Reflections in Vinyl – Your History is Important

I have a couple walls in my house where I have framed and hung vinyl record albums. For those of you who are too young to remember “records”, at one time they came in three variations, played at different speeds on record players, or as audiofiles like to refer to them, turntables. Early versions of records were 78 rpm, made of shellac and had one song on each side. To put it in perspective, at 78 rpm the 12″ disks had room for about 5 minutes of music on each side. In 1948 Columbia Records introduced the first “vinyl” 33 1/3 rpm records. It was a big step forward because at that speed each side of the record could hold around 20 – 21 minutes of music. They became known as “LPs” or long play albums. Around the same time RCA introduced the 45 rpm record. It was a short play record and usually had one or maybe two songs per side. They were the medium used in “juke boxes” which were popular in bars and entertainment venues. Put in a dime and select one song, put in a quarter and you got to pick three songs. Drop the coin in, push a couple buttons, the jukebox would select the 45s containing the songs you wanted to hear and play them through the speakers located on the front of the jukebox.

I remember my Dad having a small record collection – mostly “LPs” from artists like Nat King Cole, The Ink Spots, Harry Belafonte and some Italian tenors like Mario Lanza and Al Martino. He had a Magnavox console record player. It was as big as most desks and had “stereo” speakers (stereo was a new innovation in sound and a lot of records were still mono – single channel.) The record player had a tall spindle that allowed the user to stack several LPs on it. It had a device that would hold the LPs above the record that was on the turntable, automatically dropping the next album on top of the one that had just finished playing so the music would continue without needing to manually change records. It was very convenient but really bad for the vinyl records because the vinyl to vinyl friction would scratch and mar the records.

That old record player played a role in developing my love of music. I was probably only 7 or 8 years old when I became fascinated with how music went from the grooves on the vinyl record, through that vibrating needle, into a series of tubes (no transistors back then) and out though a couple round speakers. I was always really careful about placing the needle on the album itself because any wrong move would result in a scratch on the surface of the record that would created a distinct “popping” sound as the needle passed over the scratch. Believe me when I tell you, scratching any of my Dad’s LPs was worthy of corporal punishment.

Fast forward a few years, I had my first job as a paperboy, had been playing the electric organ for a while and joined my first rock group. We didn’t write our own music and were what today would be referred to as a garage cover band. The reality was, we were all in junior high school, really didn’t have a clue about what we were doing but shared a love for rock and roll and performing and of course had aspirations of fame and fortune. The only way we had to learn songs from our favorite bands was to sit around one of our Dad’s record players and listen to album tracks repeatedly until we could mimic the right cords, riffs, rhythms and lyrics. We didn’t care how long it took because we were having fun learning and playing the songs. Of course it necessitated being able to buy the albums produced by our favorite bands. That was how I began to build my collection. I never imagined those old albums and their covers would someday tell part of the story of my life and be so important in sharing that story with my wife and children and now with you.

One of the first albums in my collection was The Beatles Rubber Soul. Released in 1965 it is still one of my all-time favorites with songs like Norwegian Wood, You Won’t See Me, Nowhere Man and the classic Michelle. If you look closely at the photo above you will see Rubber Soul. It is the second album from the top of the second row on the right. Panning across the wall, from right to left, you will see albums from groups like The Doors, Little Feet, The Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, The Temptations, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Jethro Tull, Earth Wind and Fire, Joanie Mitchell, Seals and Crofts, Chicago, Cream and even Michael Jackson. You will also see albums from more obscure groups like Blodwyn Pig, Spooky Tooth, Caravan and Steelers Wheel. Each of those albums hold music that somehow relates to some part of my life. Each of those covers is a work of art by itself and worthy of display. The covers are a creative and important part of the story of the music pressed into the vinyl.

Vinyl records started losing their appeal in the late 70s with the advent of cassette tapes and later, compact disks. The Apple invention of the iPod digital music player, the iTunes music store, today’s satellite and streaming services and other ways of delivering music to us made vinyl seem archaic. Interesting though, there has been a recent resurgence in interest in vinyl LPs. They have a richness in the way they deliver sound to the ear that cannot be matched digitally. Small record press companies are springing up in larger cities and record stores are appearing again. Artists are again crafting beautiful and meaningful covers for the albums.

