Yes, $200+ was too much for me as well :( On the upside, my stupidly high bid
probably
meant that the guy (a German collector of psych lps etc) that got it in the end
ended up
paying quite a bit more than he would have done if I hadn't bid. I guess
everything turned
out well in the end.

I too have lp or cd recordings of all of Basho's stuff except Rainbow Thunder
and the last
two tapes. Cd versions of The Seal of The Blue Lotus (reissued by ace/takoma
before
Guitar Soli, did they plan to do all of them at some point??), and the two
Vanguard records.
Lp copies of the rest.

Yes, the Comet Records reissues are proabably quite hard to find now. The sound
quality
of the cds is excellent.

I too have made digital copies of those albums not already having been released
on cd. In
a very long-winded process of recording the lp to tape, and then recording the
tape to
computer, with much 'eq-ing' in between. A very lo-fi process, but with
reasonable sucess.
I'd be interested in knowing how you went about getting your lps onto computer.
Was it a
similar process? Perhaps we could exchange, or upload here, some of our efforts
for
comparison.

So far, my rips have only been used for preservation and convenience, and
sharing with
friends and suchlike. I'm not connected to an online sharing community such as
soulseek.
Not throught any real objection however, more because i'm quite fond of owning
the real-
thing, even if a cd reissue is somehow less real than the lp version, combined
with my
general clutziness with computers. Nevertheless, as the last few posts here have
shown,
soulseek is definitely a valid and valuable resource. At least I think so.

I suppose my view is that those interested in Basho and desperate to hear more
than the
stuff available in shops should be able to hear this stuff. Of course, as the
recent cd
reissue of Venus in Cancer on Tompkins Sqaure shows, these records are by no
means
consigned to rare lps and bad (or not so bad) rips. It is certianly not the
intention of those
who are willing to share this music to jeapordize it's potential future
commercial release.
You're right as well, having both an lp copy and a home rip of the lp didn't
deter me in the
slightest from buying a copy of the cd reissue, both in support of the cause and
for the
improved sound quality. It should also be mentioned that this group, perhaps
among
others, may be helping to improve our knowledge of Robbie Basho, increasing our
appreciation of his music, his popularity, and improving the chances of a kind
of Robbie
Basho renaissance of the kind that started about 10 years ago for John Fahey,
and is still
going strong.

As for where this leaves us on the topic of sharing unavailable recordings I
dont know. I'm
ok with it if its in a controlled kind of way, amongst those with a deep
interest. And for
those with a 'casual interest', that's alright too I suppose. It is definitely a
big issue. I think
it would be really useful if members of this forum with an opinion either way,
for or
against, could put forth their view. In this way, we might be able to get a
better idea of the
situation, and perhaps get a bit further on the topic of sharing, and perhaps
even the
making available of recordings, without offending anyone.


--- In robbiebasho_forum@yahoogroups.com, "Clive Jones" <clivej@...> wrote:
>
> I spotted the "Rainbow Thunder" LP on eBay and intended to bid on it myself if
I could
get it for a reasonable price. Unfortunately $213-50 falls outside my definition
of
reasonable.
>
> As far as "Voice of the Eagle" and "Zarthus" are concerned Comet Records (who
appear
to release Vanguard material in Italy) put these out on CD - I bought them a few
years ago.
I think they are out of print now but some retailers probably still have copies.
>
> Finally, a friend of mine has all the Basho LPs (except "Rainbow Thunder") and
I burned
them to CDR some time ago. I'm not sure what the policy of the group is on
sharing these.
I'm quite happy to buy any official releases as they come out even though Robbie
is not
here to benefit from this now.
>
> Clive
>
>
> On Thu, 17 May 2007, Robbie Dawson wrote:
>
>
> First of all, a big welcome to all the new members here. There are 20 of us
now. As
ever, if
> anyone has any queries, information, guitar tips, etc., please don't
hesitate to post it
here.
> That's what this forum is for.
>
> Summer's almost here, which means things should get moving again after a
very hectic
> academic year. This means more promises about guitar transcriptions and, as
ever,
halting
> investigation into current Basho-related mysteries and mix-ups.
>
> Some of you may be aware that Vanguard, who released Voice of the Eagle and
Zarthus
back
> in the day, have announced digital 'Vanguard Vaults' digital itunes reissues
of these
albums
> PLUS a first ever release of a never before heard/heard of album entitled
Indian II, or
India II.
> That was a few months ago now, and sure enough VOT is up there. As for the
other
two, no
> such luck yet.
>
> A nice copy of Rainbow Thunder (Basho's rare 1981 lp) just went on ebay for
$213.50.
Is
> there anyone on here that has heard this, or has a copy of it? I'd dearly
love to hear it!
>
> Best wishes to all,
> Robbie
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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