Sunday afternoon was picture perfect, the weather demanding everyone to be outdoors. It did not take any coaxing for me to enjoy the fall weather. While doing some errands and shopping we decided to stop at Westside Antiques Mall in Madison, Wisconsin. This was the first visit to their new location on the west side of the city.
Many vendors have set up various small spaces that allow for a wide variety of unique items to be displayed. We were almost finished looking at everything from old maps to Victrola’s when I found the missing item to my Elvis Presley collection.
I started collecting all of Elvis’s RCA albums as a teenager, and had only one more old, and hard to find treasure, to have a full set. There it was, placed with several other albums from a variety of singers.
The 1959 “For LP Fans Only” was a unique PR move by Elvis’ manager, the crafty, wise, and at times unscrupulous, Col. Tom Parker. Elvis had been called up by the U.S. Army and was stationed in Germany. The rock-and-roll phenomenon was unable to record new material but Parker knew he had to keep Elvis in the eyes of his public. The release of the “For LP Fans Only” was one of the vehicles chosen to fulfill that mission.
The album was new, but the music was from various other albums and recording sessions. It was the first time that an LP was ever issued without the artist’s name on the cover…..or on the backside either.
That was the final album I needed to complete the RCA released recordings he made during his lifetime for my collection. From his first RCA album of energetic rockabilly recorded earlier at Sun Studios in Memphis, to his final blue vinyl release “Moody Blue” in 1977, The King still lives on in my stereo. I have also kept up to date with newly released material from the RCA recording vaults.
I am one of those oddities that have a turntable component in my stereo system, and own a whole lot of albums by a wide variety of performers. They are played regularly here. I know some are reading this and find that concept as outdated as a Victrola.
Yeah, it was a perfect fall day!
CAFFEINATED POLITICS 
I know that feeling my album was the sound track Frankie & Johnnie and I still Have a turntable and still use it. have a great day
You are not alone. I repeat….you are not alone. While I haven’t added to my albulm collection for many years I still have every single one I ever purchased, and still listen to them occaisionlly. Ah….the good, old days!