For my latest birthday, my lovely and thoughtful wife gave me a turntable and a dozen used albums. Great gift, right? The back story: back in the early 1990s, I had two crates of albums I had collected for 15 years and carted them cross-country twice. Really, some vintage first press albums, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Roxy Music, Bob Dylan, and the first album I had purchased, Machine Head, by Deep Purple. Well, my turntable had its stylus stolen at my surprise birthday party in 1990. Obviously, it was a guest of someone I knew, as everyone who was invited would never have stolen from me.
At that time, vinyl was being replaced by CDs, so I didn’t replace the stylus, and the album crates just sat and took up space in my closet. Being practical, my wife freed the space by selling the two crates at a yard sale she had while I was working one Saturday. If you are wondering, I forgave her with a heavy heart.
Back to this year’s birthday, I saw the gift of a turntable, and I had a plethora of emotions. I didn’t have a stereo to plug the new turntable into, and I didn’t have speakers. Twelve albums don’t make a collection, so I had a long journey ahead building the bones of the collection and the equipment to play it on. There were no longer traditional record stores with thousands of titles.
One of my birthday party guests had been widowed five years prior, and her husband had amassed quite a large collection with over 550 titles. For my birthday present, she allowed me to take ten albums from the collection before giving it to her son. The collection was quite eclectic, and I identified 28 albums I would love to have. But I had to pick ten. Six of the picks were Led Zeppelin titles. His whole collection was in pristine condition, but the gift was generous and unexpected.
Next, I Googled record shops. I located one close to home, “Batch of Music“, a used record store open limited hours, 5-7 pm on Friday, 10 am – 5 pm on Saturday, and 11 am – 3 pm on Sundays. My first thoughts were how unaccommodating, but after my first visit, I came to the conclusion that if it were open six or seven days a week, I would be there buying used albums every day of the week. The shop is run by a knowledgeable record purveyor, and I always learn something on every visit. Every Friday at 4:55 pm, Batch, the owner of the store, posts the 80 new (Used) albums that came into the store. Always with a complete satisfaction guarantee. There are always two or three on his weekly list, and depending on the condition, two or three inevitably end up in my collection.
In addition to the used record store, I also searched Walmart online, where there are new albums still in the cellophane of reprints from the 1960s, 1970s, and newer. Delivered usually in three to four days. Amazon also has limited titles, and if I feel lucky, eBay has everything, but the condition is spotty, and I’ve had to make returns.
I have built my collection to 108 albums from memory of my previous collection in just over two months.
1.AC/DC – Who Made Who
2. AC/DC – Back in Black
3. Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill
4. Allman Brothers Band – Live at The Fillmore East
5. Audioslave – Audioslave
6. Bad Company – Bad Co
7. The Beatles – St Pepper Heart Club Band
8. The Beatles – 1962-1966
9. The Beatles – Let It Be
10. The Beatles – White Album
11. Billy Joel – The Stranger
12. The Black Crowes – Shake Your Money Maker
13. Black Sabbath – Paranoid
14. Blind Faith – Blind Faith
15. Bob Dylan – Blood on The Tracks
16. Bob Seger – Night Moves
17. Bob Seger – Live Bullet
18. Boston – Boston
19. Bread – The Best Of
20. Cream – Wheels of Fire
21. Creedance Clearwater Revival – Cosmos Factory
22. Crosby, Still, Nash, and Young – Four Way Street
23. Crosby, Still, Nash, and Young – Deja Vu
24. Collective Soul – Collective Soul Blue Album
25. David Bowe – The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars
26. Deep Purple – Live in Japan
27. Deep Purple – Machine Head
28. Deep Purple – Deepest Purple
29. Dirty Honey – White Album
30. Edgar Winter – Roadwork
