[ARSCLIST] Other memorable record stores

[John Ross <johnross@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

The recent thread about Discophile and Franz Jolowicz, and Peter's 
comments about how we acquired our collections has started me 
thinking about some of the other places where I found some of the 
treasures on my shelves.

One of the greatest was Discount Records in Memphis, which I visited 
a couple of times in 1970-71. Not part of the national chain, this 
was a low-rent storefront owned and operated by Tom Phillips, brother 
of the legendary Sam Phillips of Sun Records. As I remember it, the 
place was as different from Discophile as it could possibly have been 
while still being in more-or-less the same business. I remember 
Discophile as being a reflection of its location in Greenwich Village 
and a gathering place for the sophisticated classical music community 
of New York City. Tom Phillips' Discount Records, on the other hand, 
was the retail equivalent of a down-and-dirty Memphis barbecue and 
blues joint. I had been told about the place by Gabriel, the great 
St. Louis R&B DJ (whose show followed mine on KDNA Radio), and when I 
mentioned his name, Tom let me into the back room.

Record collectors dream about places like the back room at Discount 
Records. This was the place that old record labels went to die. There 
wasn't a lot of organization, but there were stacks and stacks of 
obscure LPs from labels like Sun, Vee-Jay, Riverside and many others 
that had been out of print for years. Jazz, folk music, rock n roll, 
and even some classical stuff. That was one side of the room. The 
other side was floor-to-ceiling piles of old Sun 78s. I think I 
bought a couple of dozen LPs each time, for which he charged me about 
$1.50 apiece. I still regret that I didn't go back again with more 
money in my pocket.

If I'd had the good sense to take a truck back there and fill it up 
with those Sun 78s, I could probably have resold them and retired on 
the proceeds fifteen or twenty years later. I'm sure some other 
collectors eventually discovered the place, but when I was there, it 
was as close to the motherlode for stuff I never expected to find as 
any place I have ever been.

Anybody else want to offer their memories of the places that fed 
their collections?

John Ross
====

At  12/8/2005 08:33 PM, Peter Hirsch wrote:
> I am glad to hear an all too rare bit of record collector chatter on 
> this list for a change since I have next to no knowledge to the 
> technical side of recording and one could get the impression from 
> reading the postings on most days that the list of the Association 
> of Recorded Sound Collections has no interest how people actually 
> come to have these collections or find themselves charged with their care.