Looks like you had the record digging time of your life, a great read and looking forward to more installments thank you sir.
Electric Prunes
Looks like you had the record digging time of your life, a great read and looking forward to more installments thank you sir.
Electric Prunes
Great stuff, this was a great read
Rock on Penderyn
Animated Egg
Top stuff nice one on taking the time to write it all up.
Electric Prunes
Lonely Jelly
Day 5
There’s something about a road trip which changes things… boundaries, perceptions, attitudes, timescales, and normality.
We’d been fed some precious information about Big Spring (population 25,000) which is why we were here rather than a bigger place like Dallas, Amarillo or Oklahoma City.
According to the rumour mill at FOS there were not one but two basements full of records in the town, as well as a handful of thrift stores to check out.
Which meant breakfast was quickly forgotten and we headed off immediately in search of subterranean record action.
First stop was “The Record Shop”; the store was open in 1942 by one Oscar Glickman and as far as I know traded successfully for some time…
The reason why his store gained a reputation is because he ran his shop differently to the norm… He never sent any unsold stock back to the record companies because he didn’t think it made economic sense, and consequently over the years accumulated a large amount of interesting vinyl.
What was the record companies’ loss was the record collectors gain, well, it was until Oscar passed on and the business was taken over by his son Jake. Jake followed his own passion and turned the store into a Military collectables and antique store and shifted all the vinyl into the basement…
That's us with Jake...
We’d hoped a little foreign charm, persuasion and perhaps a flash of a wad of cash would open the door to his basement, but it was not to be… Jake seems to have been burned in the past and is refusing anyone entrance to the hallowed treasure cave. He told us a “well known Austin dealer” was caught smuggling 45’s out of the basement under their shirt, and the vinyl dungeon has remained locked ever since.
Oh well, no time to lose and we hit the next spot… literally just yards down the street - The Good Music Company, which also had a basement full of records. This time we were ushered downstairs at a gallop without a problem and the fever took hold… Dig for your lives boys!
As exciting as it looked after a while it became obvious that we weren’t the first to go through this pile. We did pull some worthwhile stuff but nothing to really raise the blood pressure.
David’s sixth sense had picked up on this earlier than Ian or I and he headed back upstairs to go through the shelves of 45’s, which turned out to be much more rewarding…
A little frustrated we decided to give the record shop basement one last try… Jake and his sister (I think, possibly his wife) were apparently slowly going through the stock and cataloging it to try and sell it eventually in large batches online.
So we gave them the “but how do we know if it’s worth waiting for if we can’t see it?” line a go… greased the wheels a little with the promise of sorting out some military memorabilia for him… and against all the odds we were granted access!
It probably had a lot to do with the fact that an ex NYPD friend of Jake’s who happened to be in the shop at the time and offered to escort us at gunpoint in and out of the hallowed basement. We weren’t really allowed to touch anything let alone buy anything, but it was worth a look…
We made it out alive but without any vinyl! After a quick photo opportunity with the ex-cops Motorbike...
... and a coffee stop and it was time to check out the latest tip off. We’d been asking around for records at the Good Music co. and somebody suggested this place…
Duke’s new and used furniture.
A junk shop, but a good one… with records!
On the way out somebody spotted a pile of posters and hand drawn promo’s for a nightclub / Laundromat (I didn’t make that up, google it if you don’t believe me…) in the Deep Ellum district of Dallas called the Bar of Soap.
I decided I liked one enough to buy it along with a bunch of records and at the checkout I was told… “Oh, if you like the poster I’ve another box of the same sort of stuff at the house only five minutes away…”
So we decided to do a circuit of the other thrift stores in town before calling back to see what he had managed to find…
This store was the only one where we found any vinyl…
Back to Duke’s then and the promised box… We dove in!
Having exhausted the town’s vinyl supplies we now needed to take stock… If we drove North for a couple of hour’s non stop we could be in Lubbock around 5 o’clock in the afternoon.
This may come as a surprise to readers in the UK who are used to shops closing at this time, but arriving in Lubbock at five still meant three hours digging at Ralph’s records which closed at 8pm.
We knew what we had to do… a quick stop by a garage to fuel the car and ourselves and we were on our way…
Mmmm... Just some of the delights the petrol station had on offer...
