The Chips - Rubber Biscuit

Yesterday was definately a melancholy day remembrering my friend Charlie. He was a retired District Judge (although he was still working as I believe the state of North Carolina is short on Judges and would not let him officially retire- he said he at least could pick and choose)- he was a very fair man and I know that if you went before him he would be fair. One time I received a call from a woman who said she had records and got my number from Charlie. I ended up buying a bunch of records. Later talked to Charlie asking him why he passed on them and he said that it would have been a conflict of interest for him- I understand that as I have done the same thing! He was a collector of 78's and had quite a collection. I had a friend in Colorado that had 2 Elvis Sun 78's that I assisted Charlie with purchasing. During our call last week he told me of a recent purchase of Rock and Roll 78's from a lady that had bought them as a teenager brand new and they were pristine. We talked of how long it took him to find a Big Mama Thornton Hound Dog in beautiful condition. I always took him 78's I picked up (except for R&B and R&R), and one time I found this Orlons 78 on Parkway from the Philappines (still have it)  and took it by his office to show him. He cleaned it up and played it on his restored I guess Victrola. -the sound was amazing.  But his love of 78's went way beyond R&B...he loved the old big band and could tell me all day long about how he found a 78 from the 1920s, or some strange opera 78 from the start of the century. Over the years I took him thousands of 45s that I didn't want or had duplicates of because I knew he would find something for himself and also would pass them along to other collectors. He raved one time, "I can't believe you gave me all those mint Joni James 45s" (not my cup of tea). We traded often and he would call me and say "I have a bunch of records in my garage come and get them." If you check my blog out for The Blue Beats Born in Chicago and the Rising Sons Candy Man, those were 45's that I picked up from another friend (sadly also gone) who Charlie gave them to. Thank you for letting me share some fond memories this morning.  I would not be surprised if he had a copy of this on a 78 in his vast collection