Another Visit to A Record Store, Pandemic Edition

One of the things I have missed during the pandemic has been going to record stores. I love going to record stores. It’s a life-long habit, and pleasure, one which I have never wanted to give up, even in the dark days of the recent past when vinyl was an endangered species and brick-and-mortar record stores seemed to be going the way of the 8-track. Even then, I would regularly visit the surviving stores and always buy something, it seemed, because, fundamentally, I like buying records. Anyway, I couldn’t remember the last time I physically walked into a record store, even though there are several decent, recently opened stores in a reasonable driving distance from my home in The Berkshires, where The Lovely Mrs. JC and I have permanently relocated since the pandemic began. I decided this was an itch that just had to be scratched and the other day I grabbed my son’s dog, Gordon, who is visiting for a few weeks, and got in the car and took a ride over to Catskill, New York, a little more than an hour away, to visit my favorite of the record stores in the area, Spike’s Record Rack, of which I have written several times in the past. Spike and I have gotten to be quite friendly during our brief interactions, so I sent him a heads-up in advance that I would be making a visit. Read more

Price Updates: Trane, Friedman, Blue Notes

Here’s a new one for the $1,000 bin: John Coltrane, Coltrane, Prestige 7105. This was an original pressing with the New York address. It is Coltrane’s first date as a leader, but it’s still surprising to see this one pass the $1,000 mark. This one was in M- condition for the vinyl and near-M- (?) condition for the cover. The price was $1,077.65.

This one almost made the $1,000 bin: Horace Parlan, Us Three, Blue Note 4037. The record and the cover both looked to be in VG++ condition. The price was $912.

I didn’t realize this one had such cachet as a collectible: Don Friedman, Circle Waltz, Riverside 431. The vinyl was M- and the cover was VG++. The price was $255.

This one falls into the same category: When did it become a $200-range record?

Read more