Then we hit the highway.
The drive was my first in daylight and provided little in the way of scenery as it was dead flat all the way a true empty landscape, but it did provide excitement.
We had to dodge dust devils all the way… small columns of whirling dust laden air. Ultimately harmless but it did provide a bit of an adrenalin rush when they came close to the car… unfortunately none of my photos captured them.
Bang on schedule we arrived at Ralph’s…
But as we walked through the door David’s attention was grabbed by an awfully familiar looking box of CD’s, where had we seen those before? It dawned on the three of us at about the same time… it used to belong to Alex one of the Bakersfield boys…
It should be noted that it was about this time Ian affectionately noted Alex and Mark's passing resemblance to Cheech and Chong… Both are Chicano dudes- one shorter, one taller who drive around in a old van looking for records. The shorter one is quick, crafty and always on the make. The taller one is laid back and stoney. Needless to say it stuck!
A quick phone call confirmed this, they’d got out of Austin earlier than us and made it all the way to Lubbock last night, and spent the morning going through Ralph’s… They bought over a hundred records and had to leave the box of New Wave CD’s they’d acquired at ARC for payment because they’d run out of money!
The spring now firmly removed from our step we still hit the wall of records…
Now Alex and Mark may have rinsed the store but we found a surprising amount of stuff worth grabbing and I ended up with quite a pile and a couple of long time wants crossed off the list cheap.
Lubbock is of course home to Buddy Holly and Ralph’s had its own wee shrine to the great man.
Another days digging over it was finally time to eat – the first food of the day! We ate at another Mexican place the name escapes me and I was so hungry I forgot to take any pictures!
It was wonderful again and all with baseball’s World Series hotly and nail bitingly contested between the Texas Rangers and the St. Louis Cardinals going on in background…
Great day for records, not so good for geographical progress…
We needed some mileage covered. We had planed to hit Albuquerque but we felt the Bakersfield boys might have that covered… So it was time to amend our route once more…
The plan was now to drive due west into New Mexico with the ambition of crossing the state the next day by way of a record shop in Silver City which had been closed when Ian and David had been traveling east to Austin…
So we set off into the night to end up hours later at Artesia, New Mexico (Pop 10,000), a small place close to the Rosewell – site of the infamous crashed UFO in 1947.
We kept ourselves awake by dreaming up elaborate ways of driving across America digging for records, and were also treated to Ian’s vivid memories of hanging out with Ernie K. Doe when he (Ian) was living in New Orleans.
It was around the time Ernie had started to bill himself as "The Emperor of the Universe" and had taken to wearing a cape and crown. I dare not say anymore but the stories were centered around the Mother-in-law lounge which he and his wife ran and included plenty of colourful characters and scenes, copious amounts of alcohol and the occasional dose off duty strippers which all climaxed at Ernie’s inclusion in the New Orleans musical hall of fame…
I’ve said too much.
Unfortunately despite our location we saw no UFO’s or any alien activity…
But little did we know that in less than 24hrs we would have a close encounter of our own - with the legend of Silver City.
Last edited by someblokecalledfuz; 06-12-2011 at 01:42 PM.
Lonely Jelly
Day 6
Rise and shine in New Mexico…
While we were spreading the word online about our forthcoming radio show and showering at the motel… We discovered one of those uncanny coincidences.
Yesterday at Ralph’s records in Lubbock I’d needle dropped a Jon and Robin LP which I knew nothing about but looked interesting. It was a bit scratched up so I left it… but my curiosity had been piqued by one tune in particular.
As we were going through the 45’s David had scored at The Good Music Company in Big Spring what did we find? Two 45’s of the very same song…
One copy is now mine, thanks David!
Anyway time to get back to work… the only half interesting place in town to grab a coffee and a bite to eat was a Café called “Jahva House”… a reggae themed coffee shop out here?
No… a Christian themed coffee shop… with a wall of fame.
Here’s the town’s thrift store…
Not only did it turn up a few records but it also provided me with some nice western shirts. It’s worth pointing out that thrift or charity shops in the states are simply on another level… here’s a picture of what we left behind.
Waiting for Ian to finish up...
