A New and Expensive Riff Series

At the Record Store

For all the latest goodies

Some of you know I’m supposed to adhere to a strict monthly album budget. I won’t list the figure as it will only further expose my first-world privilege. Suffice to say, it’s generous, and now, thanks to my brother’s suggestion, I plan on shopping at my local grocery store every Thursday for “Senior Citizen” discount day. The way my wife and I figure it, if I save $5.00 per week, as I did yesterday, that adds up to another LP per month (if I buy used).

Ah, the bargains we make and find!

This leads me to today’s discoveries at my local record store, and please remember: whatever number of records I actually buy, there are at least twice that number that I wanted to buy. I like to show some restraint, in that way that I also like to buy books only now and then😳.

So, ready steady, hey ho, let’s go,

1. Steely Dan’s 1976 gem, The Royal Scam, featuring one of my favorite SD tunes: “Don’t Take Me Alive.” A “steel” for $12.00, just stacked in the brand new used bin.
2. Crosby, Stills, & Nash’s self-titled intro LP from 1969. From “Pre-Road Down” to “Wooden Ships,” “Marrakesh Express,” and of course, “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.” Again, a sweet $12 from the used crate.
3. For a meager $8.00, I grabbed The Who’s underrated 1978 release, Who Are You, with that title song, “Love Is Coming Down,” and “Sister Disco.”
4. Big bucks coming. For $18 I selected Roger Waters’ The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking, from 1984, featuring Andy Brown, David Sanborn, Ray Cooper, and Eric Clapton “on lead guitar.” In exquisite condition.
5. Another $18 got me that record you see featured at the top of this story: Johnny Cash’s Blood, Sweat, and Tears, from 1962. Cash, “with the Carter family,” renders “The Legend of John Henry’s Hammer,” “Tell Him I’m Gone,” “Chain Gang,” “Busted,” “Casey Jones,” and “Waiting for a Train.” I know this isn’t the original LP (given the inner sleeve’s ads for mid-60’s albums), but it’s still pretty old and fine.
6. And now for new, or at least new, reissues. First, in the brand new category, I bought on Chris Zappa’s recommendation, Amanda Shires’ latest, Take It Like a Man, on beautiful white vinyl for $25.98. That title kills me, and I won’t insinuate anything political here. Amanda’s voice is a treasure, and why she wasn’t on stage last November with her pal Jason Isbell, I still don’t know.
7. For $29.98, I bought a first for me; a reissue of Link Wray’s 1971 self-titled recording, which, though it predates the term used for this genre, Americana, fits right in — maybe it’s the avant-garde Americana — with its roots, gospel, folk, and rock sounds. It was “recorded in a makeshift chicken shack in rural Maryland.” That alone got me to buying.
8. My last purchase today is another reissue, The Kinks’ Arthur or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire (from 1969), remastered and full of bonus material, including some Dave Davies’ solo tracks. Seemed like a good buy at $30.98. My Kinks collection is looking might juicy now.

I also got $10 off for being such a solid customer and even more solid citizen.

So, any purchases at your favorite store lately? Please describe and name your store; mine is Greenville’s Horizon Records, in business for over 40 years.

Thank you to The Riff, and let’s hear it: Pierce McIntyre, Steven Hale, Jeffrey Harvey, Anthony Overs, Robert Gowty, David Acaster, Alex Markham, Deb Groves Harman, If Ever You’re Listening, Paul Combs, Paul Walker, Karla Clifton, Jasmine Aguilar, Nicole Brown, Sarah Paris, JP Timko, Eric Pierce, Simon Dillon, Keith R. Higgons, Christine Carmichael, Kevin Alexander, and Christopher Robin.