No, I didn’t purchase a vinyl suit that I’m going to wear to the next karaoke night.
I’m talking about real live records.
- LPs.
- Slabs of wax.
- Spinning some sides.
My wife and teenage daughter recently got me a small record player for my birthday. And it is on.
Putting on a record and hearing that snap, crackle, pop at the beginning immediately reminded me of why I fell in love with music in the first place. My daughter commented on how beyond her it was that music can be coming from a needle on a black disc spinning around, being that she is used to hearing music on digital files, coming out of a computer, tablet or a phone.
It really is a marvel, when you take time to ponder it.
I know what you may be thinking.
“How nice, rollerboogie.”
“You’re just now getting into something that countless people have already been doing for years.”
Well, I never claimed to be on the cutting edge of the return to vinyl, or anything for that matter. At least three other people in my own family are ahead of me here, and knowing little sis Elise, she probably never stopped. I’m just happy to finally get back into it and of course, I’m going to talk about it.
A little over 25 years ago, my Uncle Ernie passed away.
He was a very private person, and I never saw the inside of his home until after he died. I don’t think any of us did. His sister, my Aunt Phyllis, took on the task of packing up the house and preparing it to be sold. My mom and I came over to help. One surprising thing that Phyllis had found was a small cache of early Beatles’ albums- Meet the Beatles, A Hard Day’s Night, and Beatles ’65.
Uncle Ernie had never struck any of us as a big fan of rock and roll. She asked me to find out if they were worth anything. I went to the library and found a record collector’s guide, and none of them were highly valuable from a monetary sense.
Though Meet the Beatles had a typo on the track listings on the back cover that bumped up the value a little.
She asked me if I wanted to keep the albums. I said yes, even though I had no way of playing them.
When I pulled out the records to examine them, I was shocked to find a 4th record jammed inside one of the jackets, its own apparently long gone.
It was Introducing…The Beatles, which was their first album released in the United States, on Vee-Jay Records, an African American-owned label out of Chicago.
I had known about it but had never seen a copy. 25 years after that discovery, I was finally playing it for the first time on my new record player. I was too young to experience the British Invasion in real time. Sitting there watching that record spin and listening to the sounds that captured the hearts and imaginations of the nation’s youth, for me, was the closest I could get, and it was pretty great.
After listening to the Beatles’ albums, I had a dilemma. I never had a great record collection, and most of what I did have was ruined in a basement flood years ago, so now what would I play?
Aside from a Tito Puente cha-cha album that I somehow had laying around and a Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 soundtrack album that my wife and daughter had given me, there wasn’t much left to explore. I told my daughter that we needed to head to the nearest used record store, and surprisingly, she was willing to go along.
The record store didn’t have a huge selection, but the one album I found made the trip totally worth it:
Seventh Sojourn by the Moody Blues from 1972.
Just holding the worn album cover in my hand was like being sent back in time.
It was fitting that this would be my first find in this budding new phase. Growing up, both of my older brothers were into the Moody Blues…
…But they weren’t on my radar until the early 80s, when I was in high school and they came out with Long Distance Voyageur, which my brother Greg owned.
I loved that album, particularly the song “The Voice,” but when he dove deeper into his peach crates and put on Seventh Sojourn, something really got a hold of me. It sounded like nothing else I had heard. Ray Thomas’ flute at the beginning of “The Land of Make Believe” lured me in like the pied piper, and it was in that moment that I knew that I needed more of the Moody Blues in my life.
Their albums were the first I purchased with my own money, and now history had repeated itself.
Well, that did it. The floodgates were officially open.
I wanted more albums – and I wanted them asap. My daughter loves to thrift shop and she suggested we hit up a Salvation Army store and check out the used records there. And while we’re there, maybe she will happen to find a pair of black leggings.
Ah, I now see why she was so willing to go shopping for used records with her dad, but I’m more than fine with it.
Most of what they had at Salvation Army were the kind of records many of my generation’s parents tended to own, very heavy on classical and easy listening. Would I find anything here? I was rapidly losing hope and then there it was:
Going Places by Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass.
