Vintage Prerecorded Cassette Tapes
These are all factory prerecorded cassettes. Most are 25-40+ years old; most will play fine but as with all the other tapes on this site, they are sold as-is, no returns. Old cassettes can be repaired but repair may be very difficult. Generally the Ampex tapes are quite sturdy and never break!
I am very interested in buying or trading for old prerecorded cassettes, especially tapes with "snap-box" cases (Ampex, GRT et al). Refer to my wantlist for details.
IMPORTANT INFO regarding the SEALED cassettes: SEALED cassettes are graded "SS". These are SEALED originals from circa 1968-1972, from a recent find, bought out of a closed retail store where they sat untouched for 35+ years. These are fresh old store stock, full-price tapes, NOT cutout bin reseals! Please note that on some of the Capitol tapes, the old-style brittle / thick type shinkwrap they used has in some cases become sort of discolored / funky looking with age (shrinkwrap was never intended to last 40 years...), rest assured the tape box, insert card and tape itself are new / perfect underneath!
Cassettes of this vintage are quite rare in this condition. Cassettes were a brand-new format for prerecorded tape in 1967 (recordable blanks came a couple years earlier) and both the players and the tapes were fairly pricey at the time. Many of these tapes I am offering have old pricetags on the shrinkwrap which show a list price of $6.98 and a retail price of $5.95, on average. Keep in mind this was in circa 1970 dollars! Cassettes did not begin to sell well until the mid to late 1970s, with sales peaking around the end of the 1980s or even early 1990s. So these early tapes did not sell in big quantities, and most that did sell were played a lot, usually on portable players or car players of the day, consequently suffering a great deal of wear and tear. Add to that the typical storage in a car environment, followed by 30 years or so in a basement or attic, and you'll see why very few early prerecorded tapes have survived in anything resembling collectable condition.
Keep in mind that the sealed tapes I am offering managed to survive without receiving any of the aforementioned wear and tear; they are still NEW despite having been manufactured 35-40+ years ago. The shop owner who had these stopped selling tapes circa 1974 and kept them boxed up in a storeroom in an office-type building (no basement or attic storage). As the years pass by, this type of find of NOS prerecorded tapes becomes more and more scarce. In other words, buy them now, you won't see them again in such exceptional condition!
If you intend to open and play the sealed tapes, be aware that old cassettes may have a few quirks. Firstly, there is a small felt pad attached to a brass leaf-spring in the area where the tape head contacts the tape (when you look at the open bottom part of the tape, this is directly under the actual magnetic tape, right in the middle). Usually this felt pad will come unglued after 30+ years. If your felt pad is loose, be sure not to lose it (it's very small), because you will have to reglue it. Gently pull some of the tape out of the shell using a small jeweler's screwdriver, a pencil, etc. Use a tiny dab of glue on the brass spring and carefully place the felt pad back in its place, using tweezers or small needle-nose pliers. The felt side faces up, i.e. resting against the underside of the actual magnetic tape, and the side with a mounting pad and / or some old dried adhesive on it, obviously, is the part that gets re-glued onto the spring. Allow some time for the glue to dry, wind the excess tape back into the cassette shell, and you should be good to go. The pad and spring assembly is there to maintain pressure on the tape against the playback head. If you play a cassette with the felt pad missing or loose, the sound will be very muffled or even inaudible. If you do manage to lose the felt pad somehow, you will have to remove one from a junk cassette (or cut a tiny square from some felt of the correct thickness) to replace it!
Also, occasionlly the tape pack is 'stuck' from lying in one position for many years. Before playing an old cassette for the first time, use a pencil to wind the empty take up reel a few turns (i.e. moving the tape from left reel to right reel by turning the right reel counterclockwise, looking down at side one of the cassette) to get the tape 'started' and moving freely from the supply (left) reel to the take-up (right) reel, in case it is 'stuck' from storage. This is fairly uncommon but I thought I would mention it. Usually a NOS 'stuck' tape is stuck because there is a bit of adhesive from the area where the leader tape is spliced onto the magnetic tape that has seeped out onto the edge of the tape and adhered itself to the inside of the cassette itself. Be gentle freeing and winding any 'stuck' tapes to get them started. Again, this doesn't happen very often but if you stick a 'stuck' NOS tape into, say, a car player, without first freeing up the tape pack, you are asking for trouble (broken tape, stretched tape jammed in your car deck and so on).
