Last year, we shared out a great Christmas album (Jay Jay 1080) chock full of Polish Christmas songs and polkas by L'il Wally and his backing band The Harmony Boys. This album was discovered at Beverly Records in Chicago - one of the greatest vinyl stores left on the planet.
Earlier this year, I raided Beverly Records' famed WALL of Christmas music and came up with another gem from Chicago's very own polka king!
This album you're looking at was released a year or two earlier judging by the label numbers (Jay Jay 1026) and contains mostly Christmas standards with the full L'il Wally polka treatment. You've never lived until you've heard "Frosty", "Rudolph", and "Jingle Bells" with a polka beat!
However, the tracks you really need to listen to are the original tunes. "Merry Christmas Mom And Dad", "How Lovely Is Christmas", and "Dance Around The Christmas Tree" all have that familiar polka flavor but if you stop and listen to the lyrics, everything else fades away and you get some pretty Christmas tunes.
Last year, we shared out a great Christmas album (Jay Jay 1080) chock full of Polish Christmas songs and polkas by L'il Wally and his backing band The Harmony Boys. This album was discovered at Beverly Records in Chicago - one of the greatest vinyl stores left on the planet.
Earlier this year, I raided Beverly Records' famed WALL of Christmas music and came up with another gem from Chicago's very own polka king!
This album you're looking at was released a year or two earlier judging by the label numbers (Jay Jay 1026) and contains mostly Christmas standards with the full L'il Wally polka treatment. You've never lived until you've heard "Frosty", "Rudolph", and "Jingle Bells" with a polka beat!
However, the tracks you really need to listen to are the original tunes. "Merry Christmas Mom And Dad", "How Lovely Is Christmas", and "Dance Around The Christmas Tree" all have that familiar polka flavor but if you stop and listen to the lyrics, everything else fades away and you get some pretty Christmas tunes.
This second share for the 2009 Christmas downloading season is special in many ways. Let me explain.
The origin of the album is my original hometown of Chicago - home of my beloved Cubs, deep dish pizza, and multi-ethnic neighborhoods that blend together seamlessly into one giant melting pot by Lake Michigan. The fact this album was performed by Chicago Swedes should come as no surprise.
Another reason this album is special is because it's Swedish. Over the past several years, I've become friends with a fellow blogger/Christmas obsessive named Anna-Lena Lodenius. Hailing from Stockholm, Anna-Lena has been posting amazing Swedish Christmas fare at her blog Jul Igen - Christmas Again - be sure to visit and say hello! Hope you like this one Anna!
The final reason why this album is special is because it allowed me to re-establish an old acquaintance from my days as a used CD store manager. If you lived in the south suburbs of Chicago back in the day, you knew there was truly one record store for all of your rock/pop/R&B/indie needs.
That place was Record Swap in Homewood. It was one of the last great independent record stores of its era. And the man whose hand was on the throttle was its manager, John Laurie. I knew of John through my brother John - they were running buddies at the same high school and we were friendly competitors when I ran CD Exchange ("into the ground" as John would say).
Shortly after I left the Chicago era, Laurie left the store and its collapse was soon to follow. John decided to open up a new record store in the Lincoln Village area of Chicago and called it appropriately Laurie's Planet of Sound.
Earlier this year, I found the store, reacquainted with John, and found this album in their bin of Christmas music. Click on the link to see what I mean - heads up, most of those albums are LONG gone (darn it!) Still sealed in its original shrink wrap, this was in pristine condition and it was $4.
I wish I knew more about the Chicago Swedish Glee Club. It did have a website that I looked at several months ago but it seems that's been taken down. I would love to know more about the year it was recorded, what studio did they record it in, etc..
In any case, you're in for a treat. Side one is chock full of Swedish Christmas carols sung to the hilt by the fellows in the glee club. Side two is American Christmas carols and one gleeish version of "It's Beginning To Look Like Christmas"!
This second share for the 2009 Christmas downloading season is special in many ways. Let me explain.
The origin of the album is my original hometown of Chicago - home of my beloved Cubs, deep dish pizza, and multi-ethnic neighborhoods that blend together seamlessly into one giant melting pot by Lake Michigan. The fact this album was performed by Chicago Swedes should come as no surprise.
Another reason this album is special is because it's Swedish. Over the past several years, I've become friends with a fellow blogger/Christmas obsessive named Anna-Lena Lodenius. Hailing from Stockholm, Anna-Lena has been posting amazing Swedish Christmas fare at her blog Jul Igen - Christmas Again - be sure to visit and say hello! Hope you like this one Anna!
The final reason why this album is special is because it allowed me to re-establish an old acquaintance from my days as a used CD store manager. If you lived in the south suburbs of Chicago back in the day, you knew there was truly one record store for all of your rock/pop/R&B/indie needs.
That place was Record Swap in Homewood. It was one of the last great independent record stores of its era. And the man whose hand was on the throttle was its manager, John Laurie. I knew of John through my brother John - they were running buddies at the same high school and we were friendly competitors when I ran CD Exchange ("into the ground" as John would say).
