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.

 

 

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@bipod72 - that is true, but here are any number of good titles that are still available days, weeks, months, and/or years after the RSD they were released on. Of course, some titles are guaranteed to sell out right away.... 

A big plus for the mentioned Yo Yo collaboration s… both fantastic…. ANYTHING Jerry Douglas !!!!!!!

 

I suppose that if there was a title or two that I really wanted I would stand in line here at The House of Records , Greg was giving out numbers and limiting 15 people in at a time . The shop sold all but about 10 records and when I went there a week after RSD I purchased the Tribute to Lou Reed ! Not great enough to stand in line for but good enough for a Lou Reed fan to own ( $33.00 ) , excellent quality.

I look forward each year for Rhino's " Start Your Ear Off Right " releases .

 

 

 

Yeah Jim, Jerry Douglas is a monster musician. I went to the taping of Dolly Parton on the Tonight Show at the time of the release of her first Bluegrass album, The Grass Is Blue (Sugar Hill Records, 1999). I was sitting in the balcony, directly above the little stage Dolly and her band performed on. Alison Krauss and her band Union Station (of which Jerry is a member) provided Dolly with musical accompaniment, and sounded absolutely fantastic!

I saw Jerry and his band live here in Portland a while back, and though they were stunning---all being virtuoso musicians, I prefer my Bluegrass Traditional, not Progressive. Traditional focuses on the song and the singing, Progressive being mostly instrumental, with a lot of soloing (Deadheads should check them out!). Too Jazz-influenced for my liking.