Oh Hey, It’s Record Store Day!

When the cool kids aren’t busy ignoring their Census requests, they’re kicking it oldschool and buying vinyl in a surprising resurgence.

Even in the age of iTunes, the local record store is a vital institution in any and all musical genres, and on April 17, the Rob Gordons of the world will unite for Record Store Day, an event created in 2007 for bands and independent record stores to come together and celebrate the love of music.

On the official Record Store Day website, artists from all over the musical spectrum have come together to talk about what the indie record store means to them, including a few CMP favorites:

John Mellencamp: “Immersing yourself in the environment of a real record store where music is celebrated and cherished adds real value to the experience of buying music. In some ways, that retail experience is as important as the music.”

Billy Bob Thornton: “Independent record stores are really the only places left with the actual spirit of music as I knew it growing up, and hopefully those will be around for 50 years from now because that’s where it feels magical – you don’t feel like you’re buying a tire iron, tube of shampoo, a 12 pack, a bag of Cheetos and a record.”

Sam Philips: “There would be no Elvis. There would be no Johnny Cash. There’d be no B.B King. There’d be no Roscoe Gordon. There’d be no Carl Perkins. There would be no Jerry Lee Lewis. There would be no Roy Orbison. I can just tell you. We owe all of that to the independents and the independent people that work so hard for us to have something that could be accepted through their efforts,hard work, and desire to keep a personal feeling in every record.”

Patterson Hood, Drive-By Truckers: “Some of my fondest childhood memories are of going to a small record store in Florence AL called The Turning Point every friday or saturday afternoon. I would skip lunch at school and save my lunch money for the week and it would put me within a dollar or two of having enough for a record a week (1974 prices). It doubled as a head shop and the smell of incense burning always made me think (even in 5th grade or so) that it was covering up the smell of some illicit drug being burned in the back. (It probably was, actually). I was very attracted to that thought and just loved the whole experience.”

In honor of both their 70th anniversary and Record Store Day 2010, stalwart folk label Vanguard Records is re-issuing some seminal folk and blues classics on vinyl for your aural pleasure: Buddy Guy’s A Man and the Blues, John Fahey’s The Yellow Princess, Mississippi John Hurt’s Today and self-titled efforts from Doc Watson and Joan Baez.

So tune in, turn on and remember, music is best when shared.

For more information, check out RecordStoreDay.com.

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5 Responses

  1. For those of you near Atlanta, GA, on RSD, go see Those Darlins at Criminal Records in Little Five Points.

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