Pilgrimage To Jerry's Records

     Saturday I took my first trip to Jerry's Records in Pittsburgh. My friends Mike and Dave invited me to go with them and it was a great time. To illustrate the extent of my geekiness, I actually prepared for the pilgrimage by watching store tours and interviews with Jerry on You Tube. I even made a list of records to look for in case I became overwhelmed. Jerry actually picked on us about coming from Cleveland, because there aren't any good record stores in Cleveland. It was great. By the way, Dave is opening a record store in Wooster called Lucky Records, so there will be at least one good one in the greater Cleveland area.
     The cool thing about Jerry is that he will buy any record to keep it from ending up in a dumpster. The sheer volume of records at Jerry's is amazing. He has records stack everywhere, including the restroom. However, once you get the hang of the store layout it's not difficult to find what you're looking for. He must have had a thousand cardboard storage boxes, on shelves, full of 45's. That was probably the most daunting spectacle in the store. I did manage to dig out a few 45's that were on my list (and some that weren't), but I focused on LP's for the most part. All three of us had a pretty good haul. I spent $75 and got 19 records. I can't wait to go to Jerry's again. Here's the breakdown of what I added to my collection. Peace.

* Split Enz- Time and Tide: Got this for my wife, because she loves the Finn Brothers.

* U2- Unforgettable Fire: I only had this on cassette and I lost all my cassettes in our basement flood.

* David Bowie- Diamond Dogs: The only thing from my favorite Bowie period that I didn't have.

* The Kingbees: I've been looking for this forever because I love the song "My Mistake".

* Miles Davis- Water Babies: Great album from the second quintet.

* Adam and the Ants- Kings of the Wild Frontier: "Ant Music", nuff said.

* Bill Evans Trio- Portrait in Jazz: Legendary jazz pianist.

* Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent- Their Finest Years: Guitar innovator's and rockabilly pioneers.

* Yes- Fragile: I'm collecting Roger Dean album covers.

* Yes- Relayer: See above, plus Geddy and Alex always cite this album as an influence.

* Dancing Hoods- Hallelujah Anyway: This is one of Mark Linkous' old bands, before Sparklehorse. I've been looking for Dancing Hoods albums for a few years and this is the first time I've ever seen one in a store. I don't know who was more excited about me getting this album, me or Dave.

* Commander Cody- Hot Rod Lincoln 7": My dad loved this song and he did this crazy dance every time he heard it. And it's a great song.

* Jerry Reed- East Bound and Down 7": Love Smoky and the Bandit and this song. My wife doesn't understand.

* Frida- I Know There's Something Going On 7": Everyone loves this song!

* R.E.M.- E-Bow The Letter 7": I was hoping for "Driver 8", but this is a great song.

* Gem- Sheep 7": Doug Gillard's old band.

* Gem- Suburban Girl 7": See above.

* Beatles- Help/I'm Down 7": For my son's collection.

* Beatles- Got To Get You Into My Life/Helter Skelter 7": For my son's collection. This was the first Beatles record I bought, but it was lost somewhere in the sands of time.