hi Al. I think John Cusack had a good idea in the movie High Fidelity. He organized his records biographically. He had to remember what happened the day he acquired the record. For me that would mean Dave Brubeck Take Five at the front of the line, so I settled for alphabetically with the various artists at the end (labels alphabetically). Have fun with your organizing.
Re: Mike F
I think you’re right, “Japan using an roman character alphabetical system doesn’t really make sense”. I’m in Florida, Tampa Bay Area. Never been to Japan. Instrumentally just make sense to me. 🙂
Mine are alphabetical, separated by genre. Jazz being the biggest group–Rock/R&B/Soul in a section–Country LP’s in a section etc…
May consider spitting the Jazz section up by label–that’s a good idea.
“Not necessarily in number order — then I’d feel compelled to fill in every number —”
A long time and several moves ago I lived in Chicago and was a 78 collector, mostly bop and I had the Prestige/Blue Note/Savoy discos and I began to collect every bop 78 I could in addition to collecting all the Prestige 78’s. New Jazz, TruSound, all of ’em. Well, I got a run of 98% at least and then realized that I was searching for 78’s that may not have sold more than 5 copies, all to the artist’s family back in the day, and I was competing with doo-wop collectors for those. So passion abated and before we moved from Chicago I sold all my 78’s, all stored by number, then label. And then I sold most of my reocrds.
And I am still doing that, selling my records. Wish I would have Kept those 30 Blue Note 10″, though.
Is there a moral in this, maybe not. Collecting by number got frustrating for me and so I quit. Now the records I have left are stored by artists. Except the 20 or so items that I classify as Free Jazz by American Muslims, all on strnge esoteric labels from the ’60’s, a most personal and weird category. I guess you could say whatever way you sort ’em out, it’s still great to have ’em. Records, that is.
It’s really simple,folks. Just sort them alphabetically! But then…when you have a pile that you ‘promise to play first’ before you pull anything ELSE off the wall,the section of lps to be sold on Ebay,the ones you WON on Ebay that you’ve haven’ played yet-and the stack to trade in at the local shop that never sell(which you’re tired of relisting). Now put those records on oversized shelves in two different rooms,stir in equal amounts of cds with a liberal sprinkling of laserdiscs and…there you have it!
I’m not quite sure what ‘it’ is,but as the Beatles sang-“I can’t tell you,but I know it’s mine”.
I have Dutch, English, French, Italian, Japanese and Swedish/Danish sections, next to the US section.
In each section storage according to labels or group of labels (Prestige, NJ, SV, Status) etc.
The small labels ( < 5 ) are in a miscellaneous section, alphabetically.
By organizing by artist or instrument, one gets stuck with the anthologies.
All the Impulses together, a nice block of orange spines….All the original Blue Notes together, then the Japs etc, etc, still chaos though, can never really find what I want when I want it but thats the point right?, an Aladdin’s cave….you want to find one record then bump into another whilst searching and you go off musically in another direction…A dot for dot musical montage! Anyhow who has the time to organise (Queen’s English, no z!)
Don’t organise just play them beauties…..
My collection of seventies funk, disco, r&b and basically all other styles that I’ve acquired over the years is in alphabetical order. The modest collection of Blue Notes that I have is stored by number, starting with BLP 1501. The one BN 10″ from Sydney Bechet that I have is placed right before 1501. And while I write this I suddenly wonder why Alfred Lion didn’t just start with 1500 instead of 1501. And why continue with 4000 after 1600? 😉
It is more than obvious we vinyl hoarder are different sort of breed, I organize by very haphazardly, Blue Notes in one place, Then Big Band in one place, Progressive rock in one place, Sound Tracks R&B and funk etc… all alphabetized, it works for me. But my Blue Notes are about to bleed over into another shelf, Now what? I can not stand to not have them all together, I guess I will just have to buy more Blue Notes and take over the Big Band shelf.