We were all ready to split town when we spotted this place...
and couldn’t resist… a good job too! Fascinating tat, local wildlife and interesting records to boot…
Okay so we finally did leave Artesia and I finally got to see some scenery in daylight. Forgive me here for the following blast of scenery but this was the day for it, as all the other traveling was done at night!
Rising steadily out of the plains…
Into the Lincoln National Forest Park…
Through Cloudcroft until we reached this incredible viewpoint overlooking the White Sands Plains from the Organ Mountains over towards the town of Las Cruces (Pop 100,000) an old stomping ground of Pat Garrett.
Onwards and traveling over the White Sands Plains… towards the San Andres Mountains with its White Sands Missile range.
On the other side of Las Cruces we dropped into a tourist trap to relieve our bladders and empty our wallets, or was it the other way round?
Apologies to anyone of a delicate nature and Johnny Cash...
Onwards to Silver City after a collective holding of breath as we passed through one of those border patrol checkpoints.
Arrival in Silver City (Pop 10,000) was around 4.00pm, the town’s history is wrapped up in its name and makes for interesting reading if you’ve the time.
Billy the Kid was first arrested here in 1875, and is only one of the colourful characters which have passed through at some point.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_...Mexico#History
Of all the wee towns on the road trip Silver City felt the most “Western” and somehow seems to have retained that feel of the old west… the only things missing were swing doors on the saloons.
Anyway no messing about we had a couple of hours to hit the town’s record shop…
I think we more or less covered it before it had to close up. Very reasonable prices and we fished some stunning stuff out of the Dollar bins.
Ian had been to Silver City in the past and in no uncertain terms told us that there was only one place to eat in town – Jalisco’s Café.
He wasn’t wrong, quite simply the best Mexican food I’ve ever tasted or am likely to taste, served in a wonderful atmosphere with plenty of locals passing through, so you know it’s good.
It was while we were gorging on this exotic feast that Sheriff Ian related the legend of Silver City to Slim Piles Dave and Pecos Fuz…
Now I’m no match for Ian’s story telling prowess, and I’m afraid for reasons of confidentiality I’ll have to go sketchy on some details But here goes...
It seems a charismatic and non-conformist manager of a prominent 1960s California-based recording group settled near Silver City after retiring from the entertainment business. Let’s call him “Leo Felby”.
Although the acts he managed were a little on the square side, Leo became increasingly eccentric and counter-cultural. By the end of the 1960s he had fully embraced the swinging sixties and was a full on, kaftan-clad furry-freak with an avid interest in taking psychedelics and obscure records with an emphasis on avant-garde jazz and other unusual and exotic musical delights.
Got your attention? Well, Leo passed away a few years ago and the story goes that his vinyl collection had been collecting dust in an old bank vault (Yes, you heard me right, it was owned by the family… apparently the upstairs having been cleared out and hired out) and his kids are still a little uncertain about how to deal with it…
A couple of years ago, Ian had somehow wound up as errand boy on a job to pick up master tapes and memorabilia, files and photos pertaining to the aforementioned vacuous pop group which had recently been bought by a collector friend of his.
Upon admittance to the bank vault, Ian’s jaw dropped at the sight of the massive collection of LPs – roughly 5000 albums in plain sight; more still in boxes, some in stacks.
Being an enterprising fellow, he asked if he could have a look at them or possibly buy some or all of the collection. Ian did have a truck with him, after all.
Unfortunately a certain friend of the family had other ideas and was going to start ebay-ing the records. “Many apologies, but feel free to have a look. Take a few things if you want. No problem!”.
Ian did a quick flip – hands, head and heart shaking – and came away with, amongst others, the Relatively Clean Rivers LP, The Lollipop Shoppe and not one, but two mono promos of The 13th Floor Elevators “Easter Everywhere”!
Now Ian’s not much of a jazzbo, but he knows an interesting jazz record when he sees one. Apparently there were ESP jazz things and Strata East-ers everywhere. Not to mention Blue Notes this, Prestige that. Tons of it. Private press, tiny labels, promos, test pressings, sealed LPs- you name it.
He had very little time to operate and managed to get through about half of the open stacks, but anything could have been in those boxes; anything.
Ian's been watching Ebay like a hawk ever since. Nothing of the sort has come up for auction out of the region whatsoever. In all likelihood they were still locked in the bank vault, untouched, and he then concluded his tale with the words “I know the records are still here - I can feel it”.
