- One of the most extensive 78 collections in the world!
- Rare 78s with some of the most celebrated early 20th century artists
- 60%+ Never Sold On Discogs
- 9%+ Not Listed on Discogs
Coming Soon: 25,000+ 78s
Keep reading for a sneak peek at Ken Wiley's 78 RPM Record Collection!
NOTE: All images are actual photos of 78 records in Ken Wiley's Collection (please excuse the glare of light). In order to be as accurate as possible there are no filters or corrections made to any of the images.
Rare 78s
Ken curated a vast collection of rare pressings and recordings that are in excellent condition. These exceptional finds are on all different labels such as Paramount, Vocalion, Okeh, Dial, etc., with artists like "Ma" Rainey, Charlie Parker, Furry Lewis, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and Texas Alexander. For many of these kinds of records, he has more than one copy. For Instance, there is more than one copy of Charlie Parker's Crazeology. The collection consists of mostly Jazz and blues records, with a fair amount of gospel, sprinklings of classical, and even some early rock by Elvis Presley on RCA Victor.
Pressing, Repressings, Re-issues, Tracks
There are numerous instances of a single record with more than one pressing. It is not unusual to find multiple pressings and repressings of the same record. For example, Ken might have a Victor record in the original Camden, Oakland, and/or Hollywood pressings as well as the repressing of the same Victor record in Camden, Indianapolis, and Hollywood pressings. Additionaly, the same Victor record might be re-issued under an RCA Victor or Bluebird label in the Camden, Indianapolis, and Hollywood pressings.
Ken also made certain to find different tracks of songs for the same record, which is denoted in the matrix runout. Additionally, there are many occasions where the same record, artist and song are on multiple labels. An identical instance of an artist's recording might show across Okeh, Musicraft, Columbia, etc.
Pictured below is an original pressing and repressing of Meade "Lux" Lewis's Honky Tonk Train Blues on Blue Note. The collection has many instances of multiple pressings and repressings of the same record for several Blue Note artists.
These are 12 inch 78s. The collection mostly consists of 10 inch records, but there are a sizable amount of 12 inch records as well. The James P. Johnson record on Blue Note, Major Glen Miller on VDisc, Art Tatum on Comet, and Bunk Johnson on American Music are all examples of 12 inch 78s in the collection.
Notes
Ken utilized original research in manual discographies to make notes on the records in his collection. Notes generally consisted of some combination of recording dates and locations, artists on the record and the instruments they played, track synchronizations, record condition ratings, and references to which discography he used to obtain the information for his research.
For instance, on the Blind Willie Johnson record Dark Was The Night, there is a recording date of 12/3/1927 in Dallas Texas, an E+ rating, and information about track synchronizations with other media that Ken owned (it could be other 78s, LPs, 45s, cassettes, etc).
On the Tommy McClennan record Blues Trip Me This Morning, He referenced D&G 461, which points to where he found information to add to the envelope cover. On other records he might reference Rust, Jepsen, LORD and various other books. Ken had a sizable library of reference books to utilize for research purposes.
The other records shown with notes are Jack and Jill Blues by Sleepy John Estes and She Sends by Frank (Half-Pint) Jaxon.
Wide Array Of Artists and Labels
As one might imagine, in a collection of over 25,000 78s, it's difficult to boil it down to just a handful of records. Pictured below are various labels and artists that can be found in the collection. The overall takeaway should be that one can expect to find many great early 20th century artists on all different music labels, pressing, repressings, and re-issues.
The following records show Jeru by Miles Davis on Capitol Records, Dickie's Dream by Count Basie on Vocalion, Summertime by Billie Holiday on Vocalion, I Can't Give You Anything But Love (Baby) by Teddy Wilson on Brunswick, Jealous Hearted Blues by Ma Rainel (misprint: should be Ma Rainey) on UHCA, It's Only A Paper Moon by Paul Whiteman on Victor and Black Snake Moan by Blind Lemon Jefferson on Okeh.
There are a few instances of misprinted labels, where the title is the same on side A and B, but it should be two different titles. Such is the case with the Basin Street Six record pictured below. Both sides have the title Everybody Loves That Hadacol, but it should have Everybody Loves That Hadacol on side A and Move The Body Over on side B for the Mercury 6305 label. This is another example of a rare find that Ken made certain to incorporate into his collection.
Test Pressings
Ken had an impressive collection of test pressings. He was able to determine what was on the test pressings by listening to them with his keen and experienced ear. Ken was often consulted on discographies because he could listen to records and potentially recognize players whose identity had not been preserved. Pictured are examples of test pressings where Ken listened and mades notes. There is a Billie Holiday test pressing for her song, Laughing At Life, with notes and comments from Ken about the record. The other test pressings shown are King Oliver's Chattanooga Stomp, Teddy Wilson's My Last Affair and Leroy Carr's Church House Blues. Unfortunately, Ken did not have a chance to make notes on every test pressing. While there are many test pressings with notes, there are also many with no notes to speak of.
Albums
Ken had an extensive collection of albums. Typically, albums are on labels that re-issue songs from their original pressings. While they are not as rare as some of his individual 78s, they are nonetheless a notable addition to his collection. Pictured is King Cole Trio on Capitol Records, Art Tatum on ARA Records, Jimmie Noone on Brunswick and Mary Lou Williams on Disc.
The Book
Ken Wiley Collection LLC is in the process of creating a book that will list all of Ken's 78s with relevant information about each record. The book will be in PDF and EPUB formats and should be available to the public August or September of 2026. Our intent is to sell the entire collection to a collector. If you are interested in Ken's 78 collection, and have questions, please feel free to use the contact form and we will try to get back to you in 48 hours. You may also subscribe to our email list (at the bottom of the page) and follow us on social media to be alerted when the book is available for download and to remain abreast of all Ken Wiley Collection offerings.