USED TAPES: For any used tapes, grading is for the boxes / outer labels (for snap-box or paper-box tapes, which are noted as such) or for the insert cards (on regular plastic box tapes). Assume the tapes themselves look M- or close unless noted otherwise. All used cassettes will have felt pads intact and are in playable condition unless noted otherwise.
Finally, remember these are all OLD cassettes from the early years of the format. They are not going to sound as good as cassettes from the 1980s or 1990s did. These are pre-Dolby era! The sound quality, generally, is going to be similar to that of an 8-track cartridge tape or maybe worse as far as frequency response, hiss, distortion, and so on. However, cassette players (even old vintage ones in cars) are generally going to have more stable and accurate speed, lower wow and flutter, and better pitch stability compared to the "endless loop" 8-tracks and 4-tracks as they are, essentially, mechanically a miniaturized version of the professional-grade open-reel tape format! Anyway many early cassettes sound quite good but don't expect them to sound like CD's!
Only ONE copy available of each item unless a quantity is stated in (parentheses) immediately before the item price. Click on the links below to jump to a specific caetgory listing.
Rock, Psych, Oldies
Soul & Jazz
Country &
Western
Classical
Easy Listening & Miscellaneous
Addrisi Brothers-We've Got To Get It On Again-Columbia-SS; title tag on end of box (2) $3
Mose Allison-Hello There, Universe-Atlantic-SS; snap-box non-Ampex (2) $4
Ginger Baker's Air Force-Atco-EX; snap-box Ampex; stain on edge label $5
The Battered Ornaments-Mantle Piece-Harvest-SS 1970 orig in paper box of killer UK psych / prog $20
The Bells-Fly, Little White Dove, Fly-Polydor-SS $4
T.S. Bonniwell-Close-Capitol-SS; 1969 orig ex-Music Machine solo $15
Butterfield Blues Band-Sometimes I Just Feel Like Smilin'-Elektra-SS; title tag on end of box $5
Chicago-18-Korea WB / Oasis-VG++ paper slipcover '86 Korean version w/ lyrics insert (paper outer box w/ Norelco box inside) $10
Karen Dalton-It's So Hard To Tell Who's Going To Love You The Best-Capitol-SS; '70 slide-box orig, you'll never see another copy! $75
Spencer Davis Group-I'm A Man-UA-EX; one of the first prerecorded cassettes made; bottom of J-card (the bottom of the short end where the titles are listed) has some creases, really nice otherwise $20
Neil Diamond-Do It-Bang-SS; GRT in white snap-box $8
Eli Radish-I Didn't Raise My Son To Be A Soldier-Capitol-SS; '60s psych versions of WW1 era songs $8
Euphoria-A Gift From Euphoria-Capitol-M- in shrink; paper box orig; factory error copy w/ incorrect label on side one (plays normally but has a Merle Haggard label on that side) $50
The Fourth Way-Capitol-SS; 1970 orig excellent early jazz-rock $8
:-The Sun & Moon Have Come Together-Harvest-SS; 1970 orig in paper box $8
Roy Harper-Flat Baroque & Berserk-Harvest-SS; 1970 orig in paper box (2) $20
Hedge & Donna-All The Friendly Colours-Capitol-SS '60s orig $5