Are you kidding me? This was a fixture in our parents’ record collection and one I remembered fondly. In a recent article, I spoke of how, as kids, Elise and I would dance wildly to “Zorba the Greek,” the final track on the album. And just days after writing the article, here was a copy in decent condition for $3. I was giddy with excitement.
I then came across the soundtrack to Peter Gunn by Henry Mancini. I have been a big fan of that album for decades but had never heard it on vinyl. Now I had two keepers.
When we got home, I took Seventh Sojourn for a spin, snapped a picture of the record on the turntable and sent it in a group text to my siblings. All five responded enthusiastically and encouraged me on my journey. Greg replied with a pic of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours playing on his record player.
A few days later, my daughter and I hit up another thrift store and two used record stores.
She came away with some jewelry, a top, a skirt, and an oversized t-shirt from the men’s section.
I steered her toward that last one, so that she would stop borrowing mine.
I snagged 3 more Moody Blues albums and a Beatles’ album that was surprisingly in the $2 bargain bin.
Granted, it was Yesterday and Today, a Columbia slice and dice North American release with songs from 3 of the Parlophone albums and a single, stitched together like Frankenstein’s monster.
In what was perhaps a veiled shot at Columbia, the original cover (which is not the one I got) literally had the lads dressed as butchers, draped in hunks of raw meat and decapitated baby dolls.
It was quickly replaced.
Did I care about any of this? At first, not at all, but as I continued to listen, it did feel a bit out of place to hear different phases of the band on one album, seeing as how quickly they were evolving in the course of a year. In the end, I decided to be happy that I had another Beatles LP, no matter what the configuration.
I’m now officially hooked on vinyl, and I am excited about what I might find next.
Everything old is new again, and I couldn’t be happier.
To quote from those fabulous Moody Blues:
Walk along with me to the next bend.
For those of you that are into listening on vinyl, I’d like to hear about it.
- How long since you got back into it?
- Or if you are younger, when did you get on board for the first time?
And what are some of the crown jewels in your collection?
Do share!
UPDATE:
Dear Diary, since my last entry, it’s been a little over three weeks and I’ve added close to 20 albums to my budding new collection. The highlight was finding The Beatles (a.k.a. the White Album) for $10 at a used record store. I still can’t believe it. Thanks to my sister Marybeth, I am now hitting up estate sales.
There appears to be no end in sight. Oh well, gotta run.
If you need me, you know where to find me.
Yours truly, rollerboogie.
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Wonderful! I continue to hold a home for just under 1000 albums and a couple hundred singles. But I pretty much never play them. Yet, I can’t find the heart to part with them. I do look through them occasionally. I’ll pull out an album to feel its texture, smell the paper, see the reflection of light off the grooves, appreciate the record label, and study the cover art. It is a rewarding tactile experience.
Some of my digital files are clearly digitized from vinyl. You can hear the warm crackles and pops of the needle gliding along the record. The sound is like a warm blanket.
Very jealous of that voluminous collection. You need to give those babies a spin, Link!
The numbers might be a bit different, but otherwise, Link, ditto.
Ah, this is what you meant when you mentioned you had an upcoming article having to do with the phonograph. Between this and Chuck’s article yesterday, you guys have given me an idea for an article. Stay tuned.
I got a turntable for Christmas and immediately bought myself a new copy of Revolver. Last week, I picked up a copy of Dakota At Storyville by Dakota Staton. I haven’t listened to it yet but I’ve loved everything she ever did so I have no doubt I’ll like this one, too.
Given today’s Alt #1 at the mothership, I may have to pick up some Björk on vinyl, too….
Revolver is a great place to start! What others have you procured?
I haven’t bought that many because I have so many records I haven’t heard in years. Some are my former bands, some are ones I couldn’t bring myself to sell during the Great CD Switch Out of the late 80s, and there are some light Jazz and Country records I rescued from my parents when they were moving. I really like Pete Fountain, Boots Randolph, and Clyde McCoy.
Ah, cool that you hung on to them.
