Had some downtime in the Joliet area (again) so I did a quick search on the old phone to figure out where I might be able to cop some vinyl. I checked out a couple thrift stores and this place kept coming up. Barely out of my way but I had nothing better to do.
The place has books, videos, tons of CDs and quite a bit of vinyl as well. They have the one huge rack depicted above in the rear of the store but beneath all the CDs tubs are loads of crates of vinyl. They are somewhat organized but not perfectly well. But I’ve never been adverse to crawling around on all fours digging through the bins so I got to work.
I pulled out a couple records that I am very happy with:
1) Jerry Harrison – ‘Casual Gods’ – my uncle is a huge music influence in my life, he played me all kinds of good stuff when I was young and impressionable. Lots of that stuff I still enjoy today or even consider classics. He was a big Talking Heads fan and he probably got this right when it came out. I remember him taking the time to explain the lyrics of ‘Man With a Gun’ to me and I was transfixed. It is a great track musically as well as lyrically…I’ve had the mp3 for ages, so glad to add a hard copy of the whole album to my collection in any form. One of the best album covers and like all records, most impactful on the epic stage which is a 12″ x 12″ piece of cardboard. The explanation of the album art on the inner sleeve hits you like an uppercut when you read it. Powerful stuff.
2) Ray Price – ‘Welcome To My World’ – this is a 2×12″ giant compilation. Besides a horrible album cover (reminds me of those tattoo failures where people get a face of a loved one inked into their skin and it looks like a bad comic book). Has so many good tracks….’Little Green Apples’, ‘By The Time I Get to Phoenix’, the title cut (got hooked on that one via Elvis Live in Hawaii). But the biggest one for me is a track I wasn’t already aware of, ‘Night Life’ which kicks off the first side A. Not surprising to find that Willie Nelson actually wrote this song (and was forced to sell it for $150!) as potent as it is. I have to get my hands on the album its pulled from ASAP.
I did not have the patience to really go through everything but I’ll bet I could pull out a few more diamonds the next time around. Nice spot!
