Re: [ARSCLIST] Other memorable record stores

[Karl Miller <lyaa071@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Fri, 9 Dec 2005, Steven Smolian wrote:

> There were two stores around 12th and Broadway- Eichler's and Dayton's.
> Dayton had more records by far, as he also had an apartment in his building
> with much of his stock.

I had forgotten about Dayton's. That was a wonderful shop.

There are still some great places to look and buy. We have a chain of stores
called Half Price Books here in Texas. While they don't have much in the
way of 78s, you can find, from time to time, a few treasures. I picked up
a copy of the Furtwangler Eroica on Urania for $2.98...and a friend of
mine found another copy, in the same shop, two years later, for $.99...ok,
what are the chances of that happening.

About every three months ago, that same friend and I drive to San Antonio.
Located in one of the old antique outlets downtown there is a guy who has
half of a floor devoted to records. If you seem interested enough, you can
get him to let you on to the top floor where he keeps his classical and
jazz. The building was built during the years of the civil war. No
airconditioning on the top floor, so visit during the winter. There are
many bins covered with drop cloths. Not the largest selection I have ever
encountered but fascinating. His prices vary, and he is not cheap.

Also, someone mentioned thrift stores...I have had some great luck over
the years. Amazing things turn up...but rarely...last year I found a set
of lacquer discs of a New York Philharmonic performance, Barbirolli as I
recall, doing a concerto by Achron. How that ended up in San Antonio, I
will never know.

Antique shops can also be amazing. A friend of mine who was vacationing in
New England was in such a shop...his wife looking for some gifts. He asked
if they had any records. Thank God he asked. There was a set of lacquers
of New York Philharmonic broadcasts. One of them, has been issued on Music
and Arts, Morini doing the Brahms with Szell conducting. I did the
transfer. I still have about ten concerts left to do, including an all
Stravinsky conducting Stravinsky, which I hope to issue on my own label.

True, you can find tons of junk, but every now and then, a treasure.

And, in closing...during my first encounter with a half price books, the
shop in Dallas just south of the SMU campus...this was around 1970 or
so when I had just started graduate school...they had an annex which had
"the junk." In the "junk" annex, I found a stack of Edison diamond discs
for $.25 each.

I often wonder about collections that are tossed once the collector dies.
And then there are those collections that make their way to the thrift
stores and end up sitting on the shelf for many years, only to be tossed when
they don't sell.

Karl