Oh yes! I was thinking of just buying another but not at that price! Does anyone hope to add to a list of OUT OF PRINT BEAR FAMILY CDs? I know of a few boxes, and sometimes (not always) they are reprinted. But it seems that when a single/double CD goes out of print, it is rarely reprinted (?true?). Bear once told me they never will release info on titles that are nearly out-of-print. I would love to know... If anyone knows of discs (mostly singles/doubles) that are gone, please post. Here is one (perhaps well known) to kick it off: Bobby Bare - The Mercury Years Parts 1-3 (3 single CDs)
Indeed. People who are in it for the money would never have gone the Bear Family route. It's about a total commitment to quality at every level, which usually means you don't see much money.
The Hawk (Hawkshaw Hawkins) box was out of print for a while and then they found a stack of booklets tucked away so they made some more CDs/boxes!
The Grandpa Jones box seemed to go out of print just after it was released. I wonder if there was a license issue. But it is those elusive singles and doubles I wonder about. I never pay "auction-style" prices for out of print CDs. With patience you find most everything
Sifting through their catalog, here are the ones I know have been deleted. Only listing the English-language CD releases that I'm 100% sure are OoP. Titles marked with an asterisk have been supplanted by newer releases. Bobby Bare - Mercury Years Parts 1-3 The Treniers - Cool It Baby The Treniers - Hey Sister Lucy The Isley Brothers - Shout! Varetta Dillard - Got You On My Mind Varetta Dillard - The Lovin' Bird Jim Reeves - Gentleman Jim * Johnny Horton - The Early Years * Johnny Horton - 1956-1960 * Titus Turner - Sound Off The Collins Kids - Hop, Skip & Jump Fats Domino - Out of New Orleans Lefty Frizzell - Life's Like Poetry Big John Greer - Rockin' With Big John [Possibly the rarest Bear Family box set] Burl Ives - A Little Bitty Tear Bob Wills - The Longhorn Recordings * Tommy Hill - Get Ready Baby Carl Mann - Mona Lisa Stu Phillips - A Journey Through the Provinces Babatunde Olatunji - Drums of Passion and More [50's/60's Nigerian artist] Terry Fell - Truck Driving Man Justin Tubb - Rock It Down to My House Grandpa Jones - Everybody's Grandpa Various - Phoenix Panorama: The Viv Labels Various - The Jamie/Guyden Story [Been hunting for this one for ages] Gordon Terry - Lotta, Lotta Women Rex Griffin - The Last Letter Doris Day & Rock Hudson - Pillow Talk Rollee McGill - Rhythm Rockin' Blues Various - Doop-Doo-Wah, Vol. 2: Echoes of the Vocal Group Era From Jamie/Guyden Barbara Mason - Yes I'm Ready Barbara Mason - Oh, How It Hurts Barbara Lynn - You'll Lose A Good Thing Barbara Lynn - Promises Ann-Margaret - 1961-1966 Lew Williams - Cat Talk Jimmy Bryant & Speedy West - Flamin' Guitars
Excellent work....any further updates appreciated. I have a bunch of those. I am no longer interested in the vinyl Bear Family releases, but the Clyde McPhatter Vinyl boxset is a rarity. Just after I finally found a copy, I saw another one
Recently, I discovered a label out of Germany called Binge Discs. They specialize in hillbilly and western swing and offer some rare tracks not available from releases on other labels. Artists such as Red Foley, Speedy West, Jimmy Wakely, Elton Britt and an interesting disc of live recordings from the early part of Faron Young's career. The online store selling these import titles is called Buckaroo Records: buckaroorecords | eBay »
There was a Blue Diamonds cd that doesn't seem to be on offer anymore. Was there a Carl Dobkins Jr cd from Bear?
The Carl Dobkins Jr. CD is still available. They seem to have updated the artwork for it at some point. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0000282X9/
Not sure if I'll upgrade my old Fats box if it's just a book update, but it's great that it'll be available to more people. Phoenix Panorama is so elusive that I can hardly find info on it. I know it's 50's/60's stuff that Lee Hazlewood had a hand in. The Skeets McDonald box is really good and has very broad appeal. Over the course of seventeen years, the man touched on nearly every style of country music out there. He started out recording antiquated three-part harmonies and risqué novelties in Detroit before moving to California and shifting to straightforward Hank-style country. After that there's rockabilly featuring Eddie Cochran, honky-tonk shuffles backed by Ray Price, Bakersfield country with Johnny Paycheck harmonizing, and more I've yet to hear from his final years in the mid-sixties.
I bet the new Domino will be in the smaller slipcase format and art style of the Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee boxes.
Any info on the Domino box about how many discs? Will it be a major upgrade with new songs or just a reissue with a new book? Bear Family is killing my billfold lately!! (but I love it)
The one I have been seeking out for years is not listed here, which is the Doris Day box entitled "Move Over Darling".
Deleted because licensing ran out and/or could not be renegotiated. (But there's always hope – see the first Duane Eddy box which could be re-released when licensing was renewed after a gap of ten years)
Are you sure you're not confusing it with the "Pillow Talk" 2-CD set? "Move Over Darling" is a 8-CD set with her complete 1960-1967 recordings.
Oh, you are right. I didn't realize that was gone. I haven't looked, as I have them all. I always think of them as Boxes 1,2,3,4 and never remember the subtitles. Are all of the Doris sets going to disappear? (It seems if the license for one expired, they all will) Can't we get Doris to do something about this? The brother of a friend of mine had been the mayor of Carmel, California (Doris' home) years ago, and knew her. I meant to ask him to get my Bear books autographed, but never got around to it.
This situation suggests to me that folks should place their priority on buying the older sets as you never know when they will go out of print!
There's a great 13-CD doo-wop series that goes from 1939-1949 (Vol. 1) to 1961 (Vol. 13). Of course not everything in it is strictly doo-wop (there was no doo-wop before 1956), but the selections are, for the most part terrific and the sound quality is pretty great throughout. If you have any interest in this kind of music, pick up a few volumes of this. It's called "Street Corner Symphonies: The Complete Story Of Doo Wop."
I got all these and they are great . Each vol. is packed with music and there is a very thick booklet with info on each track plus many photos. Very nice design for the entire series. The cover shots fit and even the CD print side uses a copy of one of the 45s duplicated for a sharp looking CD. I wish BF would go back and do a vol.2 for each year. There are so many vocal group and doo-wop songs to pick from that a 2nd vol. for each year could be as good as the 1st vol. if BF can obtain the rights.
A little different music but Dim Lights, Thick Smoke and Hillbilly Music (1945-1970) is another excellent series done around the same time as the Street Corner Symphonies set. They are packaged about the same, big thick booklets and interesting graphics with each vol. covering one year. The music is wonderful, ranging from obscure to well known. If you like pre 70's country and haven't heard one of these give yourself a chance to enjoy them. Id also like to see a second vol. for each of these.