I am so thankful Terrie allowed me to hold on to all those old albums. We have carted them around from house to house over the years of our marriage and until we built the house we are now in, they stayed stored in vinyl bins hidden in basement storage rooms. It wasn’t long after we moved into our current home when she came up with a great idea. Trying to decide what to do with a long, bare wall in our basement game area she suggested it might be a great place to display some of my old album covers. She had seen a frame made for displaying LPs and thought we should buy a few to see how they might look in a grouping on the wall. We had fun selecting which album covers we thought would look good and began expanding the display a little at a time. Today the display is made up of over 80 album covers (all containing the original records) and covering portions of three walls.

So what’s the point, what’s the lesson in all this stuff about records and album covers?The lesson for me is God gives each of us a unique history during our time on earth. He gives us the freedom to construct that history in our own way. He also lets us create that history as part of our testimony which we can use to help others avoid some of our failures and to build on the joys we experience. How we record and remember that history is also up to us. The free gift of God’s grace relates directly to the freedom He gives us to build our personal history. Sure, we stumble around, creating scratch after scratch on the album of our life but He is always there, ready to give our life new, clean sound without the distraction of the popping sound coming from those scratches. In my case an important part of remembering my history is contained in those album covers decorating our basement walls. Each of those works of art represent a date, a decision, a time with family or friends, a life altering event or a dream. Terrie and I often sit together at the bar in our basement over a meal and talk about the memories some of those album covers bring up. She has listened as I relate various moments in my life associated with specific albums. I told her stories about the first band I was in after we moved to Colorado. I can pick out albums on the wall and tell her stories about why I bought a particular record. I also relate specific records to the members of that band – what made each of them unique and how their stories impacted my story. Through my high school years and first year in college I played in several different bands, each comprised of a special group of characters. Memories of each of those guys are intertwined with one or more of the albums on my wall. It might be a single track on a record, the musical style of a certain member of the band that recorded the record, or even something in the artwork on the cover, but every person I ever performed with is on that wall somewhere. I knew Ed Sullivan was never going to invite us to be on his show and we would never play on The Midnight Special with Wolfman Jack, but I was having a blast. It was also very clear to me when the time came to give it up. The last band I was in was named Fresh Air and developed a good following in the 3.2 bar circuit in the Denver area. We also became known for being a good band to play at “Raves” around the area. There were six of us in the band and four of the six had developed a bad habit of doing various drugs before performances. I told them the first time their drug use impacted a performance I would be done. It wasn’t long after, while playing at a late night rave in eastern Colorado, with about 300 people in attendance, the incident that ended my band days happened. Our lead guitarist had dropped acid before we went on stage. About half way through our second set he fell head first off the stage. Fortunately he wasn’t seriously injured but could not continue to perform. That was it for me. I played as a fill in for other groups at a few gigs after that but really was done with that whole scene.

A couple weeks ago I made the decision to purchase a new turntable. I have not had one for well over 30 years. I was excited to hook it up and begin pulling some of those records off the wall and listen to them again for the first time in decades. As Terrie and I enjoyed the music of Loggins and Messina and Phil Collins the memories again came flooding back. She sat quietly, listening, as I recounted experiences, events, people and places in my life, each one related to one of those albums on the wall. Each of those memories gave her a deeper insight into how I have arrived at this place in our relationship and in our lives in general. I look forward to again spinning on the platter the first Doors album which contains the long version of “Light My Fire”, which features the first organ solo I learned to play. After that I will relive the rush of playing the solo from Santanas’ “Evil Ways” before reveling in the harmonic chords and rhythms of Steve Miller’s version of “I’m a Man.” Songs like the version of “Chest Fever” done by Three Dog Night and In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida by Iron Butterfly also have iconic organ solos that I can’t wait to hear again. And yes, they are all on the wall.

Your history is an important part of your testimony to Gods love for you. Despite our human failures, He wants us to experience a full and abundant life. A life where the popping sound of the scratches we create is replaced with beautiful, new vinyl – His forgiveness for our failure to be good stewards of the freedom He gave us through the birth of His son, Jesus. Our individual histories contain both highs and lows, successes and failures. Each one is important in telling our story to others and is an important opportunity to lift each other up through sharing our experiences. Those albums help tell my story. Maybe for you it is a book or collection of books. Photos are always important in remembering our history and the stories that made us who we are now. Whatever tool works for you, don’t hide your history in a bin in the basement. Embrace it, display it, learn from it, and let others learn from it. Be grateful for your history. It is a gift from a loving father who made you wholly unique from anyone else in history.