Paul H. Lepp
Night and day, starting in 1948, America jockeyed the long-play record album onto the turntables of radio stations, jukeboxes, and pads to fill our cribs and rides with tunes. At a speed of 33 1/3 rpm, one traveled a vinyl highway from melody to melody riding a ten or twelve-inch diameter LP tuned in and turned on. It all changed in 1982 when the Compact Disc came along. It was smaller, provided more selections, and didn’t require a turntable. It put the vinyl LPs in our attics and closets. For some going from LP to CD was a turning point that had the same weight as Bobby Dylan’s turning from acoustic to electric had. A very wealthy collector of turning point artifacts and his staff, come across a nine-word offer on the net, 'Any Albums Made by the Stovepipe - Name Your Price.' They decide to go after the albums. As they investigate the ad they find, that not only have they missed a major turning point, but the artist behind the albums is invisible and more an urban myth than a person. In their quest for the albums and artist, they become aware they’re not alone in their pursuit. A group known as The Chronologists are also involved in investigating the authenticity of Stovepipe, the Musical Massiah between LP and CD, master of voice and instrument, lord of lyric and technology. Both Collector and Chronologists want to prove Stovepipe as someone beyond a fabled character like Paul Bunyan or John Henry. Both want to prove his existence and acquire his albums but for different reasons. One wants to prove Stovepipe is alive, the other dead, and only one can be right.
