California Record Stores part 3: San Luis Obispo, Pacific Grove, Monterey & Napa

California Record Stores part 3 will focus on the record stores I visited on my latest California trip, except from the ones in Los Angeles and San Francisco, which I already presented on parts 1 & 2. You'll notice that this concerns some smaller towns; obviously there are scores of record stores at other Californian cities (San Jose, San Diego, Fresno, Sacramento, Berkeley and Oakland, to name a few), but I didn't stop there during my recent California road trip - or, if I did, I didn't spend enough time to go record hunting. I did spend a night in San Luis Obispo, a beautiful town situated in the middle of an idyllic landscape. I didn't expect it to offer much in the way of culture, but there's a big theater where pop concerts take place, as well as nice bookstores and an excellent record store called Boo Boo Records. A shop that would stand out even in a big city, with great ambience, and surprisingly large in size and variety of music it offers (rock jazz folk country metal world hip hop etc). Used CDs cost $5, some offers $1-2, LPs new $20-35, used $5-10, some rare around $40. Another city we stayed at, was Monterey, which gave me the chance to visit a number of shops: Recycled Records (604 Lighthouse Ave) offers mostly used LPs ($5-15), CDs, and 45's, as well as some new ($25-35) and rare/collectible pieces above $50. They have a very good jazz selection, as well as pop and rock music. A bit closer to local attraction Cannery Row, there's a big "Antique Mall". I found it while looking for a place registered on google as Mark's Records (on 471 Wave Street), which may be closed, or may be now -or may always have been- incorporated in this building. Here one can find at least a couple of stalls with vinyl, mostly selling for a reasonable $5-15. 

A third record store in Monterey, which I didn't get to visit, is Siren Records on 527 Ramona Ave. As far as I know, it's also the only one focusing on new, rather than used, vinyl. Pacific Grove may be a different municipality to Monterey, but the two are adjoined. So, in the course of the same morning, I managed to visit another couple of interesting record stores: Vinyl Revolution carries a lots of good stuff, including 60's psychedelia/garage and 70's classic rock; mostly original records though not always in good condition. Prices vary wildly (from $2 to above $40), but one can generally find a good album in acceptable condition around $10. Also used CDs $5-10. The other record store here is called Pop & Hiss. The name mystifies me; why call your shop after of two of the less agreeable qualities of vinyl records? Anyway, this rather small shop does carry some nice used records, mostly rock ($5-15, collectible $20-50, some random bargains under $5). From Pacific Grove, we took the 17-mile scenic route to the incredibly picturesque Carmel-by-the-Sea, then drove a few miles south on Highway 1 before heading back to Monterey because a part of the coastal road had sunk into the ocean.

We spent the next night in San Francisco, and a few days later we were in wine country, Napa and Sonoma. Once again, I didn't have high expectations on the vinyl hunting front, yet I did find a couple of great shops. The first one was Folklore Napa Drinks & Vinyl Shop; which makes it sound like a wine bar using vinyl as a gimmick; far from it, it is a regular record store with a surprisingly good vinyl collection in all genres, arranged alphabetically (new LPs $18-45, used $10-40). A cool place to combine record browsing with wine tasting and a cheese platter or salad. A bit out of the city, at the edge of a shopping mall, there's a more typical record store called Right On!!!Napa (2375 California Blvd A). It's clean, spacious, and air conditioned, something I appreciated when I went inside, though not as much as the records in the bargain bins - I left with a dozen or so perfectly good $1 records - nothing collectible, but certainly not trash. Most used records were $10-40 (new $25-40), a great selection of rock, jazz, soul, and alternative. I'm guessing there's a regular culling of less "interesting" items to keep the merchandise fresh - and in this case I benefited from it. The owner (or clerk) was also friendly, and knowledgeable. As a rule, we found the people in smaller towns to be very friendly and hospitable, and that also goes for towns not mentioned on the title of this blogpost, like Sonoma and El Paso Robles. Another side of America, after visiting LA. with its big city vibe. Also a different vibe from Europe, where small towns can be just as charming, but the people are less open. The food was amazing, too - big hearty portions (thankfully we walked many miles per day and got to burn those calories), delicious barbequed meats, and great tacos and burritos; certainly different from what you get in Mexican restaurants in Europe. More authentic? I'll reserve judgement until I take a similar roadtrip in Mexico. But certainly more satisfactory. In general, California presented us with an interesting mix of American and Latino culture - with added Asian and European influences, especially in SF. This was my first trip to the USA, and while I always knew it to be the proverbial cultural melting pot, it was nice to see it in action. I'd love to return to the Golden State soon, but there's so much more America to experience; from New York to Texas to Memphis to New Orleans, so many places full of musical landmarks, great nature, and local cuisine to experience... One thing's for sure: any new city I visit, you can expect to get my report on the local record store scene.