Jimi Hendrix & Curtis Knight-Get That Feeling-Capitol-M-; orig w/ paper labels, blue spine j-card & title tag on end of case $12
Ken Hensley-Proud Words On A Dusty Shelf-Mercury-SS; '73 Uriah Heep solo $5
Hit Makers Vol. 3-Capitol-SS; title tag on end of box; w/ Beach Boys, Joe South, Bobbie Gentry etc $4
It's A Beautiful Day-Marrying Maiden-Columbia-SS; title tag on end of box (2) $8
Tommy James-Christian Of The World-Roulette-SS; GRT in white snap-box $4
James Gang-Passin' Thru-ABC-EX; blue GRT snap-box tape $5
Andy Kim-How'd We Ever Get This Way-Steed / Paramount-SS $8
:-Baby I Love You-Steed / Paramount-SS $8
Carole King-Writer-A&M-SS orig w/ title tag on end of case $8
Jerry Lee Lewis-Golden Hits-Smash-SS $5
:-Best Of-Smash-SS $5
:-The "Killer" Rocks On-Mercury-SS; '72 orig $4
Lighthouse-Thoughts Of Movin' On-Evolution-SS; GRT in white snap-box $5
Garry Mac & The Mac Truque-Truqued Up-Capitol-SS; '68 late fratrocker type live set (3) $5
Mad River-Paradise Bar & Grill-Capitol-SS; rare '69 SF psych $20
Vince Martin-If The Jasmine Don't Get You...The Bay Breeze Will-Capitol-SS; very rare '69 ex-Martin & Neil solo psych-folk $20
The Masked Marauders-Deity / WB-SS; title tag on end of box; rare '70 orig cassette of famed hoax album (2) $8
Matthews' Southern Comfort-Later That Same Year-Decca-SS '71 orig $8
Mississippi Fred McDowell-I Do Not Play No Rock 'n' Roll-Capitol-SS; paper box orig (2) $8
Ralph McTell-Eight Frames A Second-Capitol-SS; '69 UK folk (3) $8
Merry-Go-Round-A&M-SS; snap-box Ampex orig of killer 1967 proto-power pop w/ Emmit Rhodes $30
Merryweather-Word Of Mouth-Capitol-SS; double-play '69 orig psych $8
Zoot Money-Welcome To My Head-Capitol-SS; '69 ex-Animals psych solo; title tag on end of box (3) $8
Chris Montez-Foolin' Around-A&M-SS; snap-box Ampex (2) $4
Mungo Jerry-Janus-SS; GRT in white snap-box; w/ "In The Summertime" $8
Quicksilver Messenger Service-Shady Grove-Capitol-SS; 1969 paper box orig (2) $10
:-Comin' Thru-Capitol-SS $8
Stu Ramsay & Chicago Slim-Scufflin' With-Capitol-SS; paper box orig $5
Salvation-A New Rock Musical (Original Cast)-Capitol-SS; paper box orig (2) $3
John Sebastian-Cheapo-Cheapo Productions Presents Real Live-Reprise-SS; snap-box Ampex $4
The Sons Of Champlin-Loosen Up Naturally-Capitol-SS; double play tape $15
The Sons-Capitol-SS; title tag on end of box credits "Sons Of Champlin" (2) $8
Joe South-Games People Play-Capitol-SS; title tag on end of box (2) $4
:-Don't It Make You Want To Go Home?-Capitol-SS; paper box orig (4) $4
SRC-Traveler's Tale-Capitol-SS; 1970 orig in paper box; MI psych classic! $30
John Stewart-California Bloodlines-Capitol-SS (3) $5
Rod Stewart-Gasoline Alley-Mercury-SS; '70 orig $5
Three Dog Night-Naturally-Dunhill-VG++; tol; snap-box Ampex $4 OR EX; GRT in white snap-box $5
:-Seven Separate Fools-Dunhill-VG++; snap-box Record Club Of America $2
Hilton Valentine-All In Your Head-Capitol-SS; rare 1969 ex-Animals psych solo (2) $10
Vanilla Fudge-Atco-EX; slt. tol; snap-box Ampex $10
