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making tracks

Dead Wax

Readers of this column may recall (in Making Tracks #2) Breck Parkman's study of burnt vinyl from Olompali, the 'White House of Hippiedom'. To recap, before the fire destroyed it in 1969, Burdell Mansion was home of The Chosen Family, a hippie commune of the 1960s which included for a time The Grateful Dead. The Varmints are happy to report that further progress has now been made with this archaeological study, and here Breck returns to our column to 'speak more vinyl', to reveal what they were all listening to in the heady days of late 1960s West Coast USA.

Burdell Mansion. From the Burdell Collection, courtesy of California State Parks.

One of three reel-to-reel tapes recovered from the fire debris. Breck has yet to get around to analyzing the tapes. Photo courtesy of California State Parks.

Some of the vinyl records being recovered in 2009. The crew wore hazmat suits due to contamination issues. Photo courtesy of California State Parks.

Lone disc and cover of Judy Garland (1961). Photo courtesy of California State Parks.

Communards dancing in the Burdell Mansion in 1968, with some albums seen in the background. The woman is Sandra Barton, matriarch of the commune and owner of some of these records. Photo courtesy of Noelle Olompali Barton (the Barton Collection).

Fifty of the 93 vinyl records recovered from the fire debris in the Burdell Mansion at Olompali have now been identified. The identification has not been easy. Given the ravages of fire and time, little of the paper evidence remained to guide the identification. All of the cardboard album covers disappeared long ago and only remnants of a few of the paper labels survived, making the records' identification quite daunting. For the past two years, though, I've been carefully studying these damaged discs and using my archaeological perspective to "excavate" the vinyl. What I've discovered is a new world for exploration and a language in need of mastering. Prior to this endeavor, I didn't know the meaning of dead wax, end grooves, run-off grooves, stamper codes, and matrix numbers. Now I do. And in learning this new language, I've discovered stratigraphic meaning among the grooves and mathematical expressions across the tracks. I think I've learned to speak Vinyl. Of course, given the uniqueness of the Olompali collection, I doubt whether I'll ever have the opportunity to converse in Vinyl again.

Here are the fifty records that comprise the known discography of The Chosen Family commune:

1. Live!, Lou Rawls (Capitol, 1966).
2. Why is there Air?, Bill Cosby (Warner Bros, 1965).
3. Introducing the Beatles, Beatles (Vee-Jay, 1964).
4. Rubber Soul, Beatles (Capitol, 1965).
5. Pal Joey, Frank Sinatra (Capitol, 1957).
6. West Side Story, Dean Franconi (Columbia, 1961).
7. West Side Story, Dean Franconi (Design Records (2), 1962).
8. Skyscraper, Julie Harris (Capitol, 1965).
9. Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook, Vol. 1, Ella Fitzgerald (Verve, 1956).
10. Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Gershwin Songbook, Vol. 1, Ella Fitzgerald (Verve, 1959).
11. Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Gershwin Songbook, Vol. 2, Ella Fitzgerald (Verve, 1959).
12. The Acid Test, Ken Kesey (Sound City, 1966).
13. Eddy Duchin Story, Eddy Duchin (Columbia, 1956).
14. Forbidden Fruit, Nina Simone (Colpix, 1961).
15. My Fair Lady, Herman Levin (Columbia, 1956).
16. I Left My Heart in San Francisco, Tony Bennett (Columbia, 1962).
17. Ambassador Satch, Louis Armstrong (Columbia, 1955).
18. Songs by Kay Starr, Kay Starr (Capitol, 1956).
19. No Reservations, Frances Kaye (Capitol, 1955).
20. Renaissance, Vanilla Fudge (Atco, 1968).
21. My Fair Lady, Herman Levin (Columbia, 1956).
22. Duets with the Spanish Guitar, Laurindo Almeida (Capitol, 1958).
23. South Pacific, Mal Hasset (Grand Prix, 1965).
24. Marian Mcpartland at the Hickory House, Marian Mcpartland (Capitol, 1955).
25. Flaming Drums!, Babatunde Olatunji (Columbia, 1962).
26. Super Session, Mike Bloomfield, Al Kooper, & Stephen Stills (Columbia, 1968).
27. The Versatile Burl Ives, Burl Ives (Decca, 1961).
28. Judy, Judy Garland (Capitol, 1956).
29. Judy in Love, Judy Garland (Capitol, 1958).
30. Judy at Carnegie Hall, Judy Garland (Capitol, 1961).
31. The Music Man, Meredith Wilson (Warner Bros., 1962).
32. Stan Getz, Stan Getz (Jazztone, 1956).
33. Live at Sugar Hill, San Francisco, Carmen McRae (Time, 1960).
34. Something to Swing About, Carmen McRae (Kapp, 1960).
35. I'm the Only One Who Loves You, Dean Martin (Reprise, 1965).
36. Oh! Look at Me Now, Bobby Darin (Capitol, 1962).
37. Another Side of Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan (Columbia, 1964).
38. As Time Goes By, Freddy Martin (Capitol, 1965).
39. Kismet, Alfred Drake and the Original Cast (Columbia, 1953).
40. Two on the Aisle, Steve Lawrence and Eddie Gorme (United Artists, 1962).
41. The Nearness of You, Helen Merrill (Mercury, 1958).
42. The Art Tatum/Ben Webster Quartet, The Art Tatum/Ben Webster Quartet (Verve, 1961).
43. Big Boat Up the River, Brother John Sellers (Monitor, 1959).
44. French (Level One) Practice Record 1 [No Artist] (Harcourt, Brace, & World, Inc., 1961).
45. French (Level One) Practice Record 4 [No Artist] (Harcourt, Brace, & World, Inc., 1961).
46. My Lord What a Morning, Harry Belafonte (RCA Victor, 1959).
47. Slightly Fabulous, The Limeliters (RCA Victor, 1961).
48. The Pajama Game, Richard Adler & Jerry Ross (Columbia, 1955).
49. The Adventures of Marco Polo, Max Liebman (Columbia, 1956).
50. Doc Watson, Doc Watson (Vanguard, 1964).

For links, see Making Tracks #2.

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