Shortly after I left the Chicago era, Laurie left the store and its collapse was soon to follow. John decided to open up a new record store in the Lincoln Village area of Chicago and called it appropriately Laurie's Planet of Sound.
Earlier this year, I found the store, reacquainted with John, and found this album in their bin of Christmas music. Click on the link to see what I mean - heads up, most of those albums are LONG gone (darn it!) Still sealed in its original shrink wrap, this was in pristine condition and it was $4.
I wish I knew more about the Chicago Swedish Glee Club. It did have a website that I looked at several months ago but it seems that's been taken down. I would love to know more about the year it was recorded, what studio did they record it in, etc..
In any case, you're in for a treat. Side one is chock full of Swedish Christmas carols sung to the hilt by the fellows in the glee club. Side two is American Christmas carols and one gleeish version of "It's Beginning To Look Like Christmas"!
In March of 2007, I travelled to Chicago sans wife & kids to search through the bowels of Chicago thrift stores, flea markets, and rare record stores to search for Christmas LPs for my collection. This past weekend, I travelled again to Chicago sans wife & kids to do the exact same thing.
Upon learning the news, the Chicago River turned green with envy (keep reading).
My weekend trip began last Friday and I stopped at various flea markets and antique stores along the Lincoln Highway from Fort Wayne to Chicago. I walked away with two Christmas albums (both have been shared out by our friend Ernie (Not Bert) - keep reading).
After getting to Illinois, I went to a thrift store location that two years ago had just opened, had one entire corner of their store reserved for LPs, and yielded a good portion of the titles I shared out last year. Upon my return this year, their selection was reduced to an eight ft. folding table with about 10 milk crates full of LPs. Sadly, I walked away with nothing.
Such was the case at many of the Goodwill and Salvation Army stores that were once my salvation when it came to Christmas LPs. I pressed on to the next location, then then next, and the next only to discover little to nothing for my troubles.
These stores used to have teeming vinyl bins, so fully compact that you couldn't slide your fingers inbetween albums. They are now being replaced by two or three milk crates with a smattering of LPs and only when they are empty will the stores accept more donations of albums. One suburban Goodwill store has not only stopped carrying vinyl for resale - VHS and CDs are strictly forbidden as well.
I was getting majorly depressed. So I decided right then and there to head to the mecca of all Chicago vinyl stores - Beverly Records on Western Ave. I spent nearly 45 minutes going through their nine boxes of Christmas 45s then asked entrance to the backroom and its famous wall of Christmas LPs.
I wrote about this wall in July of 2007 when I posted "A Polka Christmas" by Li'l Wally. Then the wall measured eight feet in height, 12 feet in length. I'm happy to report it's still there and OVERFLOWING onto other temporary shelves. After spending two hours at the wall, I was euphoric and came away with a good pile of albums.
I had originally planned on coming to Beverly on Sunday before I left for home but overheard one of the employees talking about the South Side St. Patrick's Day Parade. This was a March 17th Chicago tradition that I had forgotten about. "You won't even get near the store" was the direct quote.
Indeed, Irish eyes were smiling on my decision to head to Beverly Records that day - still the best place in Chicago for vinyl (thank you Dreznes family!).
On Saturday, I headed into Chicago to visit even more thrift stores and ran into the phenomenon known as the St. Patrick's Day parade and traditional dying the Chicago River green for the day:
This made travelling by car through Chicago miserable thanks to the many streets closed for parade prep and the parade itself. Thankfully, I stayed north of the river and searched through thrift stores there. Again, not much luck of the Irish in the way of LPs or Christmas albums.
I then headed to Laurie's Planet Of Sound in the Lincoln Square section of town. The owner of the store was a former acquaintance of my brother John and I and it was good reconnecting with him again. He did manage to have a good selection of Christmas LPs (including a mono copy of the Three Suns "A Ding Dong Dandy Christmas!" for $2) and I walked away with a short stack of LPs.
By now, I was getting tired of driving the streets of Chicago. I needed a pick me up. So I headed over to Nuts on Clark, several blocks from Wrigley Field, and home to the best caramel & cheese corn on the planet. I picked up some gift bags for the wife & kiddies (and a small taste o' my own), and kept driving south on Clark Street.
There are some places in the world that are truly heaven on earth. One such place for me is 1060 W. Addison Street. I have spent many days there with my family and friends. I have encountered joy, heartbreak, misery, anger, hysteria, nausea, and ever-flowing optimism from this corner on the North Side. It's a landmark, it's Valhalla, it's a ballpark. Its name is Wrigley Field:
On this day, Wrigleyville was alive thanks to the hoards of returning residents and tourists fresh off the "L" from the parade, wearing leprechaun derbies and green beads, heading to various bars for more alcohol consumption and mating rituals. Wrigley sleeps knowing that more of the same is coming in under a month when the Cubs return for another season.
