Pasadena City College Flea Market - The Movie

So it is safe to say that I am now addicted to the PCC flea market for all of my record buying needs. The selection can't be beat, and the prices......oh the prices..... if you have already watched the video on YouTube you know that I promised to say what I bought. And I do below.

Know that I have gone to the PCC flea market pretty much every month for the past six months, which has netted me many many new albums. So here's the video, I really enjoyed talking to these guys they were super helpful, and as you will be able to see, very knowledgeable.

Get yourself to the PCC flea market on the first Sunday of every month and go buy some records from them!!

50,000 DJ's Can't Be Wrong
Volume One (Comp)


Bob Dylan
Greatest Hits (With Rare Poster)

Ravi Shankar
Live At Monterey Pop Festival

The Original Boogie Woogie
Piano Giants

Canned Heat
Cook Book (Best Of)

Rockin With J.T.
J.T. Brown & His Boogie Boys

Greatest Of The Groups
(Comp)

Original Oldies
Vol. 9 (Comp)

B.B. King
My Kind Of Blues

B.B. King
Rock Me Baby (Greatest Hits)

Meade Lux Lewis
Boogie Woogie

Elvis
G.I. Blues

Elvis
His Hand In Mine

Pete Johnson - Hadda Brooks
Swings The Boogie

Champion Jack Dupree
Archive Of Folk Music

Stan Getz
In Concert (Life)

Stan Getz
Stan Getz - Joao Gilberto

The Surf Stompers
The Original Surfer Stomp

The Johnny Cash Collection
Greatest Hits Vol. 2

Culture Club
Colour By Numbers

This Is Maurice Chevalier
RCA

Fats Waller
Sings & Swings

Taj Mahal
Giant Step - De Ole Folks At Home

Original Recordings By
Duke Ellington (2 record set)

T Bone Walker
Singing The Blues

Jimmy Reed
Best Of

Jimmy Reed
Roots Of The Blues

Howlin Wolf
The London Session

Otis Spann
The Bottom Of The Blues

Records you Find Everywhere - The Movie!!

So awhile ago I posted some of the records that I just keep running into everywhere that I go. This inspired us to get a little footage of me actually shopping for records and finding those exact records. Proof!

Battles!!!

We've added a new feature to the Sarah's Records Youtube page and I'll be adding some of them here as well. We're going to battle it out. Each week I'm picking two songs. They will either be two versions of the same song or songs from artists with a similar vibe.

And because it's a battle I will declare a winner!! Obviously in pretty much every case both versions are awesome in their own way, I'm just picking favorites.

Album of the Day: Nina Simone Jazz As Played In An Exclusive Side Street Club

Nina Simone isn't a new discovery but this album is just hitting the spot after a long Monday. Lots of standard tunes that any Nina Simone fan will recognize. The B side opens with the instrumental above. Just beautiful, and worth another listen if it has been awhile.

Record Hunting Tips

We do alot of record shopping to keep our collection fresh and exciting. Here are some tips and tricks that we've learned along the way.

Where to Start - Since I'm almost never searching for the newest release of anything there are alot of options.
     
Record Stores - The best selection and variety of genres can usually be found at your local record    store. You will probably pay more here than anywhere else but there is generally a level of quality to be expected where scratching and warping is concerned.

In addition, alot of record stores will buy records that you no longer want in exchange for store credit. This is a great way to refine your record collection.


Goodwill/ Thrift Store - As with anything else at a Goodwill or similar thrift stores, records can be really hit or miss. The good news is that records here are usually priced at $.50 cents to $1.00.

Often they appear to be your grandma's castoffs (Christmas music, lots of classical, musical theater). The selection is largely dependent on the neighborhood surrounding the store so keep that in mind. There is the opportunity to find something great here, our copy of J.J. Cale Troubador came from a Goodwill.

Flea Market - Flea markets are pretty big here in LA, the Rose Bowl and Melrose Trading Post both have quite alot of records. The selection at these flea markets is pretty hip, obviously the type of music likely depends quite a bit on the other types of things being sold at the market.

At the flea markets here they stock alot of the usual suspects (Beatles, Rolling Stones, Zepplin), often at prices above what they would be asking at your local record store. The good thing about flea markets however is your ability to haggle, and you can buy so many other fun things while you are there!

Ebay - Ebay is best when you really know what you are looking for. Sometimes I use it as a method to price check something before I buy it. I have been burned before ending up with records that are so warped or scratched that they would barely play. As with all things on Ebay it's fun to browse but I generally only buy if it is something that I cannot find anywhere else or if I kind find it for cheap enough that I'm willing to take a chance.

Craigslist - Craigslist may sound like an odd place to look for records but it is very useful for two reasons. We keep an eye on our local Craigslist for people giving away or selling big collections of records. If you are just starting your record collection this is a great place to start.

The second great use for Craigslist is to check the listings for local yard sales that are selling records.


Yard Sales - Last but certainly not least, the yard sale. The best way to search for records this way is to set aside an entire day of your weekend. We make a list, trying to stay within a neighborhood or a few nearby neighborhoods.

You really never know what you will find at a yard sale but sometimes what people are selling will surprise you and it will generally only run you about $1.00 a record. Alot of times if you grab a big stack you can get a really good deal and it gives you the opportunity to take a chance on an unknown album. We've discovered that yard sales are also a pretty great way to meet other vinyl enthusiasts.



Where do you find your records?

These Records are in Every Store and at Every Yard Sale.

Occasionally now that I have let the world know what a record collecting freak I am I will receive a donation from someone trying to get rid of mom's or dad's or grandma and grandpa's record collection (see above).

It's really fun to dig through hundreds of records in search of gems in the comfort of your own home. In addition to the donations a still spend quite a bit of time sifting through the records at shops, yard sales, and goodwill. Wherever I am there is always at least one copy of the following albums.......

1. Linda Ronstadt - Simple Dreams
2. Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristofferson - A Star is Born
3. Chuck Mangione - Feels So Good
4. Some variety of 1950's era Christmas music
5. Something by Sergio Mendes

I'm sure there are more but these are the heavy hitters. Why is this?

And what did I buy......

4000 Holes!

We had so much fun on our trip to Spokane! Hopefully we will be doing more record store visits like this in the future. I will be posting pictures of what we bought soon!