Euclid Records, Dollar Bins, and Jeff Tweedy
I'm in St. Louis for final reviews at Washington University of St. Louis's School of Architecture, the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts. I arrive on a Sunday, a day early, so I have time to visit the Arch, the City Museum, and Euclid Records.
You have to have your priorities. So, first on my list is Euclid Records.
I have researched record stores online in anticipation of this trip and two record stores come up, Euclid Records and Vintage Vinyl. While neither is purely a vinyl store, both sound really promising: large footprints and good online comments.
For some reason I decide that Euclid Records is my focus. Don't remember why, but my notes hardly mention Vintage Vinyl. I don't even think about Vintage Vinyl. Well, more on that later.
So, its early Sunday morning and my host, the Dean of the school, Bruce Lindsey, picks me up at the airport and takes me out for breakfast to a wonderful little neighborhood cafe, the Soulard Coffee Garden. http://soulardcoffeegarden.com/ I have an enormous bowl of delicious hash and eggs - as does my host - and a steaming hot cup of coffee.
Ready for the day now.
Bruce asks me what I want to see and I recite my list. What first? Euclid Records? No problem! And we are on our way. Thanks, Bruce.
Not exactly nearby but a few minutes later we arrive, park the car and approach the corner store. Euclid's website advertises 7,500 sf of retail space and the store does not disappoint. While CDs fill the front the third of the store - the day light filled end - the rear two thirds of the store are filled with vinyl.
I mean filled.
Bruce peels off to dig into the CDs - he ends up with a couple of nice used Neil Young CDs - while I march to the rear of the store.
Whenever I enter a record store that sells used vinyl, I always look for the 'New Arrivals' bin first. Euclid's has a lot of interesting disks in their recent arrivals bin, some fairly pricey, however, like a three disk set of a live Yardbirds concert for 50 bucks. But there are many other interesting more reasonably priced titles, plenty of temptations. I am interested in the Bonzo Dog Band's Urban Spaceman record, co-produced by Apollo C. Vermouth, otherwise known as Paul McCartney. The Bonzo Dog Band was a favorite of the Beatles' and even feature on the Magical Mystery Tour film.
That would be nice to have.
With the Urban Spaceman disk under my arm, I proceed to the back of the store and pause. I am somewhat overwhelmed. Bruce asks whether there is anything particular I am looking for. That's a hard question to answer. I don't really have a 'list' - my collecting approach is more free-flowing and associational. So, I begin to rifle randomly through the alphabetized bins.
At some point, Bruce asks me whether I have found the dollar bins which I haven't. He points at my feet and there I see a long, long line of boxes on the floor filled with records. I kneel down and that is where the fun really begins.
Dollar bins are a mixed bag. Sometimes its just Air Supply, Neil Diamond, Barbara Streisand - and Polka. But, sometimes - like here it turns out - you can find some interesting curiosities. none probably 'worth' more than a dollar, but a lot of fun nevertheless.
Records that get put in dollar bins are often there because of the condition of the album cover and or the vinyl inside. So, you might find a badly scratched copy of something good, or a clean copy of a something good in a beat-up cover.
But, sometimes its just a record that doesn't have a very big audience. those are usually the records that attract me!
So, what did I find? In addition to the Bonzo Dog Band, I found these 'treasures' in the dollar bin at Euclid Records (and Euclid has turntables, so I could audition everything before purchasing!):
Jim Kweskin - Relax Your Mind (1966). A stripped down solo effort by the Jug Band leader.
Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band - Jug Band Music (1965). I like The Jug Band and have a few of their other albums but not this one.
The Souther Hillman Furay Band (1974). Guilty pleasure, the first cut, Falling in Love, a minor hit in 1974. But, the last cut, Deep, Dark, and Dreamless is worth the price all by itself. And then some - a great, great song.
Gilbert O'Sullvan - Himself (1972). Another guilty pleasure: Alone Again (Naturally).
The Rip Chords - Hey Little Cobra (1964). Classic example of the 'surf frat' genre. Title tune has uncredited falsetto solo by Beach Boys' Bruce Johnston. Song co-written by producer Terry Melcher, of Monterey Pop Fest fame.
Michael Parks - Closing the Gap (1969). Debut album by country artist turned actor. Parks is probably best known these days as Earl McGraw in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill. Also featured prominently in Twin Peaks as drug runner, Jean Renault. Oh, and the record is pretty good, too.
The Happenings - Bye Bye, So Long, Farewell...See You In September. Features the title tune, one of their biggest hits.
Oh, so what about Jeff Tweedy. Turns out He used to work at Euclid Records! I knew that...now I remember why I wanted to see this store more than Vintage Vinyl
He actually worked in the store's old location, but hey.
Works for me.
I'm still trying to figure out my "approach" to finding records. Good to catch a glimpse into how you go about it.
Love the fact that Jeff Tweedy was the reason behind your visit. I would have done the same thing. I recently made up my own tour of San Francisco which was inspired by Steve McQueen.
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