What would you do? Leave town knowing it’s a long hard drive to LA and you’ve a radio show to do in the morning? Content to dream about what could be in that bank vault?
Or…
Do what Towny would have done, don the Sherlock deerstalker, sharpen up the foreign charm and start asking around.
Leo’s daughter was traceable and with the help of a very nice lady in the still open antiques shop on the main street I managed to get her on the phone…
She was happy to talk but couldn’t really help with the vault, and suggested I contact her brother…
We tracked the brother down to a restaurant on Main Street and managed to persuade him to join us for a drink…
Now this isn’t fair, I’m leading you down the garden path… I’ll end it here.
Despite piling on the charm and repeating the “I’ll only be through Silver City this once in my life” line at least three times in my thickest Sean Connery accent, our new friend dropped the bombshell on us…
The collection’s sold off to a guy in New York and is long gone.
Oh well, nothing ventured nothing gained – this is the one that got away…
Right, well behind schedule with half of New Mexico and all of Arizona and California to cross, with a radio show to do in the morning we needed to hit the road…
That said we just missed being able to do any record shopping in Phoenix as the shops close at 10pm.
Fueled by coffee and mix CD’s we were buzzing with the “what coulda been” scenarios being played out in our minds. When that all wore off the classic music enthusiast time killing game came into play…
If you had to pick between one of the following, the loser being rubbed out of history altogether and you never hear them again, who would you choose?
Beatles or Stones?
Joni Mitchell or Carole King?
AC/DC or Iron Maiden?
Curtis Mayfield or Donny Hathaway?
The Stooges or the MC5?
Otis Redding or Marvin Gaye?
John Coltrane or Miles Davis?
Run DMC or The Beastie Boys?
Pebbles or Nuggets?
Etc. Etc. etc…
We needed the debates as the drive went on through the night, only broken up by a fortuitous piss stop at this place.
We’d seen billboards advertising this for literally hundreds of miles so it was slightly disappointing that it was closed. But to be fair, it was at some ungodly hour in the morning! I’ll just have to live without having clapped eyes on “The Thing”, reputedly a strange mummified double headed body of some sort…
We rolled into LA at about 5 o’clock in the morning and went straight to bed.
Last edited by someblokecalledfuz; 06-12-2011 at 01:43 PM.
Chocolate Rain
Great stuff there Fuz mate.....That basement looked awesome, shame you never got the chance to pull anything.Hope you bought that copy of "Fox - for fox sake" at that last spot.
Last edited by mr sayers; 14-11-2011 at 11:41 AM.
"Hangin' out with you two is like partying with Fugazi"
Lonely Jelly
Having just finished reading A Canticle for Leibowitz I can relate to those landscapes.
As for the vault that might have been, I wonder who it was in NY who snaffled them. My money would be on Horseleech Mike at Academy, but y'never know.
http://www.oneboxrecordfair.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/obrftokyo
We're going to fly through ze air ... 'til we get to Zaire!
(=＾ェ＾=)
Lonely Jelly
Just catching up on this Fuz. Amazing - aside from all the records and fun, I like this immensely:
Also, I've blogged one of your photos.... cheers!I’ve no idea what time we made it to the fair but it was still before sunrise… It was one of the promises I’d made to myself before I left that I would try and live without a watch for the trip. Time and deadlines rule my life normally, and besides if I did need to know I could just ask someone and get into a conversation…
Chocolate Rain
Don't worry mate - he did - same sleeve issues as my copy (and many others I've seen)Originally Posted by mr sayers
Hope you bought that copy of "Fox - for fox sake" at that last spot.
Awesome stuff Fuz - my regret reamins unabated
"..hole...road...middle thereof"
Lonely Jelly
The thread that keeps on giving. Awesome Fuz!
"Don't get involved in the f**kin' chat pages. It's just full of arseholes talkin' sh*te non-stop"
Lauging Gravy
just spent a pleasant hour been blown away by all this Fuz - incredible stuff mate...thanks so much for sharing
Rockwell
Banned (DJ Anchovy)
Billy Ocean
This is by far the most enjoyable thread I have ever seen on this forum and we're only on day 6 of 14?
How easy it is being a record collector in the States!
