Forsomeofus, recordsweremore than
disposablepiecesof popular culture.
Wesoughtoutrecordsandcollected
them.Athinpieceofshellacorvinyl
becameasourceofpleasureor
excitement.Themereactoffindingor
owningarecordbecameamatterof
pride.Gradually,phonograph records
becamemore than themusic thatwas
stampedon to them.The lookof the
labels,themselves,becameadditional
sourcesofpleasure.ASun78with that
wonderful roosterwhodidn’tmake it
onto the45s.Anearlybuff-colored
Bluebirdlabel.Thosegarishlycolored
ExcelloandNascosingles.Anunknown
independentlabelfromaruraladdress
inTexasorTennessee:We justhad to
havethem.
Thequest for recordsmeantmore than
a trip toourneighborhood recordstore.
Formanyofus itmeant visits toyard
salesandfleamarkets.Itmeantfinding
abandonedstashesat radiostations,
jukeboxoperators, orout-of-business
distributorships.Wenever knewwhat
wasout there.Vacationswereplanned
aroundrecordhunting trips.Ararefind
meantbraggingrights.ElvisonSun.Ray
PriceonBullet.George‘Corky’Jones
onPep.MerleHaggardonTally.Bob
WillsonConqueror.LorettaLynnon
Zero.TheLightCrustDoughboyson
Vocalion.CarlPerkinsonFlip.The
worldwasamoreexcitingplacebecause
these recordswerehiddenaway in it.
Not just themusic–but the records.
Thesongsonthiscollectioncelebrate
theworldofphonograph recordsacross
fivedecadesofcountryandrockabilly
