I’m reordering my CD collection this weekend and ran into a few snags when putting things in alphabetical order. Usually I go by last name, but that doesn’t always seem to work with bluesmen.
Muddy Waters - file under M or W?
Howlin’ Wolf - under H or W?
Magic Slim - under M or S?
Taj Mahal - under T or J?
Extra bonus points if you can tell me where “Bluesbreakers - John Mayall with Eric Clapton” goes.
I’d file them M, H, M, T, M myself. The first 4 because they are assumed names and I would therefore treat them as one term. The Bluesbreakers get filed under “M” for Mayall, the one constant in the group and a given name.
Ditto, if it’s not their real name, you’d file like you would if it’s a band name. Led Zeppelin gets filed under L, not Z.
But, in the end, it really just comes down what’s easiest for you. If you always head towards the Ws when looking for Muddy Waters, stick it over there.
I have Elton John under J. But I had to think about where to put my copy of Elton John & Leon Russell’s “The Union”. I put it under J since Elton gets first billing.
I clearly remember the pain of this, the first time I tried getting my vinyl in order (late 60s). I realized dividing it up by genre would get too thorny (is Brian Auger jazz or blues or rock? Mahavishnu? Jeff Beck? Is Mayall blues or rock? Zappa, wtf?), so I started alphabetizing:
“Let’s see, I’ll ignore “The”, so B is for Beatles, R is for Stones. Pink Floyd goes under P” (until we find out which one’s “Pink”), and Jethro Tull goes under J… but wait, it is a real name, just not that of anyone in the band. Uh, oh…"
And no internet yet, so I’d have to ask my apathetic friends or my clueless siblings. My parents? Pfft…“W for Welk, that’s all we’d need!”
I never alphabetized. I put my music with the most recently played album on the left. That way, I could look at the right side of the albums and say, “I haven’t heard that on in awhile.”
Kansas City had a record store in the Seventies called Caper’s Corner, run by Ben Asner, Ed Asner’s older, crankier brother. Everything in the store was filed alphabetically by band and first name. Frank Zappa was under “F”, BB King was in “B” Jethro Tull was in “J”.
If it’s a single performer who goes by his or her first and last name, then use Lastname, Firstname. If it’s an assumed stage name that doesn’t fit the pattern of a first and last name, then it’s all treated as one name, so use “Stage Name”. If it’s a band, then use the band’s name, even if it is formatted like a first and last name.
Elvis Presley is alphabetized as Presley, Elvis. Marilyn Monroe is alphabetized as Monroe, Marilyn, not as Baker, Norma Jean. The Beatles are alphabetized as Beatles, not as McCartney or Starr or whatever. Jethro Tull is alphabetized as Jethro Tull, not as Tull, Jethro. Madonna is alphabetized as Madonna, not as Ciccone, Madonna. Otis Day and the Knights is under O, not D, because that’s the name of the full band.
The only snag I see is that Elvis Costello albums go under C, but a number of them are actually by Elvis Costello & The Attractions, so are a ways away under E…
Oh, and Diana Ross vs Diana Ross & The Supremes. Howzbout Smoky Robinson & The Imperials, Neil Young & Crazy Horse… the list goes on.
I think I’d say go by last name of performer: Diana Ross is an R, with or without the Supremes.
(Does Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch go under M or M?)
The worst example I have is a 1950s vocals LP by The Former Glenn Miller Singers including Marion Hutton, Ray Eberle, and “Tex” Beneke with The Modernaires.
So do I file under “F”? Nah, that’s stupid. Who looks for them? How about G for Glenn Miller Singers? Nah, it’s not like I have anything else by them. Modernaires? Same thing. OK, it’s gotta be M for Glenn Miller. And as a bonus, this is the “M” in my “MISCELLANEOUS” section, with other stuff I don’t have in any depth.
LOL. In my defense, I didn’t buy that one myself. My brother and I used to send each other CDs for our birthdays. Usually it was “hey, here’s something I like that you also might like,” but the EJ/LR album he just saw at the store, thought it looked interesting, and sent me a copy totally out of the blue.
No, you’re thinking of Tiger’s Records, who were able to offer low, low prices the old fashioned way - by hijacking truckloads of records headed to other stores.