Bobby Rush "Porcupine Meat" 2016***

Bobby Rush has been playing the blues since 1951, but it took him half a century to come to the attention of the mainstream. Half a century of performing in small clubs all around the US, making a name as the King of the Chitlin' Circuit but being ignored by the public at large, until his show was filmed by Martin Scorsese for his documentary series: The Blues: A Musical Journey. What's the Chitlin' Circuit you ask? Well, that was initially a network of live music venues catering to the entertainment needs of African Americans whom racial segregation laws excluded from entering mainstream clubs. It included a few famous places like Harlem's Apollo Theatre, but mostly consisted of countless taverns and juke joints scattered throughout the Southern United States. With the repeal of Jim Crow laws, the most talented of the artists working the circuit (e.g. Billie Holiday, James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, Ike & Tina Turner) graduated to international stardom, but some like Bobby Rush never did - not necessarily due to lack of talent. Born in Mississippi in 1933, learning his trade next to Elmore James, and hanging around with Muddy Waters and Little Walter in Chicago, his is the quintessential original bluesman story - except that wasn't idolized by famous British rock stars, who didn't take him along with them to play big festivals in Europe. Instead, he kept playing the blues for black audiences in rural America, adding a lot of funk to his music to keep up with the changing tastes of his clientele. Since his belated LP debut in 1979, Rush has released numerous albums, but it's obvious that his real element is the stage: the way he delivers his lines, all the jokes and double entendres, are obviously written with a live audience in mind. Physically, he's quite the character: a dapper octogenarian with slick black curly hair and mustache, big gleaming white smile, and colorful, strass-studded shiny jackets, he never fails to grab attention. Porcupine Meat was his first release on respected folk label Rounder Records, a very well-produced record, recorded in New Orleans with some of the best local players, as well as some A-class guests: Joe Bonamassa, Dave Alvin and Keb Mo’ appear in one song each; good as they are, their biggest contribution isn't their guitar solos but their name on the album's back cover, a sort of endorsement for their fans. Above all, the slick production and famous guests never outshine the charismatic singer, The music is a mix of swampy blues and straight-ahead funk, with a prominent brass section. Opener "I Don’t Want Nobody Hanging Around" kicks off the album with a funky bass riff reminiscent of Stevie Wonder's "Superstition". It's about a jealous man, a theme revisited on the self-explanatory "I Think Your Dress Is Too Short". Rush isn't the kind of singer to provide deep introspection or political commentary; most of the songs revolve around lust or infidelity, and are rich in sexual innuendo ("Snake In The Grass", Nighttime Gardener", "Catfish Stew" etc.). On occasion, he blows a mean blues harp (e.g. on "Catfish Stew"), while there are  also a couple of typical blues ballads ("Got Me Accused", "Me, Myself And I"). Unlike like most contemporary blues heroes, he doesn't play the guitar (at least not here, even though he poses with one), but he has an excellent collaborator in his own band's Vasti Jackson, plus of course the illustrious guest guitarists mentioned earlier. Drummer Jellybean Alexander lays down a nice funky backbeat to James Brown-like "Funk O’ De Funk", while closer "I’m Tired" is a semi-acoustic downhome number a la Taj Mahal (the singer, not the monument). Mostly though, what we have here is upbeat R&B - reminiscent of contemporary work of Albert Collins or Robert Cray, but with an added New Orleans flavor, and with Rush's trademark scabrous vocal delivery and humor. Porcupine Meat was a commercial success, and earned the artist his first Grammy Award at the age of 82 (two more were to follow). As I said, it doesn't stand out a lot from other contemporary rhythm and blues albums, except maybe lyrically. But it's well produced, played, sung, and follows all the time honored tropes of the genre. It should make for an enjoyable listening for any blues/soul lover, except maybe for the staunchest traditionalists.

