You probably wouldn't be reading this if it hadn't been for James Lucas.
James was our next door neighbor back when I was five or six years old. He stocked the jukeboxes in our little town, and when it was time for those 45's to go, he sold them (for 10-cents each if memory serves) from a little store attached to his garage.
James was confined to a wheelchair, but he didn't let that slow him down much. For some reason, he took a liking to me and my brother and, in addition to letting us take rides on his lap in his wheelchair, we were always welcome in his little record store.
"King" and "The King"
I can still remember the first record we got at James's record store. It was "Love Me Tender" by Elvis Presley, which my brother (the brains of the outfit, since he was a couple of years older) and I found quite humorous for some reason. We played it over and over again, falling down laughing each time.
I still have the single of Nat King Cole singing the theme from the movie Raintree County. I think James must have just given us that one. Apparently nobody was breaking down the door to buy it, even for a dime. For me, it was like discovering oil in the backyard.
It's funny. I can't clearly remember details of what the inside of the little store looked like, but I have a lasting memory of the smell and feel of the place. My love of poking around in bins and boxes full of records, tapes and CDs started in James Lucas's record store.
James and his record shop are long gone now, as are so many small, independently owned record stores that have played such an important role in their little (and big) towns and were such an integral part of the lives of people like me and my big brother.
Record Store Day
Oh, they do still exist, with cool names like B-Side Records, Be-Bop Record Shop, Weird Harold's Records and The Main Street Jukebox. And on April 19, 2008 those and hundreds of other independent record stores will "simultaneously link and act as one with the purpose of celebrating the culture and unique place that they occupy both in their local communities and nationally" with an event called Record Store Day.
"I was introduced to lots of great music through my local record store," says Peter Gabriel. "It was a place where people knew music and they knew me, and could make great suggestions and discoveries. Whether it is in the physical world or on-line, the value of a great and knowledgeable record store has not gone away."
From Joan Jett: "The indie record stores are ... where we go to network, browse around, and find new songs to love. The stores whose owners and staff live for music have spread the word about exciting new things faster and with more essence than either radio or the press."
"Record stores keep the human social contact alive that brings people together," Ziggy Marley points out. "Without the independent record stores the community breaks down with everyone sitting in front of their computers."
Play the A-side
Check out the list of participating record stores -- there's probably one close to you. If so, I urge you to get up from the computer and enjoy a real music experience.
I'll be there. And I owe it all to James Lucas.
