Shops in WA, SF, LA and S Diego

michaelvee

michaelvee

Ikon Class
Joined
Apr 29, 2011
Location
Italy, Bologna
I'll be for a few days in Washington, SF, LA and San Diego. Can anybody tell me the names of some interesting shops there selling brit invasion / 60 garage punk? would be grateful since it's hard to pick those shopnames from the net. Thx.
 
I really liked both Grooves on Market, and Recycled Records on Haight, in SF. Mind you with rents there the prices aren't going to excite you, but for quality and variety of old stock. They were worth checking out. There was also a place in a mainly residential area with loads of 45s on Page (I think, or one parallel) not far from Grooves, but mostly all bigger label '60s. No idea what it was called and the hours seemed very sporadic. Someone at Grooves could probably give directions. Great old style diner right by Grooves too.

In Seattle Jive Time has great bargain bins though mainly for LPs, especially their bins in the antique market in Fremont. Not sure if Bop Street is still in Fremont right now but he used to be mind-blowing and still would be if on a smaller scale. Satisfaction has been known to have some oddball vintage and area 45s.
 
Rockaway is your best bet for 45s in LA, as far as I can tell. Lots of promo stuff there and it's all a dollar apiece - came away with a few major-label garage/psych goodies from there. Amoeba seems to have some garage records at "market" prices - that is, they're kept on display away from the others - but the other 45 stock may be worth looking through as well.

Caveman Vintage Music, in Chinatown, has a small selection of garage that's somewhat overpriced. But the vintage instruments and electronics are worth it for the eye candy value. ;)

Make a quick trip down to Pasadena and check out Poo Bah, they've got a nice selection as well. I passed on two promo copies of the Collectors' "She" there...really wish I had not done that!
 
San Diego record shops are really pointless. M-Theory, Off The Record and Record City will make you wish you hadn't wasted your time. I can hook you up with a couple of dealer buddies that would be much more fruitful.... Shoot me an email to [email protected] and I'll send you their info.
 
I haven't been to SF in years, but I'll comment on a few of the shops Rebecca mentioned.

Grooves is run by Ray Anderson who did the Holy See light show back in the '60s, one of the lesser-known light shows but they're on some posters. He knew everybody in the scene at that time in mid-late '60s San Francisco and probably has some fine posters for sale. He has great records but his shop can be hit-or-miss.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/grooves-inspiralled-vinyl-san-francisco

The 45 shop in San Francisco is Rooky Ricardos, on Haight St. near Fillmore, been there for 20 years, mostly soul music.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/rooky-ricardos-records-san-francisco

A few blocks away is Jack's Record Cellar, which someone recently told me was closed but I'm not sure if that's true. If it's open it's worth checking out only because it's an ancient record shop, and it's where Roy Loney used to work, or may still for all I know. Ask for garage and maybe, just maybe they'll pull something out from behind the counter.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/jacks-record-cellar-san-francisco

Also nearby is Groove Merchant which was a big deal once in the funk/soul/jazz world and may turn up something: http://www.fogworld.com/gm/

Recycled on Haight was always a fun shop that would price decent VG records quite cheaply. Your best bet may be the ugly Amoeba further up on Haight, which once was a classic bowling alley but is now a concrete box. They get the largest quantity of records of any shop in SF and may be the only one that isn't completely picked over when you're looking.

Have fun, wish I was going!

Also, I have a friend in the Mission who deals records, I don't know if he has any garage right now but I can see if he's available.

In the Mission there's Dijital Fix, mostly for LPs:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/dijital-fix-san-francisco
 
Once I saw High Noon doing an in-store in Jacks - on a 6x6 stage about 8 feet above ground level. It was like calling 'band in the upper corner pocket'.
 
Thanks a lot Beccabear, Harvestman, Monstermike, Chas and Rich for most competent and comprehensive info. Since I'll be just a few days in each of the places, now I can pick the best shops without running around pointlessly, so your info is precious. I promise I'll post my finds at his forum to share for everyone. Thanks again my friends, and best greetings from Italy! (Make sure to call me up if you should make it over here...)

PS: so really zero shops in Washington, huh?
 
Rich Strauss said:
You already know this, but the best source for 60's garage 45s in the world is Barry Wickham. He's in Petaluma which is 45 minutes north of SF. Well worth a visit.
Click to expand...

Does he take visitors if he does not know them personally, only from his auctions?
 
WA is a big place. Do you mean Seattle and Tacoma? Tacoma has a few record shops on 6th Ave. The only one I would go for sure is Golden Oldies. Seattle has three useful stores: Jive Time (mostly LPs), Golden Oldies, and Bop Street. Bop Street is the best bet for finding genuinely good garage 45s, but they are priced high and most of the good stuff ends up on ebay (the Trenchmen 45 just sold on ebay came out of that store). Golden Oldies is the best shop for finding a decent random 45, timing is the key with that place. There are a lot of places in Seattle that sell "vinyl" but no need to go unless you like to hang out with guys in beards and caps telling you why Kraftwerk (or Can, or Faust) is the greatest band ever...
 
michaelvee said:
PS: so really zero shops in Washington, huh?
Click to expand...

In Seattle, Bop Street in Ballard is probably your best bet. There's a ton of 45s on the balcony. But they've been picked over. Ask the owner, Dave Vorhees, if he's gotten any new garage 45s. He may pull out a box from the back room. On the plus side, the store is very pleasant with very tall ceilings & lots of natural light. The 45s are neatly filed alphabetically in long 45 boxes along the walls of the balcony. Theres plenty of tables to sort through them in the middle of the balcony. On the minus side, nothing is priced. Good luck.
 
Are you magically avoiding Oregon? You have to pass thru it if you're travelling on the surface....at any rate, if you find yourself in Portland, Crossroads music is sorta like an all music antique mall with lots of everything from many dealers. Definitely worth a look.
 
Perkeo said:
Are you magically avoiding Oregon? You have to pass thru it if you're travelling on the surface....at any rate, if you find yourself in Portland, Crossroads music is sorta like an all music antique mall with lots of everything from many dealers. Definitely worth a look.
Click to expand...
I used to find a lot of good records at Sonic Recollections on SE Belmont.
 
You'd be much better off just getting up early on Friday/Saturday mornings and hitting the garage sales. California may no longer be part of the United States :(but it's still one of the best places to find great records at garage sales.
 
chas_kit said:
I used to find a lot of good records at Sonic Recollections on SE Belmont.
Click to expand...
Y'know I often forget about that place, but they are worth a visit once in awhile. Exiled records and of course Mississippi records deserve a look too...
 
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