NEW COMPETITION NOW RUNNING!!! WIN A TESTPRESS OF SPOKE 4!!! >>> SEE HERE <<< COMPETITION ENDS FRI 10th MAY 2013
www.spokerecords.co.uk
Chocolate Rain
The best thread Ive ever read on here too, perhaps the MODS should make it a sticky for a couple of months so everybody on here gets a chance to read it!
"Hangin' out with you two is like partying with Fugazi"
Lionel Richie
Living the dream Fuz! I'm looking forward to the next installment...
I'd love to do a trip like that.
it's OK to head out for wonderful, but on your way to wonderful, you're gonna have to pass through all right. When you get to all right,
take a good look around and get used to it, because that may be as far as you're gonna go.
Baldhead Growler
Any Jimmy Shand over there?
amazing stuff, fuz.
[IMG][/IMG]
Chocolate Rain
Another fantastic installment
So many records
A couple of questions Fuz, if I may:
Out of curiousity how much chuff have you had to wade through to get to the treasure?
What or who is the artist or record you've encountered time and time again?
Lonely Jelly
This is a question which probably merits it's own thread... on one hand there is an abundance of vinyl which turns up in various places a lot of it interesting, on the other there's an abundance of records to go through, and that's a time consuming job.
I guess the question is do you have the time? If you do it should be easy to turn up stuff fairly regularly if you live or travel through even moderately populated areas.
Make it happen, that's what I did...
Depends where you're looking... the only place I encountered real rubbish was in thrift stores... endless faceless white gospel groups, corn bred country and easy listening schmaltz but no particular group / artist sticks in the mind as being ubiquitous.
In record stores and at the fair there are / were endless amounts of records, it just depends on what you're interested in or what you consider chuff I suppose...
Electric Banana
So what records were in the basement where you weren't allowed to buy anything?
Fantastic stuff - thanks Fuz!
Lonely Jelly
great photos, amazing scenery - really enjoying this Fuz. I've been to Austin a couple of times but never really got to chance to do major digging. I feel a mid-life crisis coming on....
Lonely Jelly
We genuinely didn't get a chance to really rummage... so it's very hard to say.
Basically I'd say the 45's are where the action is...
If you really look closely at one of the shots you'll be able to make out a New kids on the block raer poking out of one of the shelves... that probably says something about the LP's.
It does have the feeling that it's been through to some extent, but the shear volume means there must be gold in there somewhere.
I've every confidence you'd find things you'd be thrilled by if you got a chance to go through it. Sadly though I don't think Jake is gonna let this happen.
Zapatta Schmidt
This is a good point well made. When in the US you'll make a plan for the day with say 4-5 record shops on it and then as the sun sets later that same day realise you'll have only been to one or two - three max.
Classic example.
Me- "hey Mark baby, what's the plan for today then..?"
Beddoes- "I thought we'd hit up Shively's place"
Me- "anywhere else..?"
Beddoes- "I doubt it"
"Sometimes I get a hot ear..."
He's going, going... gone.
Read this last night and felt quite enthusiastic.
"Look," I said to Mrs E, showing her the pictures of the amazing countryside and picturesque towns, "wouldn't a record hunting trip across America be amazing!"
Unfortunately I can't report her exact reply as we have to "keep it clean, kids" but lets just say that the basic message was NO
Last edited by Sie Vulture; 15-11-2011 at 11:00 AM. Reason: made quote work
"Record collecting is no mere hobby, no innocuous leisurely diversion. It is a feverish passion bordering on dementia, driving those under the influence to irrational, compulsive, fanatical extremes."
Night of the Living Vinyl
I Confess 45s
Lonely Jelly
Echo that.Another fantastic installment
So many records
Chocolate Rain
Yes, that makes sense. Are there as many Jim Reeves and Andy Williams records over there as there are over here
Lonely Jelly
C'mon Fuz, i'm needing my nightly fix here. This is possibly even more addictive than when The Killing was on the telly...
Lonely Jelly
Ugly Custard
Excellent stuff fuz... It’s like reading all the best Charity Shop Challenges rolled into one (but with good records)..! Looking forward to the next instalment.
Now celebrating over 1000 posts of nonsense.....
www.facebook.com/mindtrekers
Lonely Jelly
Day 7
Negotiations had been ongoing for the last few days regards our big moment on East Village Radio this morning… we where live at 11am.
