Must Have Boxed Sets

Live At The Olympia (2CD/1DVD) [LIVE] R.E.M.


Special three disc (two CDs + DVD) edition includes a bonus DVD that contains a film of the Dublin shows by Vincent Moon and Jeremiah. 2009 live set featuring 39 songs from their acclaimed 2007 working rehearsals in Dublin, Ireland. R.E.M. set up camp at the venerable Olympia Theatre in Ireland's capital city and tested new material over five nights before passionate, capacity crowds. This live album was produced by Dublin native Jacknife Lee who, along with R.E.M., co-produced Accelerate, the album which emerged from these shows.

Live At The Olympia (2CD/1DVD)


The Unforgettable Fire (Super Deluxe Edition 2CD+DVD) [BOX SET] [LIMITED EDITION] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED] U2

 Limited Edition Box Set: containing 2 CDs (remastered album and bonus audio CD), a DVD with live footage, documentary and videos, a 56 page hardback book with liner notes by The Edge, Brian Eno, Danny Lanois, Bert Van de Kamp and Niall Stokes, and 5 photographic prints


The Unforgettable Fire (Super Deluxe Edition 2CD+DVD)



Sounds of the Universe Deluxe Box Set (3 CDs/DVD/2 Books) [BOX SET] [EXTRA TRACKS]
Depeche Mode

Limited four disc (three CDs + DVD) edition of their 2009 album includes two 84 page books with lyrics and exclusive album and studio session photography. two exclusive enamel badges, poster and five artcards sealed in a collectors envelope with certificate of authenticity. Disc One is the Sounds Of The Universe album. Disc Two contains studio tracks not available on the album plus remixes. Disc Three includes demos from different stages of the band's career. The DVD contains behind the scenes footage on the making of the album, the video clip for 'Wrong' and more. Eclectic and energized, the band's new release is their most dazzling and diverse album in decades. Recorded in Santa Barbara and New York, Depeche Mode returned to using a lot of vintage gear, from analogue synthesizers to drum machines, in order to conjure up the retro-futuristic arrangements featured on the album. Lyrically the release contains many of the group's enduring obsessions plus more overt black humor than any of their previous collections. The release marks a reunion between the band and producer Ben Hillier, who worked with the band on Playing The Angel. Features the single 'Wrong'. Mute.

Sounds of the Universe Deluxe Box Set (3 CDs/DVD/2 Books)
 
 
 
The Stone Roses 20th Anniversary (LIMITED Collector's Edition) [BOX SET] [COLLECTOR'S EDITION] [EXTRA TRACKS]

Manchester band the Stone Roses are partly responsible for the media renaming their home city "Madchester" in the late 80s/early 90s. Along with the Happy Mondays, Inspiral Carpets and the rave and acid-house scenes promoted by the Haçienda nightclub, the hype surrounding the Stone Roses' breakthrough brought the UK music media to England's north-west in droves.

THE STONE ROSES: COLLECTOR'S EDITION features 3 CDs, 3 heavyweight vinyl LPs, the Blackpool Live DVD, a 48-page book, six 12x12 art prints by band member John Squire, and a lemon-shaped USB which includes all audio content including "Pearl Bastard," John Leckie's personal home video "Up at the Sawmill: The Making of `Fool's Gold'" along with the six promo videos made for the album, five previously unheard backwards tracks, digital booklet, ringtones and wallpaper of this landmark album features a fully remastered version of the UK album by original producer John Leckie and Ian Brown, alongside a host of bonus discs, unseen footage, additional tracks and interviews with high profile Roses fans. The full DVD of that legendary Blackpool Empress Ballroom show is included while Disc 2 delivers a complete set of remastered B-sides and non-album A-sides for the band's Silvertone singles, including such favorites as `Mersey Paradise', `Elephant Stone', `Fools Gold', `What The World Is Waiting For' and `One Love'. A third CD features `The Lost Demos', a previously unheard and much sought after selection of early recordings of the album tracks, B-side single tracks, plus the never before heard track `Pearl Bastard'. Three heavyweight vinyl LPs also collate the material across 6 sides. Further unheard and unseen material comes in the form of five backwards tracks and John Leckie's personal home movie `Up at Sawmills: The Making of Fools Gold', which are contained on a Lemon shaped USB - in homage to the album's iconic sleeve art. The DVD in this collection features the legendary Blackpool gig plus all 6 of the promotional videos made during this period.

