This was a very special week for Diggin’ the Crates. Over the weekend, the Philadelphia suburbs played host to a summit of the record-heads as Eric, Adam, and I took the region’s used record stores by storm. This is the play-by-play.

Day One: Siren Records

I was a couple hours late getting to Adam’s house, thanks to awful Saturday morning traffic in D.C. When I arrived, the guys were chomping at the bit (which looked remarkably like “browsing Newsvine on their MacBooks”). Eventually, I dragged them away from the computers and we hit the road.

Our first score came in the late afternoon, in Doylestown, PA. As we approached Siren Records, all the signs were there: a crowd of sullen, poorly dressed teenagers blocked the entrance to a second-floor shop that moonlights as a concert venue. The music in the store was deafening. The records were excellent, and we got right down to work.

My LPs

• The Great Kai & J.J.: This 1960 session for Impulse is an outstanding LP featuring two giants of jazz trombone: Kai Winding and J.J. Johnson. Bill Evans leads the rhythm section. It’s a great record that’s also available on CD.
• The Living Word - Live Music from the Original Movie Soundtrack WattStax 2: This is a sizzling live funk and soul concert from 1973 on vinyl. After a somewhat puzzling (and interminable) intro from Jessie Jackson, the artists get down to business. Periodic interludes from Richard Pryor round things out nicely for the sample-inclined.
• Deep Throat Part II - the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Yes, that’s Deep Throat the porno. This slinky soundtrack comes from a 1974 release shrouded in controversy. From Wikipedia: It has long been claimed that Deep Throat Part II was originally shot with the intention of releasing it as a hardcore feature and that hardcore sequences shot for the film were stolen while the film was in post-production. Director Joe Sarno, however, has insisted in interviews that this is not the case.Why make an R-rated sequel to an X-rated movie called Deep Throat? Don’t ask me.

My Singles

• The Ohio Players - 1974 - Fire/Together
• The Chi-Lites - 1973 - Stoned Out Out of My Mind/Someone Else’s Dream
• The O’Jays - 1974 - Sunshine Part I/Sunshine Part II
• Earth, Wind & Fire - 1975 - Shining Star/Yearnin’, Learnin

After a quasi-Cuban dinner at some restaurant featuring 10-ounce burgers, we headed back to Adam’s to listen to our records.

Day Two: Princeton Record Exchange

Eventually, everyone was up, about, and together. We hit the road, stopping briefly for breakfast/lunch/drinks/shit-talking on the way to Princeton, NJ.

Princeton Record Exchange is an unassuming barnlike structure off the ritzy main Princeton drag. The crowd here was older, and much more focused on used vinyl. Turnover at Princeton Record Exchange is high, as evidenced by the massive “New Arrivals” bins. New records were expensive, but used gems were cheap and plentiful. I talked myself out of a $50 original pressing of Horace Silver’s Song for My Father and hit the crates.

My LPs

• John Coltrane - 1957 - Blue Train: There’s very little I can say about this record that hasn’t already been said. It’s a true classic, and one of the most important records ever made. Pick it up.
• Tower of Power - 1973 - Tower of Power: Tower of Power’s self-titled LP is one of the first funk albums I ever heard, and one of my favorites, but this is the first time I’ve seen a used copy for sale. $3? Oh, hell yeah.
• Mongo Santamaria - 1964 - Mighty Mongo: Great, drum-heavy Latin jazz here. Mongo delivers his usual frenetic grooves. Outstanding.
• Stevie Wonder - 1972 - Talking Book: Stevie Wonder’s first big hit record. From AllMusic.com: What had been hinted at on the intriguing project Music of My Mind was here focused into a laser beam of tight songwriting, warm electronic arrangements, and ebullient performances — altogether the most realistic vision of musical personality ever put to wax…
• Run-D.M.C. - 1988 - Raising Hell: This is the only hip-hop record I bought (an aberration), but I made it count. This record was an absolute blockbuster: “It’s Tricky,” “My Adidas,” and the other classic jams are all here. I’ve already entertained an offer from someone to buy the record for twice what I paid.
• The Clash - 1977 - The Clash: Eric scored this one, but since he already owned a copy he shipped it my way. You already know the story: it’s one of the most iconic and influential punk records ever made.
• The Clash - 1982 - Combat Rock: Again, thanks to Eric for finding this one. “Should I Stay or Should I Go,” “Rock the Casbah,” “Straight to Hell” - all present, all correct.
• Edward R. Murrow - “I can hear it now…”: This is sort of the odd record out: it’s a collection of famous speeches and quotes from the post-W.W. II era. Good sample fodder, and cheap as hell.

My Singles

• The Spinners - 1975 - Games People Play/Living a Little, Laughing a Little
• The Four Tops - 1965 - I Can’t Help Myself/Games People Play
• Al Green - 1985 - Building Up/Going Away
• The Supremes - 1965 - I Hear a Symphony/Who Could Ever Doubt My Love
• Chuck Berry - 1972 - Johnny B. Goode/My Ding-A-Ling

Eric’s Records

• Thelonious Monk - The Unique
• Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
• Marvin Gaye - What’s Going On?
• Fugazi - Repeater
• Al Green - Livin’ for You
• The Beatles - The White Album
• T.Rex - Electric Warrior
• The Beatles - Revolver
• Duke Ellington - Ellington Indigos
• 45 : Nena - 99 Luft Ballons/99 Red Balloons
• 78: Duke Ellington and his Orchestra - It’s Glory/Saratoga Swing

Adam’s Records

• Juno (movie soundtrack)
• The Beatles - Abbey Road
• David Bowie - Young Americans
• Moody Blues - Days of Future Past
• Led Zeppelin - In Through the Out Door
• New Pornographers - Challenger
• Jimmy Page - No Introduction Necessary
• 45: The Beatles - Come Together
• The Faint - Dance Macabre

Heading Home

All in all, it was a great trip. Everyone got some outstanding records, we had fun shooting the shit, and it was generally sweet. Thanks, guys.

More record pictures from the trip are available on Flickr.
Cross-posted to Newsvine.com.

Read more articles in the “Diggin’ the Crates” series.

© 2008 Evan Mix for Listen In. Some rights reserved.

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