Record Store Day Recap – From Abilene To Arlington [PHOTOS]

National Record Store Day was this past Saturday, April 16th. I had a great time shopping for vinyl LPs and 45s, and came away with some awesome albums.

I started early on Friday and shopped with my buddy John at Abilene's own 'The Record Guys' on South Leggett. Found some mint LPs at just 2 bucks each. Check his store if you want to get back into spinning your music in analog. He's got vintage restored turntables, as well as several thousand records at great prices.

On Saturday morning, we left Abilene to go to 'Forever Young Records' in Arlington. 'Forever Young' is a warehouse full of vinyl, new and used. And being such a large independent store, they always get a good stock of the 'Record Store Day' limited edition releases. I picked up the first two Tom Petty albums on Blue and White vinyl, along with a nice selection of very limited 45 picture sleeves. The picture sleeve 45 of Queen's 'Keep Yourself Alive' is especially noteworthy for both the cover and the pristine sound in the grooves. Check out the haul of wax in the photo here

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I probably spent too much money, but hey, it's only one day a year. And a lot of the vinyl is released for Record Store Day only. When it's gone, it's gone. My wife and I walked out of 'Forever Young' with just over $300 worth of merchandise. I was feeling a little queasy about the money until my buddy Jeff checked out at the counter and laid down over $700! You can always rationalize by comparison, right??

At the end of it all, I've got some stellar new music to listen to, in a warm, non-fatiguing analog format. If you've still got your turntable tucked away in a closet, drag it out and bring it back to life. It's a lot of fun to spin that black circle. And you can enjoy the cover art and liner notes a lot more than on that 5-inch cd.

Can't wait til Record Store Day 2011! What's your favorite record? Do you still have your collection gathering dust in a closet? Leave me a comment. I would love to hear from some fellow collectors.