Record Store Day 2024?
I don’t know what percentage of AG members participate in RSD, but I figure the topic warrants a thread.
The RSD titles offered this time (April 20th) seemed pretty strong to me, and I was apparently not alone in that opinion: when I arrived at Music Millennium at 6:00 A.M. the line went down Burnside Blvd. from 32nd Avenue to 29th, over one block, and then up the street behind the store all the way back to 32nd, all in attendance waiting for the 8:00 A.M. opening of the store. Over a thousand people I reckon, more than the 6:00 A.M. line at last year’s Black Friday RSD. And when I exited the store at 11:00, the line still stretched from 32nd down to 29th.
This years titles as always included offerings in many genres, my list below merely reflecting my musical tastes. Here are the albums I decided I didn’t want to live without:
- The Bottle Rockets: The Brooklyn Side. Expanded 2-LP set, lacquers cut from analogue master tapes at Masterdisk by Scott Hull. 1500 copies worldwide.
- Gene Clark: The Lost Studio Sessions 1964-1982. 2-LP set containing unreleased studio and live recordings. 1500 copies.
- Lowell George: Thanks I’ll Eat It Here. Expanded 2-LP set, lacquers cut from analogue master tapes by Bernie Grundman. 3500 copies.
- Chris Isaak: Beyond The Sun. Expanded 2-LP set containing every song Chris and his band recorded at Sun Studios. 2000 copies.
- Tommy McLain: Moving To Heaven. Recorded in 2003 and pressed as 500 CD’s, Elvis Costello discovered this album in a used record store down in Louisiana. 1000 copies.
- The Ramones: The 1975 Sire Demos. These recordings led to the boys getting a deal with Sire Records. 6000 copies.
- Mavis Staples: Have A Little Faith. 20th anniversary reissue of the Alligator Records original. 2500 copies.
- Television: Live At the Academy NYC 12.4.92. 2500 copies.
- Sister Rosetta Tharpe: Live In France/The 1966 Concert In Limoges. Just Rosetta and her white Gibson SG, tearin’ up the joint! 1800 copies.
And my pick-of-the-litter:
- Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman with Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives: Celebrate The 50th Anniversary Of Sweetheart Of The Rodeo. The two living Byrds perform the entire album and other songs live, aided by the best band in the world. Unfortunately also the most expensive of the lot: $79.99 for a 2-LP set?! 2500 copies.
Rather than initiating a new thread, I believe I’ll post this video of Mazzy reporting from the Austin Record Show here. I assume this video will result in people who think LP’s in general---and "collectible" ones in particular---are nonsense expressing their disapproval. Mazzy, by the way, characterized the $79.99 price for the Sweetheart Of The Rodeo 2-LP set as "obscene", but bought it anyway. Kinda like buyers of ultra-high priced hi-fi equipment.
|
mixed emotions for sure…. blessed to be able to go and buy or not buy…. as i choose… possibly it has outlived its founding purpose. Carry on. @bdp24 We got to hang this year. i’m hosting a gig during Pacific Audio Fest. Do be in touch. Some great Portlandia connections 2. it didn’t rain in SD but i met the dude who does the art for my watering hole / music venue…. scored a copy of his 1974 BB concert poster…. oddly he also sees fit to do a local to Lou’s RSD poster…. |
Music Millennium has copies of some of this year’s titles still available, and even some from Black Friday RSD 2023. MM has store-wide sales throughout the year, so one can wait and buy then at 15-20% off retail. Let me anticipate a post from those who will accuse me of having financial ties to Music Millennium. I don’t, other than having bought records at the shop since discovering it’s existence in 1976. In 1977 I bought a copy of the Sex Pistols album at MM (the UK pressing with a blank back cover) for ten bucks or so, and the album now sells (in Near Mint condition) for $300-$400. How much are your downloads worth? 😉
|
@tomic601: Jim, I recently picked up a copy of the Old & In The Way LP. I bought it when it was released in ’75, but didn’t consider it good enough to keep. The recorded sound quality was certainly top notch, however. When I saw it on the wall at one of my favorite local used LP shops at a bargain price I decided to give it another chance, 49 years later. 😁 I know Garcia loves Bluegrass and Hillbilly music, but I just don’t think he’s very good at playing or singing it. Okay, I admit my standards are rather high, but David Grisman alone is worth owing the album for. I have a bunch of David’s albums, some including the playing of upright bass by a guy who was in the same San Jose cover band as I, though at different times. In ’71 Todd Phillips was exiting the band just as I was entering, to concentrate on learning to play mandolin. He went up to Marin to take lessons from Grisman, who told him that there were plenty of real good mandolin players, but a dearth of upright players. Todd took David’s advice and learned upright, good enough to work with the cream-of-the Bluegrass crop, including Tony Rice (not to mention Grisman himself). Damn! I jammed with Todd in San Jose in the early-2010’s, so I know what his bass should sound like when reproduced. Demo material!
|