31. The Doors – Morrison Hotel
32. The Eagles – Hotel California
33. The Eagles – The Long Run
34. The Eagles – On the Boarder
35. The Eagles – Live
36. Edgar Winters White Trash – Road Work
37. Emmerson, Lake & Palmer – The Best of Emerson, Lake & Palmer
38. Foreigner – Head Games
39. George Benson – Breezin’
40. George Thorogood – Move It On Over
41. Grateful Dead – Terrapin Station
42. Grateful Dead – American Beauty
43. Grateful Dead – Blues For Allah
44. Grateful Dead – Grateful Dead Live
45. Gregg Allman – Laid Back
46. Guns and Roses – Appetite for Destruction
47. Hagar/Schon/Aaronson/Shrieve – Through the Fire
48. Head East – Flat as A Pancake
49. Heart – Heart
50. Humble Pie – Rocking the Fillmore
51. Humble Pie – Smokin
52. The James Cotton Band – Live and On the Move
53. James Gang – James Gang Rides Again
54. Janice Joplin – Greatest Hits
55. Jeff Beck – Blow by Blow
56. Jeff Beck – Wired
57. Jeff Beck – With Jan Hammer Live
58. Jimmy Buffet – A-1-A
59. Joe Walsh – The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get
60. Johnny Winter – Still Alive and Well
61. Led Zepplin – I
62. Led Zepplin – II
63. Led Zepplin III
64. Led Zepplin – IV
65. Led Zepplin – Physical Graffiti
66. Led Zepplin – Houses of The Holy
67. Led Zepplin – The Song Remains the Same
68. Linda Ronstadt – Simple Dreams
69. Little Feat – Waiting for Columbus
70. Lynyrd Skynyrd – First and Last
71. Lynyrd Skynyrd – Gold and Platinum
72. Lynyrd Skynyrd – Street Survivors
73. Lynyrd Skynyrd – Pronounced
74. The Marshall Tucker Band – Searchin’ For A Rainbow
75. The Marshall Tucker Band – Greatest Hits
76. Michael Stanley – Friends and Legends
77. Moody Blues – Days of Future Passed
78. Neil Young – Harvest
79. Outlaws – Outlaws
80. Paul Simon – Still Crazy After All These Years
81. Peter Frampton – Frampton Comes Alive
82. Pink Floyd – Animals
83. Pink Floyd – Darkside of The Moon
84. Pink Floyd – The Wall
85. Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here
86. The Police – Synchronicity
87. The Pretty Reckless – Death by Rock and Roll
88. Robin Trower – Bridge of Sighs
89. Rod Stewart – Every Picture Tells a Story
90. The Rolling Stones – Sticky Fingers
91. The Rolling Stones – Let It Bleed
92. The Rolling Stones – Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out
93. The Rolling Stones – Hot Rocks 1964-1971
94. Rolling Stones – Love You Live
95. Roxy Music – For Your Pleasure
96. Roxy Music – Country Life
97. Scorpions – From the First Sting
98. Slash – Orgy of The Damned
99. Stevie Ray Vaughan – Texas Flood
100. Stevie Ray Vaughan – Couldn’t Stand The Weather
101. Stone Temple Pilots – Thank You
102. The Talking Heads – Stop Making Sense
103. Ted Nugent – Cat Scratched Fever
104. Traffic – Low Spark of High Heel Boys
105. Uriah Heep – The Best Of
106. Van Halen – 5150
107. The Who – Who’s Next
108. Wishbone Ash – Live Dates
My Christmas list for my family:
1.The Allman Brothers Band – Eat a Peach
2. The Beatles – Hey Jude
3. Dirty Honey – Black Album Debut EP
4. Great White – Once Bitten
5. Jeff Beck – Live at Ronnie Scotts
6. Johnny Winter/James Cotton/Muddy Waters – Breakin’ It Up, Breakin’ It Down
7. Led Zeppelin – The Object
8. Led Zeppelin – In Through the Outdoor
9. Lynyrd Skynyrd – Second Helping
10. Scorpions – 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: Best Of Scorpions
11. Sheryl Crow – The Very Best of Sheryl Crow Songs
12. Soundgarden – Telephantasm
13. The Troggs – From Nowhere Worth
Everyday, the list for Christmas grows as I hear songs on the radio and cover concerts for All Music Magazine International.
The turntable has become the best gift I have been given in years.
It’s fun being on the lookout for used record shops near home, and when travelling abroad, the turntable will be the gift that keeps on giving!
It’s never too late!
Photographer and Editor/Founder of AllMusicMagazine.com. My love of live music has taken me to incredible experiences with the top bands of all time in stadium shows to the smallest venues with equally inspiring musicians. Using the medium of photography and my publication, these memories will last forever.