Thursday, March 06, 2003

 

I'd began separating my records into two piles. One pile was filled with the vinyl I didnt need, didnt play, didnt listen to at home, but had some sort of personal relevancy. I may have bought it while ion vacation at a record store in Boulder, or the LP had a song on it that reminded me of the days I lived in a single room studio in Oakland, just me, C-Bo and a big-assed rottweiler named Arlo. The second pile was filled with records I knew could make me money, and that I could live without. That is, I chose a pile of records that I listen to, maybe frequently, but that have some sort of value to the few record stores thgat buy from my collection. IN the second pile were albums by Godspeed you Black Emporor!, a Ramsey Lewis plays the Beatles LP, possibly some of my Clash records or Iggy and The Stooges records. Oh, and Blue Mitchell, too.

I took the first pile and loaded up my backpack, until completely filled, hiked up Telegraph to Amoeba. Bean, a messy-head asian guy with a thin chess king jacket on, studied my records keenly... poring over each side, looking for scratches, extra dust, or even the remote smudge of human funk from these my hands which are conitnuously scratching a head of unwashed, unkempt hair. Seeing my copies of Nappy Roots, or the ealry New Edition amongst soul singers like Renee Patterson, he smiled.

"You take better care of these records than most folks that come through here," he said.

"Yup," I said," and I wouldn't be selling these to you today if I had enough money to pay my rent. I spent most the afternoon carefully listening to these records and making sure I was prepared to let them go."

He stopped to look up at me and I can only think he recognized me to be a stand-up kinda guy. I dunno, maybe he saw a copy of thge Sun Ra album I always listen to when I'm stoned and writing in my journal, or he saw the Ben Lee 7-inch that everyone I know has three copies of, only on account of the massive free promotions Capitol records threw at people.

"I buy used records here all the time, I said," and I'm stoked when I find used copies in great condition. These records move effortlessly through people's lives, and in doing that... I'm selling these, but Its like passing down history, man. And I dont want to pass on junk. I wont take junk, eiether, and that's where it's all-good. So, I hope some kid finds that record and jumps up and down like I did when I first got turned on to music, turned onto music like it was the breath of life, you dig?"

He got that, and put his face back into my records.

posted by Hog 8:23 AM