Record Store Days: From Vinyl to Digital and Back Again

Not only does this book evoke many nostalgic memories, but it has many terrific old photos and wonderfully-descriptive written material.

This book does an excellent job of covering what was once a regular routine of ordinary music lovers; making weekly sojourns into the unique social media beehives of the day. Making record shopping runs was once a part of millions people's lives. Going to look for the newest and coolest releases of everyone's favorite music, whatever that might be. The sights and especially sounds of local independent record stores was and as we find out, still is an important part of audiophiles all across the country. Looking for that newest release, or a "holy grail" album you may have been searching for years to find was all part of the fun of going to these iconic shops that were a part of every community. Many have gone by the wayside, but a few have survived, and Gary Calamar has done an excellent tribute to what once was, and in a few cases still exists to this day. The excitement of seeing a few a the stores I was lucky enough to visit in my lifetime made this book more than worthwhile for me. In this day of downloads and music offering being limited to the large retail outlets, it was fun to take a trip down memory lane, and also exciting to see a few places where store owners still operate music meccas with a personal touch because the music that is hardest to find, is sometimes also the best. Congratulations to Mr. Calamar for a job well done!

If you love music and feel nostalgia for the record stores of yesteryear, you will absolutely love this beautifully illustrated, exhaustively researched and heartfelt memoir and tribute to the vanished world of vinyl and the cluttered shops and unforgettable characters that sold the music we grew up with. Highly recommended.

I remember riding my bike downtown on sunny Saterday mornings to the local record store. I would walk up and down the hardwood floors fingering through hundreds of vinyl lps. So much fun. I only wish now that I would have taken pictures of that little shop. It is where I purchased so many of my first albums, and the tickets to my first concerts. This book takes me right back to that time period. Just like so many wonderful things we take for granted these mom and pop shops are sadly disappearing. I am glad to hear that there is a bit of a comeback in the lp. We all have that desire to travel back in time, music has such a way of doing that. Where did so many of us get that music? At our favorite record store. Great book to own or gift.

This was a fun, colorful look at the birth, death and rebirth of record stores in the U.S. from the earliest days through the beginning of the 21st century. The book seemed to focus mostly on retailers in and around Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area.

An interesting overview of the "good ole' days" , especially for those of a "certain age", though I must confess, I firstlearned of this book from my 30-something son, who is really into collecting old and new vinyl albums; I think that some ofmy old albums may have become "new" additions to his collection! "Record Store Days" is more than just a book about music, but for some of us, it recalls life experiences of a kidgrowing up in the 1950's-1960's in America.

Great book! If you happened to be one of the 'cool' people that hung out in record stores looking for that unique sound that you could share with the other 'cool' people, this book is for you... Gary Calamar and Phil Galo follow the history of the record business back to it's early beginnings, giving insight into the reasons why most of the popular record stores looked like a rummage sale explosion. I enjoyed this and highly recommend it to any 'boomer' out there.

Cool book that examines various aspects of record stores, a dying instition. Lots of cool photos of some of the most legendary locations in their prime. Recommended for anyone who ever hung out at these places that are soon to be a thing of the past...

Great book!

Great product and service

I've been collecting records (vinyl, then CD, then both again) for five decades, and lived through the rise and fall of record stores. This book looks at exactly that cycle, starting with the early cylinders and moving through to the streaming era, each decade (roughly) given a chapter. The book looks at the motivating factors in the changes of record stores, how the chains and independents came into being and faded away, and is replete with photos and stories. It's an interesting and easy read and for those who are into music collections, there's something for everyone to learn (and remember back when...).Not everything is perfect with this book: the binding immediately cracked and the cover (which is just stiffer cardboard) fell off as soon as I opened the book (being very gentle with it). A little better design of the book would be nice from the publisher.

Avvincente, belle foto e un po' di nostalgia per questo testo che ripercorre la storia del disco nero, della sua ascesa, del suo declino e della sua rinascita (?)... Decisamente rivolto agli amanti del 'feticcio disco' che se - come nel caso del sottoscritto - hanno superato gli 'anta' lo leggeranno con un pizzico di nostalgia; rigorosamente in Inglese, prezzo di vendita ottimo, consigliatissimo.

Good read, great take on the Record Business. Should be of interest to anyone interested the changes and decline of the music industry.