Wallace Collection-Capitol-SS; sorta late beat-era '60s rock from Belgium (2) $8
Youngbloods-Get Together / First Album-RCA-SS; 1969 RE of 1967 debut album; title tag on end of box $8
:-Best Of-RCA-SS; title tag on end of box $8
Cannonball Adderley Quintet-Why Am I Treated So Bad!-Capitol-SS (3) $5
:-Mercy, Mercy, Mercy!-Capitol-SS (2) $5
:-Best Of-Capitol-SS (3) $5
:-Country Preacher-Capitol-SS; paper box orig (2) $5
David Axelrod-Song Of Innocence-Capitol-SS; title tag on end of box $15
:-Songs Of Experience-Capitol-SS; '70 orig; when I found all this stuff, I really wished it was vinyl... $15
Booker T. & The M.G.'s-Melting Pot-Stax-SS $8
The Free Movement-I've Found Someone Of My Own-Columbia-SS; title tag on end of case $6
The Golden Sounds: Soul 'n' Jazz-Capitol-SS; gold foil paper box orig; '70 comp w/ Adderley, Lou Rawls, Bettye Swann, Patti Drew, etc $4
Willie Hightower-If I Had A Hammer-Capitol-SS; paper box orig (2) $5
Craig Hundley Trio-Arrival Of A Young Giant-Liberty-SS; snap-box orig $3
Dick Hyman-Moog: The Electric Eclectics Of-Command-SS; GRT in white snap-box $5
Ramsey Lewis-Back To The Roots-Cadet-SS; GRT in white snap-box (2) $5
Charles Lloyd-Best Of-Atlantic-SS; snap-box non-Ampex $4
Les McCann-Plays The Shampoo-Liberty-SS; snap-box '60s orig (2) $4
Gene McDaniels-Golden Greats-Liberty-SS; '60s snap-box orig $5
Jimmy McGriff-A Thing To Come By-Liberty-SS; black snap-box $5
Sergio Mendes & Brasil '77-Pais Tropical-A&M-SS; title tag on end of box $3
Roy Merriwether-Preachin'-Capitol-SS (2) $4
Willie Mitchell-Soul Bag-Hi-M-; snap-box Ampex $5
:-Best Of-Hi-M-; slide-box Ampex $4
Esther Phillips-Burnin' Live At Freddie Jett's Pied Piper Club, L.A.-Atlantic-M-; sawcut; snap-box Ampex $4
Pharoah Sanders-Black Unity-Impulse-SS; snap-box GRT $10
Sanford & Son (TV Soundtrack)-RCA-SS; Quincy Jones score $4
Mongo Santamaria-Workin' On A Groovy Thing-Columbia-SS; title tag on end of box (2) $4
Bud Shank-Windmills Of Your Mind-Liberty-SS; snap-box orig (2) $3
Nina Simone-Black Gold-RCA-SS $5
:-Here Comes The Sun-RCA-SS; title tag on end of box (2) $5
Jimmy Smith & Wes Montgomery-New Adventures Of-Verve-M-; snap-box Ampex $3
O.C. Smith-At Home-Columbia-SS; title tag on end of box $3
Super Soul-Dees, Vol. 3-Capitol-SS; '60s orig w/ Larks, Bettye Swann, Dobie Gray, Willie Hightower, Ohio Players, Salty Peppers, Cannonball Adderley etc $5
(Diana Ross &) The Supremes-Touch-Motown-SS; title tag on end of box (2) $4
:-Sing & Perform "Funny Girl"-Motown-SS; snap-box Ampex $4
The Supemes & The Four Tops-Dynamite-Motown-SS $3
:-The Return Of The Magnificent Seven-Motown-SS; title tag on end of box (2) $3
Bettye Swann-Don't You Ever Get Tired Of Hurting Me?-Capitol-SS; title tag on end of box (2) $4
Three Sounds-Out Of This World-Liberty-M-; snap-box '60s orig $4
:-Beautiful Friendship-Limelight-new / unplayed but not sealed, box was taped shut by shopkeeper! $4
Walter Wanderley-Samba So-Liberty-SS; sanp-box '60s orig $4
:-Brazilian Blend-Philips-new / unplayed but not sealed, box taped shut $3