True our promise we arrived coffee in hand ready to rock marginally before the big hand was pointing at 12 and the little one at eleven, much to the relief of DJ Ted who had already set up.
It’s archived here if you want to listen…
http://www.eastvillageradio.com/cont...nt.php?id=2354
Here's the boot of the car as we unloaded for the show...
I don’t really know why the show is called “Gay Beach”. I did ask and I think it’s got something to do with either the well known American sense of irony… or the younger generation’s new usage of the word, neither of which I’m familiar with.
It might also have had something to do with the fact that we were functioning on four hours sleep and copious amounts of caffeine and even a little beer - courtesy of the programs sponsor!
The shop...
Ted...
It was great fun and seemed to have no limits, restraints or even taste at some points, just my sort of thing
I got to play a handful of 45’s I’d brought over from Scotland, dedicated a tune to my family, bigged up the Eclectic Mud, Tanners and even the VG+ board.
The track list or at least some of it is up on the link…
Ian always tries to do something a bit special in his store each week to promote the store and lead up to his weekly (Thursday) DJ night at a nearby pub… and it works! Wombleton received the “Best Indie record store” award from the L.A. Weekly Newspaper this year.
An old friend of Ian’s from his days at university in New York Ted happened to be in Los Angeles for his other line of work (more of which later), and needed to broadcast his show from somewhere in LA (East Village radio is a New York based community radio station).
Two dead birds, one stone...
After two hours of reveling on the airwaves the show drew to a suitably hectic crescendo and it was time to eat.
As well as running a record shop Ian works for a company that deals with the publishing rights of vintage film clips of recording artists, and as he’d been away from his desk for quite some time I was delivered in to the capable hands of David for my first couple of days in LA.
David’s a freelance designer, artist, carpenter and surf board builder and as such was able to be a bit more flexible.
So we drove from Highland Park where the shop is to the Eagle Rock area...
First stop was this place… The Oinkster.
I’d been banging on about how I wanted to eat at a genuine American Diner at some point and this was David’s solution.
I have to say it was delicious and it finally removed all nasty lingering memories of McDonald's from my mind. A wonderful burger and fries all washed down with a proper milkshake perked me right up and we plotted the next 48hrs as we guzzled.
I’d like to be able to tell you of all the elaborate schemes we’d cooked up but in fact it boiled down to driving over to David’s side of the city (Long Beach) and trying to find as many records as possible.
The first place we hit David referred to as Papa Steve’s, most people including I believe DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist and the like call Bagatelle.
David used to live literally across the road from Steve’s shop and still lives only a five minute drive away.
What an amazing place! I can’t imagine what it would be like to have a shop like this on your doorstep…
It’s proper stashed with records to the point of overflowing and David was all excited because Papa Steve (Steve Mintz to you and me) had recently decided to stop holding records for people… So a load of stuff that had been hidden away was fresh back in the racks!
Not only that but when we arrived it seems it was just after a collection of 45’s had been bought in… you can see them just sat on top of the CD's in the foreground.
At one point I idly asked “Steve, I don’t suppose you have any Steel band records do you?”, his reply was to shove a stack of boxes on the floor out of the way, and open one of the many cupboards under the main display of LP’s to reveal a whole box marked “Steel band LP’s”… that little revelation lead to me finding the Asian, Calypso, and "real people" sections…
We stayed until closing time (5pm I think?) piling up records… Such is David’s relationship with Papa Steve we were able to leave what we’d picked out with him until tomorrow, when we could start going through the stuff at first light.
We retired to David’s apartment / bedsit where we couldn’t resist listening to a couple of records from David’s road trip “slim piles”…
David’s home is what an estate agent would call compact and bijou, and he very generously allowed me to stay in it while he crashed with his parents not far away.
Note the custom built unit for holding the record deck and 45's!
I was flagging by this point and needed to take a power nap (in one of those beds that fold down from a cupboard!). As David went round to his parents I drifted off listening to an Alice Stuart LP, which David had bought in Silver City.
Ian had pulled it and passed it to him nonchalantly saying "Another moustachioed lady for you...", this wee epithet now forever more nicely sums up one of Davids favourite genres. That of the folky female singer songwriter with a message to deliver.
