Re: [ARSCLIST] Other memorable record stores

[Tom Fine <tflists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

This may be like throwing acid in someone's face, so apologies in advance,
but does anyone else here prowl used CD racks? I've always had very good
luck in Chicago.

Also, I have a question for you guys who prowl the used vinyl stacks. Do you
often find decent quality? I've never had good luck finding records in good
condition in these places. Library sales and eBay seem much better sources
in my experience. With eBay, I'd say 75% of what I've bought has been in the
condition described, and I'm picky about vinyl. My problem with most used
records is the groove distortion from being played with heavy-tracking dull
needles and never cleaned. And of course ticks and pops but I don't buy
records with visible scratches or vinyl zits. Maybe I've been very lucky
with eBay? Having been 3rd in the hand-me-down line, I heard all the
scratchy records I ever want to for the rest of my life when I was a
youngster.

-- Tom Fine

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Ross" <johnross@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, December 09, 2005 12:42 AM
Subject: [ARSCLIST] Other memorable record stores


> 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.