**** for Porcupine Meat, Got Me Accused, Catfish Stew

*** for I Don’t Want Nobody Hanging Around, Snake In The Grass, Funk O’ De Funk, Me Myself And I, It’s Your Move, Nighttime Gardener, I Think Your Dress Is Too Short, Standing On Shaky Ground, I’m Tired.

California Record Stores part 2: San Francisco

After Los Angeles, San Francisco was the second big city we visited during this trip. Both are California, but each one has its completely different character. LA is overlooked by tall hills but the city itself is rather flat; San Francisco roads continuously go up- and down- hill; one sees less one-story houses with lawns, and more Victorian houses with French balconies. And while LA also has a Chinatown, the one in San Francisco is really huge; announcements in the bus are often tri-lingual: in English, Spanish, and Chinese. Between Chinatown and local landmark Coit Tower (the neighborhood is called North Beach) is where I started my record store walk, after paying a visit to the historic City Lights bookshop. The shop was founded by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti and became the hangout of Beat generation writers, from Jack Kerouac to Allen Ginsberg and Neal Cassady. If those names don't mean something to you, just go right to the basement and delve into one of the best collections on music and pop culture you're ever likely to find in a physical bookstore. Just a block or two away (1414 Grant Ave.) one can visit 101 Music; it's somewhat cramped, with lots of crates lying around, but that's how we crate diggers us like it. New LPs cost around $30, used ones $10-15. Also CDs in the usual prices, some memorabilia and music equipment. Seeing as the shop is at the corner of Grant Ave. and Green St. I thought this might be the right place to buy a vinyl by jazz guitarist Grant Green - they didn't seem to have one, but their jazz selection is otherwise excellent - also good in rock, folk, and world music. At some point, 101 Music apparently had a second location nearby, a huge basement containing 50,000 LP's. It's mentioned in some sites, but don't go looking for it - it closed down some time ago. 

At the opposite side of the street, there's Cantina Records. This one is better ordered, and has a well-curated collection, featuring almost all the classics as well as some nice rarities. Very good in jazz and soul, as well as rock and folk. I was glad to find some garage/psychedelic records here, too. LP's, all in good condition, mostly cost $10-35. Very close, but buried in a small side street (50 Bannam Pla) is the literally-named Out Of Sight Records. Not very big, but lots of good finds (vinyl, mostly used $12-35). There were also some racks with vintage clothes lying around, didn't check if they were for sale. Moving on from North Beach to the Fillmore St, and Originals Vinyl. It's a nice clean shop in a beautiful residential area; very close to the famous Painted Ladies tourist attraction. Originals sells used vinyl (mostly $12-35), as well as a few CDs. They also had a lot of LPs on offer ($3-8). Some of them were good titles in dubious state; I chose a dozen or so, and proceeded to check their condition one by one, when a guy came and told me I should do it in the corner (meaning, I think, that I was preventing the other customers from browsing the records in front of me). I thought that was uncalled for; I mean there's often someone in front of the stack of records you want to check, taking their time checking the merchandise. You don't say "move over, buddy" you wait for them to finish - also there wasn't anyone waiting beside me, if there was I would move to the next stack myself, and let them get on with it. I chose not to take offence, took maybe 7 records to the cash register and put the rest back exactly where I found them. I was only in the city for a few days, so it's not like I'd ever be back in this shop anyway, but if I did live in SF I don't think I'd visit here often. This reminded me of the widespread stereotype of the "rude record shop clerk". I wasn't familiar with it before the movie High Fidelity and the character Jack Black played in it; at the time I hadn't visited many record shops abroad, so I couldn't tell if the stereotype was true. And in Athens, where I lived until 2010, all record stores clerks knew me, at least by sight. Even though I very rarely chatted with them, they'd know my tastes in music, and they'd greet me with "Some new so-and-so came in" or "did you check the bargain bins, I just refilled them". So I couldn't tell whether the stereotype in general was already true when the movie came out, or if it's a matter of life imitating art. I certainly often read reviews nowadays about snooty record store clerks, and can't tell whether it's a new phenomenon or there just wasn't any medium for customers to post a review in the old days.