I craved the Alice Stuart LP immediately - it's beautiful and was perfect to drift off to.
David later returned and after a while it suddenly dawned on us - I’d not bought a record today. PANIC!
However, a little cool headed thinking from David and he came up with a solution. A place in Long Beach was open until 10pm - Fingerprints, and had in the past thrown the odd gem up from its dollar bins.
We went straight there and had about forty five minutes to save the day.
The dollar bins... note how they've been elevated for ease of digging!
I shouldn’t have worried; 45 mins was plenty of time… I came home with a handful of interesting sounds which after a decent meal in a downtown bar in Long Beach became our soundtrack before it was time to turn in.
Last edited by someblokecalledfuz; 05-12-2011 at 09:18 PM.
Lonely Jelly
Day 8
At last a lie in… well if would’ve been if I could have slept that is!
I woke early, probably because David had very kindly given me a pile of spares to go through to see if I wanted any!
Another beautiful day... I had brought a jacket with me on this trip but had discarded it the moment I arrived in Austin, and only had reason to put it back on when I arrived back in Heathrow...
We started the day with some freshly squeezed apple juice...
and then headed to get some breakfast before our date with Papa Steve.
Just what you need to set yourself up for a day of hard digging...
Whilst shooting the breeze with Steve he related some stories, the best of which I’ll share here…
As I mentioned up thread Steve is no stranger to celebrity diggers passing through his store, and one quiet afternoon late on David Guest popped into the store…
“Erm… Steve is there any chance you could close the doors and allow a private dig for a very special friend?” Says David.
“Of course” replies Steve…
So in walks Michael Jackson, complete with patented Mr. Divine white cotton digging gloves, and he spends a couple of hours going through the store…
At the end of it all Mr. Jackson decides he can’t leave without one record… by the Vienna Boys Choir.
Make of that what you will...
The morning went by in a flash and yet again I found myself the owner of yet another box of records… it was mid afternoon when we left.
David was a little down at this point. Ever since I’d played them to him back in Austin he'd been pining for the Anna Black records. Under the circumstances they shouldn’t have too hard to find… but Papa Steve, for once, had let him down.
Next stop was Uncle Roy’s… Not a family member of David’s, but another record store owner and all round top guy.
David has spent time sussing just how to play a number of record store owners in LA... his way of persuading Roy to stay open (45 mins as it turned out) past closing time was this...
... to arrive with a six pack of beer!
The man himself!
By far the easiest dig (physically) that I encountered all trip, almost all the records are at a comfortable height and easy to flip through. A great and diverse selection all reasonable priced, and the racks coughed up my major want of the moment the Alice Stuart LP!
No Anna Black records though…
Whilst David and Roy caught up on gossip, I dug with great results…
Before leaving I discussed with Roy a few records I'd brought over with the intention of trading, which he duly noted and started working on. He might just know the right guy!
Having finished up at Roy’s it was off to the third shop of the day… Record Surplus.
Apparently the Japanese hit this store hard and I can see why. Lots of stock, definitely the best easy listening section I saw all trip, profitable dollar bins, and a healthy selection of great records.
More records bought, but no Anna Black records for David
"Concept Burger" time… Counter Burger is what it’s called and what it does is allow you to construct exactly the burger you want.
I plumped for a burger with lettuce, avocado, roasted red peppers and drowned in apricot sauce, accompanied by sweet potato fries. I don’t need to tell you how good it was…
This was the small burger by the way
It was getting on... so it was time to meet up with Ian and some friends and get down to the Black Boar pub for some DJ action.
Rendezvous point was Wombleton to sink a couple of drinks and close up…
I got a lift over to the Black Boar from Chad in his pick up. Not just any pickup though, the truck his father had raised him in, a baby blue Chevy beauty.
Chad and I were always going to get on, as he’s the living breathing embodiment of Jakartajive’s cosmic country album chart to be found on this very board.
Within the first few minutes of meeting we found out we both share a deep appreciation of the first Wilderness Road album, which can mean only one thing really, great times.
Our destination...
Ian and DJ partner Jimi Hey.
The Black boar kept us rolling until three drinking, dancing and talking until 3am, before I crashed over at Ian’s house.
Last edited by someblokecalledfuz; 05-12-2011 at 09:58 PM.
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