A 48-page book within the Collector's Edition features a host of unseen images and brand new interviews with the band, plus a poem and sketch by Reni exclusively for the collection, as well as interviews with super producer John Leckie and high profile fans Noel Gallagher, Peter Hook, Mark Ronson, Glasvegas and many others. This remarkable Collector's Edition also includes 6 John Squire 12" card art prints for the tracks `I Wanna Be Adored', `She Bangs The Drums', `Elephant Stone', `Fools Gold', `One Love' and `I Am The Resurrection'.

The Stone Roses 20th Anniversary (LIMITED Collector's Edition)

Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! Box Set Details

November 27 and 28 marked the 40th anniversary of the Rolling Stones concerts at Madison Square Garden that yielded the Rolling Stones' epochal live album, Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! Reviewing the original album in the November 12, 1970 issue of Rolling Stone, the late Lester Bangs wrote: "It's still too soon to tell, but I'm beginning to think Ya-Ya's just might be the best album they ever made. I have no doubt that it's the best rock concert ever put on record."

It's 40 years later and that statement remains as true as ever. In recognition of this historic occasion, ABKCO Records will release Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones In Concert: 40th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set and Super Deluxe Box Set in the U.S. and Canada on November 3rd. Both Box Sets will be released internationally by ABKCO and Universal Music Group on November 30th.

The Deluxe Box Set comprises three audio CDs including a remastered disc of the original Ya-Ya's repertoire as well as a disc of five previously unreleased Stones tracks recorded at the Madison Square Garden shows. The third CD encompasses unreleased performances by the shows' stellar openers: B.B. King and Ike & Tina Turner, five songs from the former and seven songs from the latter. The Box Set also includes a 56-page Collector's book featuring photos and an essay by Ethan Russell, the acclaimed photographer who accompanied the Stones on the '69 tour, whose book Let It Bleed: The Rolling Stones, Altamont, and the End of the Sixties is being released on November 2nd. The package also includes the original review by Lester Bangs, a series of recollections from a cross-section of fans who attended the concerts and a postcard size replica of the original Stones '69 tour poster by David Edward Byrd. There will also be a code enabling fans to download "I'm Free (Live)" for Guitar Hero 5 in a limited number of Box Sets.

Included as well is a bonus 27 minute DVD presented in 5.1 surround by legendary filmmakers Albert and David Maysles, also entitled Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The film includes brilliantly shot full-length performances of the five previously unreleased Stones songs -- "Prodigal Son, " "You Gotta Move," "Under My Thumb," "I'm Free" and "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction." Beyond the song performances, the film includes a sequence with Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts and Jack the Donkey during the cover shoot for the Ya-Ya's album, and backstage meetings between the Stones and some of rock music's most legendary artists.

The Super Deluxe edition of Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert is the same as the Deluxe with the addition of three vinyl LPs, one of which has etched images featuring the cover art and the Rolling Stones signatures.


Buy Here: 
Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones In Concert [40th Anniversary Super Deluxe Box Set] [3 LPs, 3 CDs + 1 DVD]



Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones In Concert [40th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set] [3 CDs + 1 DVD]


Did you know that fans can enter to win the new Rolling Stones box set Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!, a Gretsch drum kit, and much more, enter here:
 
http://gotdownloads.com/rollingstones/

Ask Mr. Music by Jerry Osborne

I am continuing our  feature: Ask "Mr. Music." Now in its 23rd year of syndication (1986-2009), Jerry Osborne's weekly Q&A feature will be a regular post every Wednesday from now on. Be sure to stop by Jerry's site (http://www.jerryosborne.com/) for more Mr. Music archives, record price guides, anything Elvis, buy & sell collectibles, record appraisals and much more. I thank Jerry for allowing the reprints.


FOR THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 30, 2009


DEAR JERRY: Listening to “Jerry Lee Lewis 25 All-Time Greatest Sun Recordings,” I discovered “Lewis Boogie” for the first time.