Dionne Warwick-The Love Machine (OST)-Scepter-SS (2) $3
Nancy Wilson-The Sound Of-Capitol-SS $3
:-Lush Life-Capitol-SS (2) $3
:-Gentle Is My Love-Capitol-SS; title tag on end of box $3
:-Nancy-Capitol-SS (2) $3
:-Hurt So Bad-Capitol-SS; title tag on end of box $3
Buddy Alan-Wild, Free And 21!-Capitol-SS; paper box orig (3) $3
Ed Ames-Sings The Songs Of Bacharach & David-RCA-SS; title tag on end of box $3
Bill Anderson-Love Is A Sometimes Thing-Decca-SS $3
Lynn Andrson-With Strings-Chart-SS $3
:-Cry-Epic-SS; title tag on end of box $3
Buckaroos-The Songs Of Merle Haggard-Capitol-SS $3
Merle Haggard (& The Strangers)-Branded Man-Capitol-SS $4
:-A Portrait Of Merle Haggard With The Strangers-Capitol-SS $3
:-I Love Dixie Blues (So I Recorded Live In New Orleans)-Capitol-SS; '73 orig $3
Freddie Hart & The Heartbeats-Bless Your Heart-Capitol-SS $3
David Houston-Already It's Heaven-Epic-SS; title tag on end of box $3
:-Where Love Used To Live / My Woman's Good To Me-Epic-SS; title tag on end $3
:-Baby, Baby-Epic-SS; title tag on end of box (2) $3
:-The World Of-Epic-SS; title tag on end of box; double-play tape (2) $3
Ferlin Husky (& The Hush Puppies)-What Am I Gonna Do Now?-Capitol-SS (2) $3
:-White Fences & Evergreen Trees-Capitol-SS; title tag on end of box (3) $3
:-Best Of-Capitol-SS $3
:-That's Why I Love You So Much-Capitol-SS (3) $3
Jerry Lee Lewis-A Taste Of Country-Sun-SS; title tag on end of box $3
Hank Locklin-And Danny Davis & The Nashville Brass-RCA-SS; title tag on end of box (2) $3
Roger Miller-Words & Music By-Smash-new / unplayed but not sealed, box is taped shut $2
Melba Montgomery-The Big, Beautiful Country World Of-Capitol-SS; title tag on end of box (3) $3
Johnny & Jonie Mosby-Hold Me-Capitol-SS (2) $3
Earl Scruggs & The Earl Scruggs Revue-Live At Kansas State-Columbia-SS; title tag on end of box $3
Connie Smith-Best Of-RCA-SS; title tag on end of box (2) $3
Billie Jo Spears-Miss Sincerity-Capitol-SS; paper box orig (2) $3
Don Stewart & Cliffie Stone-Square Dance USA Vol. 2-Capitol-SS; title tag on end of box (2) $3
Wynn Stewart-It's Such A Pretty World Today-Capitol-SS $3
:-Love's Never Gonna Happen To Me-Capitol-SS; title tag on end of box (2) $3
:-Something Pretty-Capitol-SS $3
Stoneman Family / Scotty Stoneman-Fidlin' Hoe-Down-Carnaby-SS $3
Victors-A Brand New Feelin'-Capitol-SS $3
Slim Whitman-Travelin'-Liberty-SS; snap-box '60s orig $3
Bizet-Shchedrin: The Carmen Ballet / Rozhdestvensky / Bolshoi Theatre Orch.-Melodiya / Angel-SS $3
La Boheme Highlights-Milan Opera-Radiant-M- $1
Glinka: Music Of Glinka / USSR Symphony Orch / Svetlantov-Melodiya / Angel-SS; title tag on end of box $3
Great Sopranos Of Our Time: De Los Angles, Callas, Cerspin, Nilsson et al-Angel-SS $3
Mahler: Kinderdotenleider / Four Ruckert Songs-DG-new / unplayed but not sealed, box is taped shut $2
Mahler/Visconti-Death In Venice-DG-SS (4) $3
La Marsellaise & French Showpieces-Orchestre De Paris / Jacquillat-Angel-SS $3
Nathan Milstein-Music Of Old Russia / Irving-Angel-SS $3