Anyway, from Originals it's walking distance to the storied Haight Street - I mean, who hasn't heard of Haight Ashbury and its centrality to the hippie movement? The houses where The Grateful Dead, or Janis Joplin and her group, used to live communally are registered in google maps, but look inconspicuously like every other house in the neighborhood. On the other hand, there's a place called Jimi Hendrix's Red House with a huge mural of the artist, even though as far as I know Hendrix never lived in SF and was certainly not part of the city's hippie scene. There's a bunch of good record stores on Haight, as well as palm readers, eateries, shops for vintage clothes and for smokers' paraphernalia, and one great store full of fantasy and science fiction, called Borderlands Books. The place didn't look like much, but my God the sheer number of titles they had! I just logged in to check the website a minute ago, and it turns out that the 1740 Haight St. address is a temporary one. When the permanent one finally opens, it'll supposedly be an impressive sight, so be sure to put it in your itinerary. Of course, when one talks about California record stores, there's an elephant in the room and its name is Amoeba Records. So let's get it over with first: it's situated on 1855 Haight St, close to Golden Gate park. Of course, if you come all this way, you need to take a stroll in the park where so many counter-cultural events of the 60's took place, ushering the so-called Summer Of Love. Today, there are still some buskers honoring the spirit of the 60's, while there's even an area called Hippie Hill. Just beware of the coyotes, which seem to roam the place at night. I didn't see any, but they had signs posted around the place with instructions on what to do in case of an encounter. Nothing about roadrunners, who seem to be a worse menace if my earliest TV memories don't deceive me. Anyway, the Amoeba branch on Haight is huge, at least as big as the one in Hollywood. Just a crazy variety of T-shirts, posters, books, CDs and vinyl. All genres: rock, pop, jazz, folk, reggae, international, you name it. Used LPs mostly go for $5-15, new ones $25-35. There's also a clearance section: LPs $2-3, and thousands of CDs for $1-3. If anyone was starting a CD collection now, they could come here and build a really good one for next to nothing. There's also a big store-inside-the-store dedicated to DVDs, some 30,000 titles according to the website. Apparently, in-store live music is also quite common, and famous artists often play free gigs here. A bit further, on 1644 Haight St, one can find Offshore Sounds. This shop doesn't have its own front; it's situated within "710 Collective" a hub of small hipster businesses sharing the same space. LPs (used) cost mostly $8-25, with a few offers for $5. It's a small but well curated collection that includes rare Japanese editions of western rock/pop music. From the newest addition, we move to Rooky Ricardo's records (419 Haight St), a shop historic enough to warrant its own wikipedia entry. 