What I found so unusual is hearing someone giving a singing introduction of them self in the lyrics. “Lewis Boogie” begins with: “My name is Jerry Lee Lewis from Looosiana.”


When I played this for a friend, he said Jerry Lee is famous for third person references to himself in his music, and “Lewis Boogie” may be what started him using that gimmick.


What are some of those songs that include Jerry mentioning himself by name?
—Cedric Bailey, Anderson, Ind.


DEAR CEDRIC: Recorded in 1957, but not issued until the summer of '58, “Lewis Boogie” set in motion the self-mention tactic that became a trademark. Your friend is right.

“Lewis Boogie” (Sun 301) is the second of about 20 of his original compositions, the first being the extraordinary “End of the Road” (Sun 259), his debut single. Most folks know very little about his songwriting proficiency.

Among Jerry's many memorable tracks, including all his Pop and Country chart hits, some immediately come to mind wherein Jerry mentions either “Jerry,” “Jerry Lee,” or “Jerry Lee Lewis.” Not included here are tunes in which Jerry refers to himself only as “The Killer”:

“Lewis Boogie” (1956); “I Believe in You” (1965); “Once More with Feeling” (1970); “Sweet Georgia Brown” (1971); “Coming Back for More” (1971); “Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone” (1971); “Chantilly Lace” (1972); “Think About It Darlin'” (1972); “Who's Gonna Play This Old Piano” (1972); “Turn on Your Love Light” (1972); “No More Hanging On” (1973); “He Can't Fill My Shoes” (1974); “I Can Still Hear the Music in the Restroom” (1975); “Rockin' My Life Away” (1979); “Over the Rainbow” (1980); “When Two Worlds Collide” (1980); “Honky Tonk Stuff” (1980); “My Fingers Do the Talkin'” (1982); and “My Life Would Make a Damn Good Country Song” (1992). Others definitely exist, tucked away on about five dozen LPs and CDs, but finding them would require listening to hundreds of cuts.

Noteworthy too is Jerry's numerous live albums. Many contain concert versions of his hits with mentions of himself on tracks where that is not the case with the original recordings.

Now 74, Jerry Lee Lewis still maintains a very active work schedule. Having recently returned home from Brazil, he then flew to Europe for performances this month in France; Norway; the Czech Republic; Germany; and Sweden.

His latest single, written by Kris Kristofferson, is titled “Mean Old Man,” though I doubt Jerry is that. Shockingly, it is not on our list of ones with his name in the lyrics.


DEAR JERRY: Though I have been a record collector since the '50s, I have just recently become curious about the meaning of “C.C. Rider.”


What or who is “C.C. Rider”?
—Sam Cortright, Candor, N.Y.


DEAR SAM: “See See Rider Blues,” written and recorded in 1924 by Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, is generally regarded as simply a blues song about an “easy rider” — meaning a mooch of a boyfriend, an unfaithful one, or both.

Rainey's 78 rpm single (Paramount 12252), with accompaniment by Louis Armstrong, sold quite well for its time.

Of the approximate 150 versions inspired by Ma's original, the lyrics and their meaning varies widely as artistic license is often taken — even with the title.

Most recordings are shown only as “See See Rider,” though some use “C.C. Rider” for a title.

Of the five subsequent versions that became hit singles, it is coincidental how the titles alternate evenly: (1942) “See See Rider Blues” (Wee Bea Booze); (1957) “C.C. Rider” (Chuck Willis); (1963) “See See Rider” (LaVern Baker); (1965) “C.C. Rider” (Bobby Powell); and (1966) “See See Rider” (Eric Burdon and the Animals).

One interesting use of this song came along in the 1966 Top 10 medley, “Jenny Take a Ride,” by Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels.

While there is no mention of this portion of the medley in the title, they could easily have shown it as “See See Ryder.”


IZ ZAT SO? Though “See See Rider” was not a stateside hit single after 1966, by using it to open his live shows in the '70s, Elvis Presley made the song, and its sales, bigger than ever.

“See See Rider” is the title on all of the U.S. Elvis records; however, when issued on a single in the UK the label reads “C.C. Rider.”



