Lost Weekend Records in Columbus, Ohio
"Darlin' if you leave me I won't be alone.
Music is the answer.
It taught me how to own soul, peace and nature.
Three of a kind. Hard luck and trouble don't
pay me no mind. No!"
-"Music Is The Answer"
by John Bundrick on 'Broken Arrows' Island Records, 1973.
A short drive from downtown, just past the Ohio State campus, Lost Weekend is located in the ground floor of an old house at 2960 North High Street.
You can find them online on their website and on Facebook as well. Start with their website which has an entertaining history of the store itself:
On our way home to Pittsburgh, my friends indulge me with a search for Lost Weekend Records. Driving slowly up North High Street we miss the store the first time, it is so discretely marked. The building that serves as Lost Weekend's home is unassuming and residential in character and the sign is small, hand-made looking, and just right for a record store that doesn't want to stand out.
Our second pass successfully zeros in on Lost Weekend, and we pull into the gravel parking lot. My companions leap out of the car and scale the steps to the poster plastered entrance. We open the door and peer inside. A small room beckons, crammed to the ceiling with records, CDs, posters, books, and paraphernalia. To the left a friendly guy with heavy black rimmed specs is chatting with a customer across a CD strewn counter. To the right, two small rooms and a hallway all full to bursting with records.
My friend Nick is interested in Little Feat and Ry Cooder today, Jono, The Clash and The Ramones. Lucas is just thirsty. While N and J go in search of buried treasure, and L sits by the soda case, I ponder the possibilities of the alpha organized racks of used rock records in the room to my right.
I step inside and start flipping through the bins.
First 'A,' then 'B' and so on and on, skipping the sections labeled with familiar artist and band names. We can't spend too much time today, we have to get back to Pittsburgh, we are hungry and thirsty and the Wexner awaits us too, just up High Street a few blocks.
I must be fast and judicious in my explorations today.
So, rifle through the racks I go. The first treasure I come across - in the 'C' section of the bins - is a 1968 album by the psych band "The Collage." I have never heard of them, but they are on Smash Records, a reliable source of roots and R&B from the likes of James Brown, the Sir Douglas Quintet, and The Walker Brothers. Psych on Smash? Hmmm...worth a listen.
Next, behind the 'K' divider, is the Lenny Kaye Connection. Lenny Kaye, of the Patti Smith Band and Nuggets fame, never had much of a solo career, but this 1984 record is intriguing for all kinds of reasons. For one, it is on 'Giorno Poetry Systems Records (GPSR).' GPSR was an artists' collective founded by poet and performance artist John Giorno in 1965.
An associate of Andy Warhol's, John Giorno was interested in using his record label to connect poetry and art to a larger audience through technology. In addition to Lenny Kaye, GPSR also released albums by Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass, Frank Zappa and many others. Kaye's record, 'I've Got A Right,' is one of only two Kaye solo releases.
The other thing I love about this record is that there is a song called, 'Record Collector' on the second side.
A must-have for this reason alone.
There are all kinds of reasons to want a record...not all of them good, I might add!
Finally, in the 'R's, I come across Rabbit's 'Broken Arrows' LP on Island Records. Island Records put out a slew of great albums in the early seventies by folks like John Martyn and Nick Drake. But, who is Rabbit? Rabbit, it turns out, is John 'Rabbit' Bundrick, a keyboardist, once a sideman in one of my favorite bands, Free, as well as The Who, Bob Marley and many others. Around the time Free was breaking up in 1973, Rabbit recorded this, his solo debut.
Given his high profile gigs, it is surprising that fewer people know who Rabbit is today.
Although on first listen there are no obvious standout tracks, the instrumental performances are excellent, solid country tinged singer songwriter rock. Delving into the gatefold cover I discover that Rabbit has persuaded some stellar friends to guest on the record. Tetsu Yamauchi and Simon Kirke are here from Free. Jim Capaldi is here as well, and several other major names of the era.
Not wanting to break the bank on my first visit and feeling hunger pangs, I bring my finds to Kyle who has been having a lively conversation with Nick in my absence. Kyle obliges me by playing cuts from each disk while processing my credit card. While I listen to the music, we chat about the store and my blog - which you are reading! - and what a great town Columbus is for music. I tell him I live near Jerry's in Pittsburgh and he says he loves the place - who doesn't!? Jono gets a Ramones anthology, two CDs of everything good they ever recorded it seems, and Lucas gets a Barq's Red Creme Soda. Nick already has a Ry Cooder disk under his arm and is soaking up some rays outside when I complete my purchase and say goodbye to Kyle. Everyone is happy.
We listen to some Rhino podcasts of Bob Lefsetz on the ride home as well as some Ramones selections and some Lenny Kaye Nuggets I have on CD in the car as well.
With all these great tunes filling our ears, time flies by. When I arrive home, I am eager to hear Lenny Kaye's 'Record Collector' before unpacking and going to sleep. Eager to hear Rabbit sing "Music Is The Answer."
Comments