My dad had a ton of Pete Fountain!
When my (now) husband and I moved in together, I became the one to organize our mutual vinyl collection. I still keep the two collections separate mainly because it’s easier for me to find what I’m looking for if I don’t have to look through his as well as our tastes rarely meshed. (That said, I think we have at least three copies of “Saturday Night Fever” — mine, his and one from his ex.)
With a guest appearance by Venus the cat.
WOW! That’s like a vinyl fever dream. And of a course with one cat to rule them all. My wife’s nephew gave me a copy of the SNF soundtrack and it felt great to hear it on vinyl again. I love that you guys have 3 copies. I enjoy reading your articles about select albums from your collection. Looks like you will never run out of material to write about!
Great stuff. Thrift shop = charity shop here. The name may change but they generally have a vinyl section. The quality varies wildly, there’s a reason why a lot of these records end up homeless. They’re an intriguing and entertaining browse through the past, amongst the well known names are a vast number of relics of those who never made it but at least got to produce a record for posterity.
I was a vinyl collector as a teenager. Knew all the 2nd hand record stores in the region and went to record fairs. Got all The Beatles albums, though my copy of Rubber Soul hails from Canada and has a different track listing from the UK release.
Got plenty of Pink Floyd, some Quicksilver Messenger Service, the Woodstock triple disc soundtrack and many more 60/70s offerings as well as contemporary late 80s / early 90s stuff. Coloured vinyl was a big trend at that time. Even have a see through disc by not at all well known English psychedelic band Sun Dial.
After 20 years without a record player, I got one earlier this year as well. I’d kept my teenage collection and have bought a couple of new releases. I haven’t started going the charity shops – yet. As you have told, once you go down that road there’s no stopping.
That collection sounds really great. Good you kept it!
At this point, the thrift shops don’t have a lot of rock and roll, but in 20 years or so, they will begin to be a gold mine for tons of great stuff, methinks. Not to be morbid.
I think I’ve told this story but a record collecting friend of mine bought a bunch of records at a thrift shop for 50 cents each. He knew the Barbra Streisand record was worth something because it was on white vinyl, but when he got it home, he found an envelope in the sleeve. It contained $200 in cash. Good return on investment!
This gives new meaning to “the Streisand Effect.”
I need to start listening to Babs.
We are trying to simplify our lives and get rid of stuff, but I had a really hard time giving up my vinyl. I was so pleased when a beloved relative got interested in vinyl, and she was pleased to “inherit” my collection a bit early. It was way easier to let them go knowing that they would be appreciated.
That’s good that they found a home and it’s someone you care about. What were the hardest albums to part with?
Probably “Are You Experienced” because of what it is, and “Rocky Mountain High” because of who I listened to it with.
nice!
The comment section continues to provide inspiration for upcoming articles.
“Songs that remind me of a special person, place or thing.”
Perhaps one of our collaborative things?
Not my best working title, but you all get the idea.
I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I still have yet to hear a vinyl record play on a good system.
When I was a teenager, I played scratched-up old punk records on my parent’s old record player from the 70s. Not exactly hi-fi.
I only owned maybe 30-40 or so vinyls, to be honest. Some of them must still be stored away somewhere in my mom’s attic. None of them in fantastic shape, but maybe some of them worth something…like the Misfits Beware EP.
Most of my focus was put onto collecting CDs, and then 10 years or so ago I sold them all, and switched to digital.
I loved the notion that I could store all my music files onto a hard drive…but once Apple Music corrupted said drive and I lost hundreds of random files…my faith in that method has died. It’s just not a priority to big companies anymore, and so it’s not supported.
So the idea of getting back into a physical medium does have a growing appeal, I must say…
Perhaps it’s time to visit that attic. That collection sounds very cool, no matter the size.
The system that has gotten me back to vinyl is by no means sophisticated, but I’m not sure I ever cared about it as much as some. I just love the way it makes me feel to play records again and I think they sound great, even though I know it’s just a record player and a blue tooth speaker. At some point, maybe I’ll upgrade, but it’s a start.