Osipov Balalaika Orchestra-The Fabulous-Melodiya / Angel-SS; paper box orig $4
Piano Music Of Erik Satie Vol. 1: Aldo Ciccolini, pianist-Angel-SS $3
Eliabeth Schwarzkopf Sings Operetta: Philharmonia Orch. & Chorus / Ackermann-Angel-SS $3
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 In D Minor / Kondrashin / Moscow Phil.-Melodiya / Angel-SS; paper box orig $4
:-Ballet Suites Nos. 1, 2&3 / Maksim Shostakovich / Bolshoi Theater Orch-Melodiya / Angel-SS (2) $3
Stravinsky: Rite Of Spring & Scherzo A La Russe / Michael Tilson Thomas & Ralph Grierson, pianists-Angel-SS $3
Vaughan Williams-A London Symphony: Barbirolli / Halle Orch.-Angel-SS $3
Fritz Wunderlich-In Viennese Operetta-Radiant-new / unplayed but not sealed, box is taped shut(!) $2
:-Sings Lehar-Capitol-SS $3
Easy Listening, Soundtracks & Miscellaneous
2001: A Space Odyssey (OST)-MGM-SS; snap-box Ampex $8
Ronnie Aldrich-This Way "In"-London Phase 4-SS; snap-box Ampex (2) $3
Sil Austin-Plays Pretty For The People-Mercury-these are all new / unplayed but shrink fell off and box is taped shut(!) (3) $2
Jo Basile-Accordion de Paris-Audio Fidelity-M-; felt pad has gone missing $1
Mike Curb Congregation-Softly Whispering I Love You-MGM-SS; GRT in white snap-box $3
Tommy Garrett-The Best Of The 50 Guitars Of Tommy Garrett-Liberty-SS; snap-box orig $3
Tom Jones-Live In Las Vegas-Parrot-SS; snap-box Ampex (7) $8
Lettermen-Spin Away-Capitol-SS $2
Enoch Light & The Brass Menagerie-'73-Project 3-SS; snap-box Ampex $3
Julie London-Julie's Golden Greats-Liberty-SS; snap-box '60s orig $8
:-Yummy, Yummy, Yummy-Liberty-SS; snap-box '60s orig $8
Mundell Lowe / Cy Levitan-Montage / Romantic Moods-Carnaby-SS $2
The Johnny Mann Singers-This Guy's In Love With You / The Look Of Love-Liberty-SS; '60s snap-box orig $3
Al Martino-Love Is Blue-Capitol-SS; title tag on end of box $3
:-Wake Up To Me Gentle-Capitol-SS $3
:-Sausalito-Capitol-SS $3
Art Mooney-Cha Cha Cha On Broadway-Radiant-new / unplayed but not sealed, box is taped shut (2) $2
Matt Monro-Best Of-Capitol-SS (2) $3
The Mystic Moods Orchestra-Love The One You're With-WB-SS; '72 slide-box $3
The San Sebastian Strings-For Lovers-WB-SS; title tag on end of box $3
George Shearing-The Fool On The Hill-Capitol-SS $3
Soviet Army Chorus & Band-On Parade-Melodiya / Angel-SS (2) $3
:-A Panorama Of Russian Melody-Melodiya / Angel-SS $3
Billy Strange-In The Mexican Bag-GNP Crescendo-new / unplayed but not sealed, box is taped shut $2
Mel Torme-A Time For Us-Capitol-SS; title tag on end of box $3
Mary Travers-Morning Glory-WB-SS; 1972 in slide-box $3
Billy Vaughn-The Windmills Of Your Mind-Paramount-M-; case cracked, actually new & unplayed, opened to inspect $2
:-An Old Fashioned Love Song-Paramount-SS; case cracked slightly $2
Voices On The Move-Part 1/The Girls-Liberty-SS; snap-box tape-only comp w/ Julie London, Gloria Lynne, Petula Clark etc $3
Lawrence Welk-Galveston-Ranwood-SS; GRT in white snap-box $2
:-No, No, Nanette-Ranwood-SS; GRT in white snap-box $2
:-Candida-Ranwood-SS; GRT in white snap-box $2