Some VERY interesting and rare finds...

[mdsalemi]

OK, so I am doing some internet research, and I came across the following.

Those old enough to remember might know the name "Paul O'Shea"; google him if you don't.  He was a fairly well known racer in the 1950s and was often racing in either a gull wing or roadster 300 SL.  But he was a singer as well, recording an album entitled "Paul O'Shea - Sing a Song of Sports Cars" and has a bunch of parody songs on it.  Vinyl, 1960, from the long-defunct Riverside Records.

While searching the Riverside Records catalog of the era--which did a lot of well known jazz greats of the era, such as Bill Evans--I cam across another rare gem, called "A Sound and Pictorial History - Mercedes Benz 75th Anniversary" from 1961.  Also vinyl, of course.  Found it in near-mint condition, complete with the album insert photo pictorial!

You can google either of these exact titles, and there are probably used copies for sale on eBay, etc.  I found a used record dealer and snatched them up.

While celebrating my finds with a friend, he alerted me to ANOTHER recording (easier to find; it's on CD) by the late, great Peter Ustinov, entitled The Grand Prix of Gibralter.

This is Sir Peter Ustinov's 1958 spoof Grand Prix commentary Recorded for Riverside Records, Ustinov does all the voices & engine noise of this imaginary event set in Gibraltar with some gloriously politically incorrect national stereotypes that wouldn't seem out of place on today's GP grid.

Side 1.

1. Prologue Peter Ustinov 6:47
2. Interviews With: Von Grips, Attbauer, Orgini, Fandango, Foss, Dill, and Russian Observer Peter Ustinov 16:39
3. Driver's Meeting Peter Ustinov 5:55

Side 2.

4. Governor's Speech Peter Ustinov 2:31
5. Le Mans Start Peter Ustinov 3:19
6. The Arrival of the Duke Peter Ustinov 2:17
7. The Race: Fanfani Pit Stop, Wildfowl Pit Stop, Orgini Pit Stop, Fanfini Pit Stop, Halfway Report, Russian Observer, Schnorcedes Pit Stop, Pinfall Pit Stop Peter Ustinov 14:31
8. Epilogue Peter Ustinov 3:31

Since that one is available on CD, I'll wait until my other gems arrive!

[ja17]

Hello Michael,

Yes, I have one of these 75th Anniversary Record Albums. It is quite a collectors item. Found mine in an Antique Mall about ten years ago. Occasionally, I will play it on my 60's vintage console Blaupunkt Radio/Record player. Besides the sounds of the MB racing engines, the talks with the Mercedes engineers are most interesting.   

[mdsalemi]

I got mine, and it's mint.  I need to get myself a USB turntable so I can digitize this stuff.

Unless the copyright was specifically renewed, it might be in the public domain.  Could be redistributed easily.

[Tomnistuff]

I doubt that the copyright would be expired.  At least here in Canada, they expire 50 years after the death of the owner.

On Amazon.com, you can hear samples of the eight "songs" (really monologues) of the CD and you can download the entire CD as an MP3 for $9.49. There are also critiques of the CD to read on the site.

Tom Kizer

[mdsalemi]

I doubt that the copyright would be expired.  At least here in Canada, they expire 50 years after the death of the owner.

Canadian law is not relevant here at all, of course.  In the US it is complex, specifically for copyrighted works created between the years 1922 and 1978.  From what I read, for works created before 1978, the copyright was for 28 years, and could be renewed, IF RENEWED in its 28th year.  For a work created in 1961, the copyright would have had to specifically been renewed in 1989.  The copyright owner on these works appears to be either Riverside Records, or Bill Grauer Productions which might be one and the same. Bill Grauer died in December 1963, and the company went bankrupt not long after. The Riverside catalogue was taken over by ABC Records, which reissued some of it, but virtually all Riverside masters were acquired by Fantasy Records in 1972.  Fantasy merged with Concord and became Concord Music Group in 2004.  So, there is a blurred chain of command here with corporate buyouts, bankruptcy and mergers.  Did Fantasy renew the copyrights on these two peculiar items I have in the late 1980s?  I don't know; I don't know the process by which firms did this back then, or related.

I have not seen the 75th Anniversary Album on Amazon, though the Paul O'Shea "Sing a Song of Sports Cars" was; it is now in either CD or digital form, [re]issued by Goldenlane records, a sub label of Cleopatra records.  The latter and its sub labels does a lot of re-issues, as well as having some esoteric goth and techno-punk artists under contract, as well as weird ones such as everyone's favorite Canadian, William Shatner!

What does it all mean?  Not a clue.