Eight Must Visit Record Stores

[MylesBAstor]

[Bill Hart]

Some good 'uns there. Waterloo is a few blocks walk from where we are currently staying, in Clarksville. The best part about it is that some of the classical and jazz used records are ignored in favor of the rock. There are bargains to be had. The other bright spot is the 24 Diner next door. It is high end road kill/comfort food, serious farm to table- and, as the name implies, it is almost never closed.
This is one of the ground zero stay very far away locations during SXSW. Live bands in the parking lot. Lot's of visitors checking out the record store. And 24 is packed on a normal day, so during SX, it is a slow motion riot.
I've dealt with some of the others by phone and online. Amoeba is supposed to be a lot of fun.

[astrotoy]

When it first opened, Amoeba in Berkeley and then SF, was a feast for classical music vinyl collectors. LA opened later and was also very good, though not as packed with goodies as the first two stores. Today, the classical departments are but shadows of their former glories. They each used to have large rooms devoted only to classical music (IIRC the SF store had some jazz, too), but now they occupy only a few rows in the main part of the store. LA has a little more, though I have never been that impressed by the actual vinyl in the department. Worth a visit if you are near Hollywood. But don't get your hopes up too much. Can't speak much about the other stuff in the stores. They are huge compared to most any other record shop. (Never been to Princeton Record Exchange.)

Larry

[MylesBAstor]

When it first opened, Amoeba in Berkeley and then SF, was a feast for classical music vinyl collectors. LA opened later and was also very good, though not as packed with goodies as the first two stores. Today, the classical departments are but shadows of their former glories. They each used to have large rooms devoted only to classical music (IIRC the SF store had some jazz, too), but now they occupy only a few rows in the main part of the store. LA has a little more, though I have never been that impressed by the actual vinyl in the department. Worth a visit if you are near Hollywood. But don't get your hopes up too much. Can't speak much about the other stuff in the stores. They are huge compared to most any other record shop. (Never been to Princeton Record Exchange.)

Larry

I've only been to two on the list: Amoeba LA and SF and Twist and Shout. Last summer went to Amoeba SF and was really disappointed. I always hit Twist and Shout when at RMAF. Lots of new and used LPs, prices are ok, but the condition of records is highly variable. Princeton, well I don't waste my time anymore. 😢

[Bill Hart]

When it first opened, Amoeba in Berkeley and then SF, was a feast for classical music vinyl collectors. LA opened later and was also very good, though not as packed with goodies as the first two stores. Today, the classical departments are but shadows of their former glories. They each used to have large rooms devoted only to classical music (IIRC the SF store had some jazz, too), but now they occupy only a few rows in the main part of the store. LA has a little more, though I have never been that impressed by the actual vinyl in the department. Worth a visit if you are near Hollywood. But don't get your hopes up too much. Can't speak much about the other stuff in the stores. They are huge compared to most any other record shop. (Never been to Princeton Record Exchange.)

Larry

Princeton was cool back in the day. Haven't been there in years. Did you even do business with The Record Collector in Hollywood? I used to go to his earlier location--when I commented that his huge old speakers (they were like EV Patricians or Bozak type) weren't set up for a good stereo image, he said "stereo- it's a gimmick." This was back in the '80s, long before the current bump of interest in mono.

[MylesBAstor]

Princeton was cool back in the day. Haven't been there in years. Did you even do business with The Record Collector in Hollywood? I used to go to his earlier location--when I commented that his huge old speakers (they were like EV Patricians or Bozak type) weren't set up for a good stereo image, he said "stereo- it's a gimmick." This was back in the '80s, long before the current bump of interest in mono.

If memory serves me right, Record Collector's prices were insane and stopped looking decades ago. Higher than Penndorf.

[astrotoy]

If memory serves me right, Record Collector's prices were insane and stopped looking decades ago. Higher than Penndorf.

Was he the old guy, not very friendly, who would ask you what you were looking for and go and find it (or not)? No browsing and no prices. So he could charge whatever he wanted, since he knew what you were looking for. At least Ron Penndorf had prices, though his business model was similar to Tom Port's.

Larry

[Rob]

whatever became of Harvey Gilman in NYC? I bought some DECCA, EMI, RCA...records from him back in the day.

[MylesBAstor]

Not sure Rob. Never dealt with him but name rings a bell. Was he on 14th or 23rd St or something like that?

[Rob]

AFAIK, HG used to sell out of his house, I was a mailorder customer. he ran an ad in the back of TAS, the same way I found Chad and Ying Tan Harvey was a card, I always enjoyed our phone chats and the eventual hondle over price/cond..

[lasercd]

I've only been to two on the list: Amoeba LA and SF and Twist and Shout. Last summer went to Amoeba SF and was really disappointed. I always hit Twist and Shout when at RMAF. Lots of new and used LPs, prices are ok, but the condition of records is highly variable. Princeton, well I don't waste my time anymore. 😢

Good stay away.

[jazdoc]

Easy Street Records is a pretty good shop...drop some serious coin there over the years. Especially good for current releases.

[kirbyhart57]

If you ever are in the St. Petersburg area here in Florida we have Bananas Music. With over 3.5 million records it's the largest record collection in the world. I always set a money limit when I go there. It's like the Smithsonian of record stores. They even have a stage for local artists to perform. As a bonus, right next door, there is a block wide indoor Italian market called Mazzaros. Wine cellar, cheese cellar, roast their own coffee, bakery, and all other things Italian. It's about 25 minutes from where I live. It's an all day event I partake of about every month or so.