Jerry Osborne answers as many questions as possible through this column. Write Jerry at Box 255, Port Townsend, WA 98368, e-mail: jpo@olympus.net, or visit his Web site: http://www.jerryosborne.com/. All values quoted in this column are for near-mint condition.

Copyright 2009 Osbourne Enterprises- Reprinted By Permission

This Date In Music History-December 2

Birthdays:

Tom McGuinness - Manfred Mann (1941)

Ted Bluechel Jr - Association (1942)

Dave Munden - Tremeloes (1943)

Screamin' Scott Simon - Sha Na Na (1948)

Michael McDonald - Doobie Brothers (1952)

Rick Savage - Def Leppard (1960)

Nate Mendel - Foo Fighters (1968)

Anthony "Treach" Criss - Naughty By Nature (1970)

Donna Matthews - Elastica (1971)

Nelly Furtado (1978)

Brian Chase - Yeah Yeah Yeahs (1978)

Britney Spears (1981) Biggest selling teenage act in the world with album sales over 40 million


They Are Missed:

Born on this day in 1906, Dr Peter Carl Goldmark, who invented the long-playing microgroove record in 1945. The invention went on to revolutionize the way people listened to music. Goldmark was killed in a car crash on December 7, 1977.

Folk singer David Blue died of a heart attack in 1982 while jogging in New York's Washington Square Park (age 41). Member of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue during the late 70's. He wrote "Outlaw Man" covered by The Eagles on their 1973 Desperado album.

Great composer Aaron Copland, who wrote "Fanfare for the Common Man," died in 1990 (age 90).

Singer Valerie Jones died in 2001 (age 45). One-third of the sister group The Jones Girls, who sang back-up vocals with Lou Reed, Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, Lou Rawls, Teddy Pendergrass and Betty Everett.

Kevin Coyne, a cult British songwriter who was once asked to join The Doors following Jim Morrison's death, died in Nuremberg, Germany in 2004 (age 60).

Dutch singer Mariska Veres from Shocking Blue died of cancer in 2006 (age 59). Had the 1970 #1 hit "Venus." One of my favorite female voices of the rock era, pick up any album by the Shocking Blue and you will agree.





History:

Gene Autry's song "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer," hit the record charts in 1949.

In 1957, "You Send Me," Sam Cooke's third single, was released on Keen Records and it became the #1 song in the country. It deposes "Jailhouse Rock," by Elvis Presley, from its seven-week run at the top of the charts.



In 1963, the Beatles recorded an appearance on the UK TV comedy program The Morecambe and Wise Show. The Beatles played ‘This Boy’, ‘All My Loving’, and ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ and also participate in comedy sketches with Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise. The program was broadcast on April 18, 1964.

In 1967, Jimmie Rodgers, the son of country music star Hank Snow, was found in his car with a fractured skull after a serious accident. He had three big hits in 1958 "Kisses Sweeter than Wine," "Oh Oh, I'm Falling in Love Again" and the Number One hit "Honeycomb." He recovers from the auto accident, but his career is over.

Today in 1967 the song "Daydream Believer" by the Monkees topped the charts and stayed there for 4 weeks.

Also in 1967, The Monkees album, ‘Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones Ltd’ went to #1 on the US album chart. It was their fourth album to sell over a million copies, following ‘The Monkees’, ‘More Of The Monkees’ and ‘Headquarters’.

In 1969, Cindy Birdsong of the Supremes was kidnapped at knifepoint by a maintenance man who worked in the building she lived in. She later escaped unharmed by jumping out of his car on the San Diego freeway. The kidnapper was arrested in Las Vegas four days later.

Eric Burdon launches a "Curb the Clap" campaign in 1970, aimed at fighting what he calls the "number one sickness in the record business today — VD." For every donation to the LA Free Clinic, Burdon sends out a "Curb the Clap" bumpersticker. Speak for yourself Mr. Burdon....

Led Zeppelin released "Black Dog" as a single in the US in 1971 (it peaked at #15).

Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" was released in 1972.



After a show at the Montreal Forum in 1973, the Who and some companions were jailed overnight for $6,000 worth of hotel destruction. The incident was later chronicled in the John Entwistle song "Cell Block Number Seven."

