Back from a road trip that took me from The Berkshires to Chapel Hill to DC to New York and back. Didn’t stop in a single record store along the way and returned home to find that there are now two new record stores a few hundred feet apart in the little town of Great Barrington near my home. One of the record stores opens next week, the other opened this past weekend. I stopped by the one that has opened and it has the feeling of a guy clearing out his house, basement, garage and attic of a lot of stuff. But there were definitely records to view and buy, particularly if you are into vocals. I came upon a lot of Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan, but I can’t vouch for the conditions. As of now, there is no organization to the store, everything seems to be thrown in at random. I did find three 10-inch records to buy: Lars Gullin on Vogue, James Moody on Emarcy and Frank Rosolino on Capital. They seemed in decent enough condition at the store, but when I took them out of the car I realized I would have to sneak them into the house because they smelled of mildew. I may go back to check out the store again, but I’ll be careful. Maybe next time I’ll take off the mask so I can make use of my sense of smell before buying anything. As for the other store, I’ll check it out when it opens and get back to you with a report.
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