As I was thinking about the best way to kick off this blog, I decided to start with my memories of music in my childhood. I was born in1961 and had 3 older sisters until I was seven hen my little sister was born. I can remember around 1966 when my two oldest sisters got identical clock radios and watching my oldest sister holding both up to her ears and proclaiming she was listening to KFRC in stereo. I soon found myself listening to music influenced by my sister's tastes of the era. At first it was Herb Alpbert & The Tijauna Brass, Mama's & The Papa's, The Hollies, and The Ohio Express, and others that were appearing on KFRC at the time in San Francisco where we were lucky enough to be from. The following year it was the Monkees, The Byrds, and toward the end of the year I first heard the Doors. I recall hearing some parents in the hall of our church mumbling about a song the garage band of kids were about to play called, 'Light My Fire', and how upset they were that it would be played at a church festival function.
In the years to come I would be the benefactor of the records my sisters bought. Their were a lot of San Francisco bands like Santana, It's a Beutiful Day, Jefferson Airplane, Steve Miller, and Cold Blood. But two of my sisters who had started to play guitar gravitated to the sounds of CSN&Y, Judy Collins, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, Neil Young, and others were exploding out of the CA rock scene in the end of the 60's and early 70's.
Later on as FM radio exploded, I ventured into other types of music ranging from Allman Brothers thru Zappa, progressive rock to punk. Garage to psych, and blues to soul. After working in a record store for several years and being an 'American Picker' of records for the past 30+ years, I have amassed a personal collection of over 20,000 LP's and 3000+ singles. I buy what intrigues me. Blues, bluegrass, rock, soul, gospel, world, jazz, classical, you name it.....I've got it.
Well not quite. Many records pass through my hands in the course of a year as a hobbyist. I just can't keep them all and most of my enjoyment comes from sharing some of my finds with the many varied people I encounter in the world of record collecting. I love the hunt and can't wait to dig in that next crate or find that next radio station inventory in a storage unit.
My blog hopes to bring you some great stories and pictures from this fun and unique world. I hope you enjoy them as much as I look forward to sharing them.