The place is rightly famous for its huge variety of 45s, but it also has a good LP selection, mostly soul and oldies but also jazz and rock ($10-35). Pretty close (593 Haight St) one can find Vinyl Dreams. I didn't catch it open (they work Thursday to Monday), but it's supposedly good for electronic music. Groove Merchant is situated on 687 Haight St. It has a great collection of jazz vinyl, as well as soul, rock, and international music (mostly $8-35). All neatly classified by genre and decade. Also some books, movie posters, etc. Not far from here, but also no longer on Haight, you can visit the similarly-named Grooves Records (1797 Market St). This is a very large shop full of used vinyl (folk, country, jazz, rock, international etc). Many random titles, and a lot of bargains under $10. I could easily have spent a couple of hours here, and if I did, I'm sure I'd certainly dig out something great and unexpected. Unfortunately I had to rush to an appointment, and didn't find the time to return. The next day took me back to the Mission District, a lively Latin American neighborhood. Right in the middle of it, opposite an amazing music-themed mural, one can find Discodelic (3174, 24th St). This has a fantastic shop front, and the most amazing collection of Latin-style music vinyl I have ever seen: salsa, cumbia, rock en español, but also Caribbean music, reggae, soul etc. A lot of rare original LPs going mostly for $20-40. Last among the record stores I visited on the San Francisco leg of my California trip -but, as they say, not least- is Stranded in SF on 1055 Valencia St. It's a clean and spacy shop, with a good selection, especially in rock and indie music. New LPs $20-40, used $15-40, and some offers for $10. As mentioned in a previous post, US prices are exclusive sales tax, so one should add something between 7-10%. For the time I spent in SF, I consider I did a good job of visiting as many record stores as I could. Let's not forget there were an awful lot of sights to see; I took a half-day tour of Alcatraz, as well as another guided tour throughout all the SF landmarks, climbed the Coit Tower, went down to the docks to spend time with smelly sea lions, went to my first baseball game at Oracle Park (great stadium, I'd love to watch a rock concert there some time) and came close to understanding the rules of that game. There was also a whole lot of eating needed to be done: some of the most authentic away-from-home Chinese and Mexican street food, crab chowder inside sourdough bread bowls, and all sorts of baked goods. I won't mention the drinking, lest you get the wrong idea. Or the gay bars - inevitably I went to some, I mean we stayed at the heart of the Castro district, every bar in the vicinity is essentially a gay bar. San Francisco is a very inclusive place, which is another reason to love it. I don't know if it's part of the legacy left behind by the true city founders: adventurers, gold diggers, and courtesans instead of the pilgrims. There does seem to be a line that stretches from that age to include Beat generation writers, musicians, hippies, students, peaceniks, leftists, punks, the gay liberation movement, etc. Its proximity to Silicon Valley and the tech industry, which draws in the new high tech plutocrats, causes rent prices to climb sky high, and exacerbates the serious homelessness problem; these things tend to shape the modern image of the city, but beneath it all, it remains a progressive oasis in modern America. One hopes that it will survive a possible second Trump term.

P.S. I'd like to mention here some SF record stores that were on my list, but for one reason or another I didn't get to visit. First among them, Thrillhouse Records (3422 Mission St) a volunteer-based record shop in Bernal Heights specializing in punk and underground music. A non-profit underground music record shop? This kind of thing could only exist in San Francisco, sorry I missed it. On the western part of the city (3427 Balboa St) there's Noise Records (+ art gallery + live music space). Typical yelp review: "great collection of all genres of vinyl, it's a super cool local business and they have a free jazz performance on Sundays". Also to the west, Tunnel Records (3614A Taraval St, Sunset District) "average-sized but pretty well-curated...good mix of new and used titles...record accessories...Beachy wares". I also took a ton of notes about record shops in the rest of the Bay Area, especially Berkeley and Oakland, but since in the end I skipped those places altogether, I won't post them here. I will say that earlier this year I read a great novel called Telegraph Avenue that revolved around an imaginary record store situated on that street, and was thinking it'd be cool to visit the actual record stores on Telegraph Ave. (there are a few, including the first and original Amoeba record store in Berkeley) and try to guess which provided the inspiration to the novel. Next time, maybe.