Crate Digger’s Gold: RockNRoll Music Sale

Well I was seriously jonesing for vinyl yesterday – I braved miserable driving conditions to visit the winter installment of the just west of Minneapolis RockNRoll Music Sale.  But it was worth it.  This visit was about quality over volume – rather than stock up on the dollar records, I focused on the top-shelf stuff.  I had a 50 bones and I spent every one.

My top find was a near mint copy of Buckingham Nicks for $12 – not an original gate-fold, but still a great value.  The recent passing of Lou Reed had me searching for some of his work and I found two mid-70s classics: Coney Island Baby and Street Hassle.  A couple of Material albums found their way into my hands along with a couple of Robert Cray albums.  I have been looking for a long time for a reasonably priced Grateful Dead Wake of the Flood – found one.  A real surprise was a sealed copy of a 2005 Blue Merle album (that kind of predates the recent vinyl craze – why was that there?). Style Council’s Internationalist rounded out the more than a dollar stuff.  The dollar bin was looking good, but I only had $3 bucks left so I had to practice some restraint: Everything But The Girl (eponymous), Gram Nash’s Songs For Beginners, and Hall & Oates Abandoned Luncheonette.  Look forward to some reviews of some of these LPs.

This sale (and its companion sales through out the rest of the year – watch their Facebook) has a great selection and very reasonable prices.  For example the Buckingham Nicks at $12 – that would be twice that at a record show or on Discogs.com.  Most titles are well under a fin.  Add the funky location (Jeffery’s garage when the weather permits or a recording studio when the weather does not), friendly proprietors and you have one great crate digging experience – worth risking you life to get there in post blizzard treacherous conditions!