Vinyl…..
45 singles and albums lined the racks at the local record stores long ago in a much simpler time. We would hear music on our transistor radios, listen to the Casey Kasem’s countdown and rush to the store to buy the latest record by our favorite artist. Vinyl, before the days of 8-tracks, cassettes and CDs.
Over the years, we’ve had several turntables. From the RCA Victor console we bought at a local antique store, to the Emerson record player that my parents purchased early in their marriage (circa late 1950’s) to the Crossley record player/CD player from Mike & Angela that we played until it quit working, to the digital player we got from Costco a couple of years ago – each one brought back memories of a time gone by when the needle glided over the grooves of the vinyl.
Perusing the vinyl was myDarlin Robert Kenui Pope’s favorite past time during our visits to the local thrift or antique store. He displayed such patience as he flipped through the albums one by one, and was rewarded with finds of albums he used to have or always wanted to add to his collection. At the end of each aisle, I would come back to see how he was doing and he would be lost in thought, smiling and building his pile of picks. I was always amazed at the stories he could recount about the artist and the specific album.
Back at home, he alphabetized and catalogued the albums, and played them for hours on end. The sound of vinyl has warmth that cannot be duplicated by a CD or MP3 file. One Sunday afternoon, when the wire record racks could hold no more, he challenged me to find a double rack. I took the challenge, went to our local antique mall and promptly found the perfect double record rack straight out of the 1960’s. It was the only one at the mall, and I believe it was placed there just for us. (Remember that coincidence is God being anonymous…..)
One day, while myDarlin’ was perusing Facebook; he came across a recommendation for Lake Street Dive, a band that was fairly new to the music scene. Four members, each classically trained, create a unique and dynamic sound like few others we’ve ever heard. He immediate began following this band, and was delighted to find that they would be playing at The Earl in Atlanta. We arrived early and stood directly in front of the band and enjoyed the entire show. Afterwards ad he spoke to Bridget, the bass player, I snapped a photo of them - captioning it, ‘Bass players stick together’.
Soon after, Lake Street Dive released their next LP ‘Bad Self Portraits’, except for this time there would also be a vinyl album available for purchase. He was so excited to get the album in the mail, and in fact the sleeve is front and center on the double record rack. The album is still on the turntable from the last time that he played it.
I am filled with gratitude for the lesson of music appreciation that myDarlin’ shared with all of us. Music truly is the backdrop for life, and as one of our dear friend shared on a memory card at his service…..”where he is at, the music never stops!”
#KeepLookingUp
45 singles and albums lined the racks at the local record stores long ago in a much simpler time. We would hear music on our transistor radios, listen to the Casey Kasem’s countdown and rush to the store to buy the latest record by our favorite artist. Vinyl, before the days of 8-tracks, cassettes and CDs.
Over the years, we’ve had several turntables. From the RCA Victor console we bought at a local antique store, to the Emerson record player that my parents purchased early in their marriage (circa late 1950’s) to the Crossley record player/CD player from Mike & Angela that we played until it quit working, to the digital player we got from Costco a couple of years ago – each one brought back memories of a time gone by when the needle glided over the grooves of the vinyl.
Perusing the vinyl was myDarlin Robert Kenui Pope’s favorite past time during our visits to the local thrift or antique store. He displayed such patience as he flipped through the albums one by one, and was rewarded with finds of albums he used to have or always wanted to add to his collection. At the end of each aisle, I would come back to see how he was doing and he would be lost in thought, smiling and building his pile of picks. I was always amazed at the stories he could recount about the artist and the specific album.
Back at home, he alphabetized and catalogued the albums, and played them for hours on end. The sound of vinyl has warmth that cannot be duplicated by a CD or MP3 file. One Sunday afternoon, when the wire record racks could hold no more, he challenged me to find a double rack. I took the challenge, went to our local antique mall and promptly found the perfect double record rack straight out of the 1960’s. It was the only one at the mall, and I believe it was placed there just for us. (Remember that coincidence is God being anonymous…..)
One day, while myDarlin’ was perusing Facebook; he came across a recommendation for Lake Street Dive, a band that was fairly new to the music scene. Four members, each classically trained, create a unique and dynamic sound like few others we’ve ever heard. He immediate began following this band, and was delighted to find that they would be playing at The Earl in Atlanta. We arrived early and stood directly in front of the band and enjoyed the entire show. Afterwards ad he spoke to Bridget, the bass player, I snapped a photo of them - captioning it, ‘Bass players stick together’.
Soon after, Lake Street Dive released their next LP ‘Bad Self Portraits’, except for this time there would also be a vinyl album available for purchase. He was so excited to get the album in the mail, and in fact the sleeve is front and center on the double record rack. The album is still on the turntable from the last time that he played it.
I am filled with gratitude for the lesson of music appreciation that myDarlin’ shared with all of us. Music truly is the backdrop for life, and as one of our dear friend shared on a memory card at his service…..”where he is at, the music never stops!”
#KeepLookingUp
.JPG)
No comments:
Post a Comment