friday favorites :: a piece of history

I have been talking about getting a record player FOREVER. Like, years and years ago. I never did because they are pretty expensive and my bedroom is already full of things, so I have no idea where I would put it. 

But something magical happened last weekend. I went to brunch with a friend and we decided to check out this record store around the corner from my house. I'd held off on that idea for a while... because I knew as soon as I set foot in that place, I would fall in love. And I did. The guy that owns the store has the most amazing collection... so much goodness! His store is five years old and I told him I wanted to quit my corporate job and come work there. (Joking, but not really. Little does he know.) I could spend hours in that place, which is what I plan to do soon!

Anyway, I left the store that day with four records. Then I said, "Well, I guess I really do have to get a record player now." Then this happened!

Crappy picture, but you get the gist. Total happiness ensued! 

My roommate asked me why I wanted to get a record player when everything is in mp3 format now. Why would you want this bulky machine with giant discs that you have to buy and store? For me, it's a piece of history.  From the early phonograph, these date back to 1877 when Thomas Edison came up with the invention. The whole chunk of time from the 50's to the 80's, when so much good music was developed, the only way to listen was through records! I grew up listening to my dad's records (he refuses to give them up or even let me touch his turntable to this day). It's the way major music distribution started! We wouldn't even have CD's or digital music without the origin of records. It was a major discovery to figure out how to get music to the masses so they could listen from the comfort of their homes. And records are such a cool preservation of music of a certain time period. They haven't been changed. They have the same sound they did 50+ years ago. Had the record player not been invented, I don't think America would have fallen in love with half the songs we consider to be classics today. My favorites are the old-school live albums... so special to hear actual people of that time clapping and cheering and singing along to a live show! I have a live Johnny Cash album that I'm in love with because I enjoy hearing the people in the background who were present at his concert so many years ago.

So... mp3's are a great advancement of our abilities and an easy way to listen to music. But I buy records because I love being transported to a different time and place, and to remember how it all started.