I’ve rediscovered my record collection. It’s had a deep effect on me and my understanding of my relationship to music. I had it in the back of my mind that in our new home, I’d like to get my turntable up and running again. In our previous home, I had my turntable set up with some mediocre speakers which is fine, but the turntable didn’t really work and the records would play out of tune. My practice/teaching studio was in the basement and it was great, but it wasn’t so inviting that I’d want to sit and listen to records after hours or first thing in the morning. But the new situation is different, I can listen while I make breakfast or dinner or visit with my wife or friends. I invested in a nice turn table and starting carting my records up from the basement.
But more than just listening to some good music. This has brought me back to my teenage years when I first fell in love with this music and decided to make it my life’s work. It serves as a blueprint into my early passions. 10 or more records each of John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson, Charles Mingus, Hank Mobley, Charlie Parker and Lester Young. The passion was real and must have occupied so much of my time and money just to procure these records. I think the record buying started in earnest around 1979 and continued through 1990 when I bought my first CD player. Fortunately many of these records have a sticker with a price tag which shows where it was purchased. Many were purchased at Wax Stax in Cleveland Heights. It was a real record shop which was directly on my route home from High School. More were purchased from Record Revolution on Coventry Rd in Cleveland Heights where I hung out more in my late teens. At this point I had started to earn a little disposable income from gigging and was able to buy more frequently. These records are especially valuable in my investigations into my early passions because they would stamp the price tags with the date of purchase. I also lived on Coventry Rd in my late 20’s so there are many from that period. There’s another cache of records from Moles, a record store very near my dorm room in Cincinnati where I’d quickly spend any gig money I was earning at that time. Another batch from Tower Records in NYC from my time there in the mid 80’s.
It’s not just the buying. But I know most of these records. I know the side-musicians, the tunes. I remember liner notes. I spent time with these records. A LOT of time.
I’ve also started to excavate my huge stash of CD’s which is another whole world of discovery. The fascinating thing is that during the time I was buying all the records, I was taping more than I was buying. So much of my listening was to cassette tapes I had made from library records or swapping with friends. I even had a hookup where I could record friends tapes. Man, I was into it.
But the really exciting thing for me is rediscovering the process, the ritual of listening to records this way. When we listened to music back then, we JUST LISTENED. We read the liner notes, paid attention to the music in a different way, often with some intelligent direction from the liner notes. Friends would come over just to “dig some side.” No distractions, and almost most importantly, we had to get up every 15 to 20 minutes to flip the record. So there is an intention to listening when your listening this way. It’s not just background music. You’re sitting, studying, and turning the volume UP so you can feel the excitement of the music. We’d run a Discwasher over them and be meticulous about the care of these artistic masterpieces. I am renewing my love for the massive sound of Dexter Gordon, the blend of Horace Silver’s horns.
Streaming robs us of so much of the experience. Even CDs made the music less precious. The album artwork alone is half the value. Record albums are big and worthy of being hung on the wall. The liner notes are informative and intriguing (and large enough for an old guy to read).
I wonder if when we’re streaming if we’re really actually listening at all. Our phones are in our hands distracting us in all the ways a phone can; we have earbuds in and losing the sound of half the band and defeating the social aspect of listening completely. We have access to so much more information now, but students aren’t paying attention, heck I’m not paying that kind of attention either. Who’s on that record? Nobody knows anymore.
I’m glad to see records making a comeback. CDs too. It’s important we have a collection of who we are as musicians and music lovers. I encourage every young musician to make the investment in a turntable and few good records. Once you know the thrill of finding a rare record in a record shop, or a garage sale and bringing it home and discovering the beauty of analog sound, you’ll be hooked. You’ll have the opportunity to experience music the way we did and hopefully find ways to incorporate the esthetic of vinyl listening to your streaming situation. Read the liner notes or read a biography while you’re listening. Feel the music as alive and vibrant.
And for the older set with collections of records in the basement. Go do it. Get a turntable and make space and time for it.
Happy listening!