It's D-Day for lots of Bob Dylan fans in 1973; it was their first opportunity to mail in ticket requests for his upcoming tour. In San Francisco, traffic was backed up five blocks from one post office and in other cities, ticket requests are stamped "Return to Sender" because there are too many of them than can be handled. As expected, all the shows are sold-out meaning 658,000 tickets sold.

Disco group Silver Convention earned a gold record for "Fly, Robin, Fly," which hit #1 on the pop chart in 1975.

Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand's ‘You Don't Bring Me Flowers’ was at #1 on the US singles chart in 1979. A radio station engineer had spliced together Neil's version with Barbra's version and got such good response, the station added it to their play list. When Neil Diamond was told about it, he decided to re-record the song with Streisand herself, and within weeks of its release, the single went to #1 in the US and #5 in the UK.

MTV aired the full 14-minute version of Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' video for the first time in 1983. It becomes the largest-selling music home video ever.


Eurythmics lead singer Annie Lennox rips off her bra while performing "Missionary Man" in front of 10,000 fans in Birmingham, England in 1986. No word if she burned it or not.....

In 1988, Kiss members Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons join Willie Nelson on "Geraldo" to discuss the day's topic: Sex on the Road. How delightful....

Mariah Carey went to #1 on the US singles chart in 1995 with her duet with Boyz II Men "One Sweet Day." It made Carey the first artist in history to have two consecutive single debut at #1, "Fantasy" being her first.

In 1995 - The Guinness Book of World Records confirmed that Ace of Base's "The Sign" was the best-selling debut of all time, with 19 million copies sold.

The Smashing Pumpkins played their final concert when they appeared at the Metro Club in Chicago in 2000.

Creed started an eight-week run at #1 on the US album chart in 2001 with "Weathered."

The reunited Simon & Garfunkel performed at Madison Square Garden in 2003, their first New York date in 10 years.

Shock rocker, "School's Out" singer and legendary beer drinker Alice Cooper received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003. It sits between Gene Autry and Hugh Hefner's. Imagine that....

The Game was at #1 on the US album chart in 2006 with his second album "Doctor's Advocate."

In 2007, Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne made more than $800,000 for charity after they sold off some of their possessions from their former US home. Items sold included the family's custom pool table for $11,250 and a pair of Ozzy's trademark round glasses went for $5,250. The beaded wire model of the Eiffel Tower that adorned the kitchen fetched $10,000, while skull-adorned trainers worn by Ozzy sold for $2,625. No wonder no one came to my garage sale that day.....

Music News & Notes

Goldfrapp Announce New Album


It's been less than two years since Goldfrapp's last LP, the psych-folk Seventh Tree. But it's been more than four years since 2005's Supernature, the last Goldfrapp LP that could accurately be described as danceable.

So fans of the British duo's pop side can rejoice: Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory are set to release their fifth album, Head First, on March 22 in the UK and one day later in the U.S. via Mute.

According to an amusingly over-the-top post on Pop Justice, first single "Rocket"-- due March 8 in the UK and March 9 in the U.S.-- is "an Italo-esque disco record that isn't really an Italo-esque disco record and is just in fact a Goldfrapp record, albeit one which sounds a bit like Van Halen vs Laura Branigan." Cool.....

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SEPTICFLESH's 'Communion' Released As Limited-Edition 12" LP/Box

Necroterror Records, the Cyprus-based underground record label and distributor which specializes in high-quality black metal releases mainly in the vinyl format, has released the 12" LP/box version of SEPTICFLESH's latest album, "Communion". Limited to 350 copies, this vinyl release features all-new alternative cover artwork (pictured below) and layout to the CD version, created by Seth Siro Anton. A special edition gold vinyl boxed set will also be available containing several unique extras.

For More Info: http://www.necroterror.net/
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AEROSMITH's JOE PERRY To Singers: Send Tapes To My Manager

CNN conducted a short interview with AEROSMITH guitarist Joe Perry at the American Music Awards on November 22, 2009. Watch the chat below.

