Another Fun Record Store Day (2017)

Hi Bill

Rayna and I participated in another very pleasurable Record Store Day on Saturday, April 23. It was our second or third Record Store Day and we both had a very good time seeking recorded vinyl treasures. Every time this annual event arrives I intend to make lists of the groovy vinyl that I should acquire. However, I never really get much of a list prepared and this year I didn’t even try to compile a list. There is something about forcing myself to concentrate on ferreting out specific items that just repulses me, even though I really would like to own those items and I’m not gettin’ any younger. Anyway, I had no prepared list, but I enjoyed flipping through shelves, boxes, stacks, bins and random piles of vinyl music at record stores in Sioux Falls with Rayna.

Every time I participate in one of these organized, but chaotic, vinyl hunts I am amazed by the almost tribal comradery of the roving crowd. Rayna and I visited three different record stores and we encountered many of the same fellow-record-seekers in each of them. Even more amazing were the friendly interactions that these total strangers initiate with people they don’t know from Adam. Perhaps there is some mystical force that emanates from all those strange vinyl grooved discs that just makes even timid or obnoxious humans realize that we all need pleasant affirming communication, especially when large hordes of us are squeezed together during possibly competitive circumstances.

Well, enough of these ramblings!

Marianne Faithfull -  Rich Kid Blues (2017)

I met Rayna at Ernie November at 1pm last Saturday when we began our Record Store Day hunt. Many of you may know that Ernie’s is a record store chain that sells new and many more used vinyl albums. It provides a large and diverse selection of vinyl and Rayna and I spent considerable time flipping through pretty much their entire collection. Rayna bought a few albums, and I bought the following new album that was one of the exclusive Record Store Day releases this year: 

• Marianne Faithfull - Rich Kid Blues (2017): This album was first released in 1984 and released again with a different cover for this Record Store Day exclusive. Actually, Rayna grabbed this album first, but I snatched it out of her hands. Instead of playing tug-of-war she acquiesced because she knows I am a longtime big Faithfull fan. That purchase turned out to be the most expensive single item that I purchased on Record Store Day this year, and the only thing I bought from Ernie November.

Roberta Flack - First Time (1969)

After finishing at Ernie’s, Rayna drove us to Total Drag, an independent record store in downtown Sioux Falls, where customers must endure extremely loud, and not particularly fetching, music while shopping. I usually do not frequent Total Drag very often because my hearing has already been decimated enough by various concerts and powerful home music systems. However, Total Drag is not a drag when it comes to the varied selection of vinyl albums that they offer. Like at Ernie November, we spent a long time trolling through "The Drag’s" large vinyl inventory. I purchased:

•          Roberta Flack – First Time (1969)
•         The Original Animals – Before We Were So Rudely Interrupted (1977)

The Original Animals - Before We Were
So Rudely Interrupted (1977)

Next we went to Crosstown Vinyl, which is my favorite record store in Sioux Falls. I frequent Crosstown Vinyl very often, and consider Steve, the owner of Crosstown, to be a friend. He is a good guy who is very knowledgeable about recorded music and provides good advice about the records he sells and collects. We also have many casual conversations about music and lots of other topics. In addition, he repairs and sells used amplifiers, turntables, speakers, etc. for reasonable prices. I bought a very powerful system from him last Christmas and I love it. Of course he also knows Rayna and it was nice to visit his establishment again on Record Store Day. Even though his prices are regularly very reasonable, he was giving his customers an extra discount that day. I crave diversity in my vinyl collection and I bought the following four albums at Crosstown Vinyl:

•         Brenda Lee – 10 Golden Years (1966)
•         The Spinners – The Best of The Spinners (1978)
•         Ray Charles – I’m All Yours – Baby! (1969)
•         Donovan - Donovan P. Leitch (1970): Rayna and I are both big Donovan fans, but she took pity on the old guy and let me have this 2-disc, 20-track album.

Clark & Rayna at Starbucks on
Record Store Day 2017

After we left Crosstown Vinyl, Rayna and I were tired and we needed a snack. Therefore, we stopped at the Starbucks an 41^st Street in Sioux Falls. We each had a latte and a snack while we relaxed and talked for about an hour. Then Rayna dropped me at my car in the Ernie November parking lot, where we began our vinyl hunt. I made the drive home and Rayna went wherever.

It was another very enjoyable and satisfying Record Store Day in Sioux Falls with Rayna. However, it was very nice to see Pat when I got home. Luckily, she tolerates my vinyl obsession as well as many of my other strange behaviors.

Bill, I believe you know that I cannot produce a lick of any even remotely pleasurable music. However, you were very influential in spawning and enhancing my love for music and I am very grateful for that influence. I hope you are still enjoying, collecting, and playing beautiful music.

Take Care,

Sincerely

Clark