Annie Louise Neal was a black female disk jockey from North Carolina. She played at WREV, a small AM station in Reidsville, from the late 1950s to about 1963, and then again from 1965 to about 1967. Early in her career, Louise used "Napper" as her last name, after a man she was briefly married to. By 1961 at the latest, she switched to using her maiden name professionally. (I'm still collecting information from Neal's extended family and will update this to be more precise as I learn more.) During her DJ career, Neal met many of the top Soul and RnB artists of the day, and according to relatives she dated at least two of them: Wilson Pickett and Joe Tex. (One of the 45s the estate held back was by Joe Tex, which came with a love note to Louise.) She died 4 years ago in New York, in her 80s.
The 45s
During her career, and for many years afterwards, Neal collected thousands of (mostly) promo 45s from the 1950s and 1960s. In those days, record companies sent DJs promo copies of their releases, and in Neal's case they were sent directly to her house in Reidsville. Even after she left Reidsville in 1967, 45s continued to accumulate unopened at her vacant Reidsville address from all the record companies and distributors she was registered with, including ABC, Atlantic/Atco, Chess/Checker/Cadet, Decca, Brunswick, Shout, Stax/Volt, Fame, Imperial, Jubilee, Okeh, Sue, Philles, SureFine, Vee-Jay, Kent, Duke, Bell, Paula/Ronn, Rojac, Peacock, Motown (all labels), Veep, Capitol, Modern, Dial, Jamie and many others. Her collection contains virtually nothing after 1970.
Most of the collection consists of new, unplayed promo releases, many in their original factory sleeve. (Fortunately, during the 1950s and 1960s, nearly all promo releases had two songs on them; starting in the 1970s, most promos came with one song, in both Mono and Stereo mixes.) Presumably because Neal was playing mainly RnB and Soul music, most of the 45s in this collection fall into those categories.
A Sample of Thanks Received From Louise Neal 45 Customers
Thanks Leyland Satisfactions record arrived this morning perfect condition Jim
records came this morning,well packed and undamaged and in pristine condition!whole transaction conducted in positive way.pleasure to do with business with you.highly recommended! Andy N
As you know, I do not advertise ANYTHING for ANYONE usually, but the quality of these records is astounding and I thought if my customers don't know about them already, they ought to... Anyway, have a browse and maybe you'll find something, I'll post details of further auctions as and when they appear. It's a safer bet than eBay and that's for sure! Cheers Pete
Joy Tones arrived yesterday from Classic 45s all the way from USA. And what joy it is — great condition, original factory sleeve and sounds fantastic! Playing now..
Thanks for the best record buying experience I have ever had on discogs. Absolutely professional and you can see a lot of love has gone into it! Amazed at the condition of the records, packaging and service. Top marks!
Denise arrived today Jackie a beautiful beautiful copy...thank you so much most happy Steve
Thank you Classic 45s. , I received my vinyl this morninG, and I am very satisfied with it, including the mailer....Both were in the condition, as described, and the packaging, second to none....
Massive thanks to Classic 45s... Record arrived today spotless mint condition. Always a pleasure dealing with them. Shaun
Top notch feedback for Classic 45s, two superb records received and packaged correctly plus super fast shipping — top seller Dave
You know exactly what you are going to get from Jackie & Leland... the records are IMMACULATE and most importantly they are 100% reliable. Pete
Elgins arrived safely today. Very well packed as usual and the condition is beautiful. Thanks Classic 45s! Stephen
Tip top and more for Classic 45s... just a superb mint 45... many thanks. Russ
Forgot to say... received the Susan Barrett yesterday... wow!! :-) Dukes
Jackie and Leland Scott, thanks once again! good price, excellent service, top shelf condition... well packed...nothing more to be said really! Andrew
Mahoosive positive once again for Jackie Scott @ CLASSIC45'S. 45 arrived in condition as stated, top drawer service. Mart
Massive Thank you to Classic 45s... another beautiful slab of soul arrived today. Always a pleasure to deal with Shaun
Got it this morning Pal, fantastic great condition , I'm well chuffed , thanks very much, Lenny
Given the time period the collection was built, it contains hundreds of highly collectable and extremely rare Northern Soul singles (remember, mostly promos and all new and unplayed!) with book values ranging well above $100.
Besides Soul and RnB, the collection also contains rarities and classics of interest to fans of Deep Soul, Funky Soul, Blues, Girl Groups, Doo Wop, and various other genres of 1960s Rock. (One of the handful of 45s the relatives kept was a mint promo of "Hey Joe" by Jimi Hendrix!)
Because so much of the collection accumulated after Neal had moved to New York in 1967, the records weren't all stored in ideal conditions during the long years from 1967 to 2015. It's clear from what I've gone through that there are several categories of condition you can expect from these otherwise new-and-unplayed 45s:
(M) Many are pristine Mint — unplayed and with a bare minimum of storage wear, if any.
(M-) Near Mint copies may exhibit very light storage wear and/or an "x" marked on the label. Some of the 45s in this grade may have slight warps of various kinds, but we won't be selling any 45s whose warp affects the audio.
(EX+) Apparently, some of the new, unplayed promo 45s lost their sleeves along the way and experienced some jostling among other sleeve-less 45s. This led to more storage wear on both labels and vinyl. We won't sell any 45s from this category that don't have at least Near Mint audio.
In addition to the new, unplayed stock, the collection contains hundreds of used records, most from the 1950s and early 1960s. Some of these are quite valuable, and we may sell them separately. The rest will probably be sold in bulk lots on eBay or here on Classic 45s.
I'm delighted to see so many of the records are stored in their original factory sleeve, many of which are rare and valuable on their own these days.
One of the coolest things about the collection is the actual shipping packages that were retained. These are branded mailers from all the record companies Neal was registered with to receive promotional material. There's a whole box full, as well as a few extra (see an assortment in the accompanying photo). I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with these, but I suspect someone may be interested in them — especially those who collect labels rather than artists or genres.
The collection at Classic 45s
We will be adding records from this collection to inventory as fast as time permits. Since most are 45s we haven't heard before, it will take longer to get some of them added. We will be identifying new, unplayed stock from this collection with a special icon, which will link back to this page.
While we are still going through the more than 5,000 45s in the collection, we'll be adding primarily exemplary copies of classic Soul and Rock singles, most of which we will have had before in lesser condition or not in promo form.
To give you a flavor of what's in the collection, here's a short list of some of the Soul 45s that we'll be adding in the days and years to come.
45s from Kev Roberts' Top Northern Soul Lists include:
(999 represents 45s that are mentioned in various lists in the book) All 45s are promo versions unless otherwise specified.
Rummage through hundreds of original-issue 45's for $6.00 or less!
Now playing:
Hungry Eyes by Merle Haggard
(Nina) Have You Seen My Baby Pt. 1/ Pt. 2 by Marvin L. Sims
These virtual "boxes" are for you folks who only like new, unplayed or pristine Mint 45s.
45s continued to accumulate unopened at her vacant Reidsville address from all the record companies and distributors she was registered with, including ABC, Atlantic/Atco, Chess/Checker/Cadet, Decca, Brunswick, Shout, Stax/Volt, Fame, Imperial, Jubilee, Okeh, Sue, Philles, SureFine, Vee-Jay, Kent, Duke, Bell, Paula/Ronn, Rojac, Peacock, Motown (all labels), Veep, Capitol, Modern, Dial, Jamie and many others. Her collection contains virtually nothing after 1970.
We'll try to add some 45s from the collection every few days, so keep an eye out for these very special records from the Louise Neal collection.