AEROSMITH singer, Steven Tyler, joined Perry onstage in New York earlier this month while the latter was touring with his JOE PERRY PROJECT solo band, telling the crowd that he wasn't quitting AEROSMITH. "I said literally about 15 words to him when he sat in with me [at the New York concert]," Perry explained to CNN. "Other than that, the last time I talked to him was before the show in Sturgis [in early August]."

Perry insisted that the rest of the band — Brad Whitford, Tom Hamilton and Joey Kramer — want to keep the group on the road. "I think that you just have to listen to what's going on in the press. Because that's the only thing I know," he explained to MTV. "All I know is that the four guys want to work. I'm working with my band, playing the House of Blues all across the country. And we're rocking out and having a good time."



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Del-Fi Founder Keane Dies

Bob Keane, the founder of Del-Fi Records, passed away last Saturday from renal failure at the age of 87.

Keane started Keen Records in 1955 which had a number one hit in 1957 with Sam Cooke's You Send Me. Unfortunately, because of some shady business practices, he never saw any of the profits and lost the company.

In 1958 Keane started Del-Fi Records and, soon after, signed Ritchie Valens who brought the label to national prominence with Come On Let's Go, Donna and LaBamba. Others who recorded for Del-Fi included the Addrisi Brothers, Little Caesar and the Romans, Johnny Crawford and the Syndicate of Sound. Keane also spun off two subsidiaries, Donna Records whose roster included Ron Holden, Brenda Holloway, Preston Epps and the Rocky Fellers, and Mustang Records with the Bobby Fuller Four.

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The Whigs Announce New Album, "In The Dark"

ATO Records and The Whigs are very excited to announce the release of the band's new album, "In The Dark." Set for a March 2, 2010, release, "In The Dark" is an explosive collection of intense and tuneful songs that have been developed through years of non-stop touring and two critically acclaimed albums - "Give 'Em All A Big Fat Lip" and "Mission Control." Both an accessible album and one that captures the band's on-stage passion (something that has become synonymous with the band's live show), "In The Dark" reveals another layer in the band's songwriting and highlights what fans and critics have fallen in love with, including Jon Pareles of The New York Times who praised the band for their "two-chord guitar and drums furor worthy of The Who."

Eager to give fans new music, the Athens, GA three piece is now offering 2 new songs - "In The Dark" and "Hundred / Million" - for free download at www.thewhigs.com/music/in-the-dark-single. In addition, the band is currently on a North American headlining tour premiering new songs.

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VAN HALEN Frontman Releases Original Paintings

David Lee Roth has recently released dozens of his own drawings and artwork, which he calls "authentic originals and incompetent imitations." He offers them up as "an official answer to the question 'what do you do in your spare time?'"

The VAN HALEN frontman always been into art. Throughout his whole life, while touring the world, you could find him doodling on just about anything — setlists, tour riders, female body parts, etc.

He was always a major part of the visual side of VAN HALEN, and always tried to make the stage show "look like the music sounds." He designed stage clothes, orchestrated photo shoots, came up with the stage choreography, etc. He also had a hand in designing VAN HALEN's early tourbooks and a few of their t-shirts. So we're not too surprised to now have some more confirmation that he's a truly gifted artist.

The pictures can be seen and even printed in high quality, from his web site, DavidLeeRoth.com.

From Led Zeppelin to DJ Screw, Sundance Records keeps the beat going

Sundance, among the oldest record stores in Central Texas, is across from Texas State University.


By Patrick George
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

SAN MARCOS — Before there was hip-hop, before there was hair metal and grunge rock, before there was iTunes, there was Sundance.

Doubling as both a record store and a makeshift music history museum, Sundance Records — sandwiched between a Subway and other shops in a strip across from Texas State University — is among the oldest continually operating music stores in Central Texas.

While not quite as famous as Austin's Waterloo Records, it's older by a good five years and could give Waterloo a run for its money in terms of character. In the words of owner and founder Bobby Barnard, Sundance is a place where you can immerse yourself in music.

If the store has walls or ceilings, you can't see them. Nearly every inch — including the front door — is covered in album covers, posters, band fliers and newspaper clippings. It's a place where music and history intertwine, where a poster of Johnny Cash faces a Statesman front page story about the Gulf War and a doctored photo of President Lyndon Johnson rolling a joint.

