A Good Time to Explore Record Store Bins

There’s a tendency in the CD reissue world for the first entries in a new series of albums to get a lot of media attention. But subsequent releases often go relatively unnoticed.

That’s why reissue fans often discover unexpected gems when they check through record store bins.

For anyone at all interested in the early releases in either the invaluable new Smithsonian/Folkways series of albums or EMI’s sometimes rewarding “The Legends of Rock ‘n’ Roll” series, this is a good time to explore the bins.

Among the latest, choice items available from Smithsonian/Folkways, the Cambridge, Mass.-based label that was started in 1987 after the Smithsonian Institution bought the rights to the 2,200 Folkways album titles from the Moses Asch estate in 1986:

* Big Bill Broonzy’s “Sings Folk Songs”--Eleven selections, from “Bill Bailey” and “Goin’ Down This Road” to “This Train,” recorded by the much-admired blues singer shortly before his death in 1958.

* “The Watson Family”--Though singer-guitarist Arthel (Doc) Watson and his late son Merle may be the only members of this North Carolina family known even among folk enthusiasts, this is an exceptionally inviting musical survey of 20 songs (“Bonaparte’s Retreat” to “Southbound”) showcasing both the rich English-American folk tradition and the musical environment that helped shape Doc Watson’s folk-country sensibilities.

* “Hawaiian Drum Dance Chants”--The liner notes warn that these recordings were made as early as the 1920s, many of them on equipment that is primitive by today’s standards. Yet the tracks carry the same engaging spirit of celebration and culture that highlights so many of the Smithsonian/Folkways albums.

* The Rev. Gary Davis’ “Pure Religion & Bad Company”--More blues, this time from Davis, who was an ordained minister and extraordinary guitarist.

* The New Lost City Ramblers’ “The Early Years, 1958-1962”--The 26 songs by the folk group founded by Mike Seeger range from “How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?” and “No Depression in Heaven.”

The new EMI series releases deserving special attention include the Exciters’ “Tell Him” (20 songs from a ‘60s R&B; vocal group whose title track was a No. 1 single in 1962), the Rivingtons’ “The Liberty Years” (23 tunes from the ‘60s R&B; group whose zany “Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow” and “The Bird’s the Word” are two of the most distinctive novelty records of the modern pop era) and the Five Keys’ “The Aladdin Years” (25 selections from the R&B; group prior to its pop crossover success in the mid-’50s with Capitol Records).