Back in the early 1970's I bought a Sony TC266 Reel to Reel Tape Recorder. Up till then I had been using my Dad's but this was a much better machine and sounded great! I would record myself at home playing songs that I had learned then, mostly these were songs I would perform at 'The Guild' coffee house or at other places where us folkies would be asked to play.
I would also take the recorder to 'The Guild' and record other acts there and also to the Regina Folk Festival where I would record local performers as well as those from other provinces. Back then no one seemed to mind there being a few more microphones in front of them for their performance.
That wonderful TC266 stopped working a couple of decades ago but as luck would have it I was able to get one from my friends Peggy and Gordon in Strasbourg. This was the next model up from mine, a Sony TC377. When I set it up the first tape I played was the wonderful John Antle from the 1973 Folk Festival. I was amazed how good the tapes sounded after all those years! Luckily they were stored properly and kept in a cool dark basement which I'm sure helped preserve them.
I've been transferring the performances to a digital format and sending them to the people that I recorded, most of whom had no idea those recordings existed!
Among the performers I recorded back then were: Everyday Dirt, Bob Evans, John Antle, Roberta Nichol, Jack Semple, Raffi, Bim (Roy Forbes), Ken Hamm, Rick Neufeldt and many more.