Barnard also has a shrine to Jimi Hendrix, whom he met after sneaking into Hendrix's Dallas hotel room at age 14.

Then there's the "Door of Death" — obituaries on musicians and artists who have died. Over the years the door has expanded to cover the wall around it, and while it features a few big names like Selena and Jerry Garcia, it has many more articles on lesser-known musicians, including jazz drummer Elvin Jones — but not Michael Jackson. Barnard often culls the obits from the artists' home cities to make it more authentic, he said.

"Music is great because of nostalgic moments," Barnard said. "The stuff you like may not be good music, but it's special to you."

Barnard, 56, is tanned and athletic with shaggy silver hair. On a Tuesday, when the Sundance gets its biggest shipments of new music, he runs around the store at a frenetic pace, filing CDs in the right rows. He's gregarious, passionate and authoritative.

"It's got a lot of character, and they care about the music they're selling," said Kent Finlay, a longtime customer and owner of another San Marcos mainstay, the Cheatham Street Warehouse honky-tonk. "The great record stores are hard to find anymore, and Sundance is one of them," he said.

Heavy times

When Barnard got his start in the record store business, the music was heavy.

It was 1972 when he started working at Budget Tapes and Records in Denver. The poppy, rhythm and blues-inspired stylings of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were giving way to bands such as Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. The advent of FM radio allowed for longer, higher-quality broadcasts of songs, not just short singles.

"The music got harder," Barnard said. "They said, 'Let's just turn up the music and power through the songs.' People were stoned out of their heads and just ate it up."

By the mid-1970s, record stores were booming just as hard, he said. "Fleetwood Mac and Elton John were selling gobs of records, and record sellers were driving Cadillacs."

Barnard grew up in Fort Worth, listening to the Elvis Presley and Beatles albums his older brother Gary would bring home. He frequented the mom and pop-owned Record Town not far from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. It was an old-school record store, he said, one that had listening booths and guitar lessons and was run by people involved in local bands.

Inspired by the store, which is still run by the Bruton family today, he decided to forgo college and learn the business the old-fashioned way.

He opened Sundance Records in 1977, naming it after a friend's Irish setter, on the San Marcos square near the county courthouse. In 1987, it moved to its current home at 202 University Drive. "This is where we always wanted to be," Barnard said.

The store sold stuff from up-and-coming Texas artists such as Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen and George Strait, who was then a Texas State student. The store grew through the 1980s, adding employees as vinyl gave way to cassette tapes, which then gave way to CDs. The latter are the store's mainstay these days, but records are still sold in the back third of the store.

Vinyl has made something of a comeback among aficionados and DJs, Barnard said. "Vinyl is never going to be the driving force again, but it's said, 'I'm not going away.' "

As far as genre, the store is all about variety today: The D section includes Dick Dale, Daft Punk, Bo Diddley and the Dirty Projectors. But Barnard's bread and butter, surprisingly, is underground Houston hip-hop music — such as the "chopped and screwed" style of rap originated by the late DJ Screw. The slowed-down remixes of songs and mix tapes have proved hugely popular, selling as soon as they hit the shelves, he said.

Keeping the lights on

Barnard is candid about the troubles record stores and the music industry as a whole face today. The Cadillac days are over, and the rough economy isn't helping.

"It's been tight," Barnard said. "For us, (this year) was the great recession on top of a recession for the music business."

Sundance has had to diversify to stay afloat. Barnard sells T-shirts, posters, decals, concert DVDs, jewelry and smoking accessories to keep the lights on.

And then there's that whole generation of young music fans who have never set foot in a record store.

Because there aren't many record stores like the Sundance around anymore, rumors have persisted for several years that it might be closing down.

A Facebook group called "Save Sundance Records!" has more than 960 members, though Barnard says he has no plans to close.

"We've been here forever," he said. "We've built up a loyal group of customers who help us out."

Austin musician Freddie "Steady" Krc said he's been a customer at Sundance for more than 30 years.

"As much as I like the Internet for a lot of things, it bothers me that a lot of people don't know the experience of going into a record store and just finding something," Krc said. "You're missing out on the whole adventure."

SOURCE:  http://www.statesman.com/