This is my personal bookcase, which has a little bit of everything: knick-knacks, books, music and down below out of view, various used computers (out of date Chromebooks, Win XP and Win 7).
The book collections that stand out the most, are from Time-Life Books, two on the US Civil War. One set contains 31 (of 32) volumes of leather bound reprinted memoirs; while the other set is a leather bound original set covering all aspects of the war. Total dollar value, in 1980's dollars, is in the neighborhood of $1300 +/- (each volume had a price range of $17.99 to $21.99; the other is a true crime set of about nine books that came out in the early 90's, with a dollar value of $220 +/-.
What we'll be concentrating on in today's post is music, specifically boxed vinyl record collections.
Back in the 1970's/1980's, boxed vinyl record collections were all the rage. Whether 45s or LP's, they were always a great addition to one's personal collection. For me, I have almost one dozen in total decided between 45s and LPs. The boxed sets of 45's include artists like The Carpenters and Little Richard, while the LP's included artists like Bob Dylan, Jethro Tull and Dr. Demento (I know, not an artist, but he came out with a 7 record sampling of novelty songs from the 40's through the 80's).
My favorites though, were some boxed sets from Reader's Digest. Back in the day, Reader's Digest branched out from their condensed books and started releasing record collections. I managed to acquire about five or six from my late grandfather's modest music collection, and oddly enough, they were from artists that I had grown up listening to. One such artist was a well known country singer Marty Robbins.
I was introduced to Marty Robbins as wee lad via my late father, who would often play an album on the stereo while he was grading tests/exams. Like most kids, I did not like or appreciate the music of my parents at that age. But as I got older, I learned to appreciate the music that my parents, especially my father, had exposed me to. In fact, I have come full circle with musical tastes, as I more often than not, will pivot to those genres (and sub-genres) for my listening pleasures.
Like most boxed sets that are programmed a certain way, so too were the Reader Digest box sets.
With this particular box set, it was programmed as follows: record one features a greatest hits compilation; record two has songs from Hawaii and country classics; record three has sad love songs and ballads; record four features songs about women (remember these are from the 60's and 70's) and more love songs; and record five features story songs (story songs were a major thing back in the day) and even more love songs.
I believe this is probably the basic programming outline for any artist that comes out with a box set these days: start off with the greatest hits, then slowly work their way through their vast catalog for different themes (emotion, personal faves, deeper dives, etc).
In general, while I do appreciate the box set collections that come out, as it can be a great way to sample a favorite artist's back catalog if you don't want to go the other route (aka buying each individual release of a fave artist), I will often balk at the excessive price tag that seems to be attached to those box sets these days, even if they're mainly on c.d.'s instead of vinyl (which, IMO, is turning into a major grift/cash grab these days).
Whether you enjoy compilations or not, a box set from a given artist is often a fantastic way to sample an artist's back catalog without spending an escalating amount of money in acquiring every single release of that artist.
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