I headed west on Addison to a little curio store 3/4 of a block from the ballpark called Yesterday's. It continues to sell old LIFE magazines, movie stills, film posters, vintage memorabilia, and baseball collectibles - a nod to its famous neighbor up the street. I picked up a few magazines that contain vintage Christmas ads that will continue to be a feature here.
After spending a full morning and afternoon in the city, I headed back to my hotel room to nap and get ready for another trip. That night, I spent an evening with Groucho at the Rialto Square Theater in Joliet, Illinois.
Frank Ferrante is perhaps the greatest Groucho Marx interpreter / impersonator this planet has known since the original Groucho was still smoking cigars. His recent tour brought him to Joliet and I couldn't pass up the chance to take in his wonderful show and laugh again and again at the genius of the one, the only...
I got a great front row seat (thanks Frank!) and watched as Jim Furmston, his pianist, played a rickety, badly out of tune grand piano to perfection. Frank hit the stage, transformed into Groucho, and explained that he was sharing the same stage Groucho, Chico, and Harpo used back in 1935 to fine tune their upcoming movie "A Night At The Opera".
The audience and I had a great time and it was great catching up with Frank and Jim after the show. We exchanged gifts (two vintage Marx Brothers stills from Yesterday's went to Frank - Jim gave me a copy of a children's book he did the music for), more laughs, and danced until the cows came home.
Yesterday morning, I awoke late and went to my final two thrift stores that were on the road to Indiana and home. I came away with nothing thanks to the minuscule selection of LPs both carried.
I stopped at one flea market and found a copy of Spike Jones' "Let's Sing A Song Of Christmas" in fair condition. I asked the elderly vendor for a price and he quoted $15. "Nope, too much money" I thought out loud. The vendor was a wee bit miffed - "That is the book price for that album."
Certain flea marketers strictly go by the book - anything Elvis is always $10 to $15 more expensive than anything else on his ship shod table of treasures. My weekend of trying to find Christmas albums was ending in an argument over a Spike Jones record. It was time to call it quits. Later that evening, I arrived home to many hugs from my family.
Overall, I came home with about 20 albums in total - half of which have already been posted along the sharity network:
(Click on image to enlarge)
Albums pictured from top to bottom (my reviews where applicable):
One moment - that "Holiday Bells" album of mine is different than the one I just linked. Hmmm... And my King Family album is in stereo while the linked copy is mono... differences, differences.
So I have several new albums to add to the share stack - which all depends on my schedule with my family, two special projects that are beginning to see the light of day (details will be released when I'm officially able to), and the production of my annual Christmas CD. Wait and see.
I didn't find as many new Christmas LPs like I hoped but the wild Irish ride was well worth it. Thanks you wife and kids for allowing me a few days of R & R - back to the regularly scheduled life already in progress.
In March of 2007, I travelled to Chicago sans wife & kids to search through the bowels of Chicago thrift stores, flea markets, and rare record stores to search for Christmas LPs for my collection. This past weekend, I travelled again to Chicago sans wife & kids to do the exact same thing.
Upon learning the news, the Chicago River turned green with envy (keep reading).
My weekend trip began last Friday and I stopped at various flea markets and antique stores along the Lincoln Highway from Fort Wayne to Chicago. I walked away with two Christmas albums (both have been shared out by our friend Ernie (Not Bert) - keep reading).
After getting to Illinois, I went to a thrift store location that two years ago had just opened, had one entire corner of their store reserved for LPs, and yielded a good portion of the titles I shared out last year. Upon my return this year, their selection was reduced to an eight ft. folding table with about 10 milk crates full of LPs. Sadly, I walked away with nothing.
Such was the case at many of the Goodwill and Salvation Army stores that were once my salvation when it came to Christmas LPs. I pressed on to the next location, then then next, and the next only to discover little to nothing for my troubles.
These stores used to have teeming vinyl bins, so fully compact that you couldn't slide your fingers inbetween albums. They are now being replaced by two or three milk crates with a smattering of LPs and only when they are empty will the stores accept more donations of albums. One suburban Goodwill store has not only stopped carrying vinyl for resale - VHS and CDs are strictly forbidden as well.
I was getting majorly depressed. So I decided right then and there to head to the mecca of all Chicago vinyl stores - Beverly Records on Western Ave. I spent nearly 45 minutes going through their nine boxes of Christmas 45s then asked entrance to the backroom and its famous wall of Christmas LPs.
I wrote about this wall in July of 2007 when I posted "A Polka Christmas" by Li'l Wally. Then the wall measured eight feet in height, 12 feet in length. I'm happy to report it's still there and OVERFLOWING onto other temporary shelves. After spending two hours at the wall, I was euphoric and came away with a good pile of albums.
I had originally planned on coming to Beverly on Sunday before I left for home but overheard one of the employees talking about the South Side St. Patrick's Day Parade. This was a March 17th Chicago tradition that I had forgotten about. "You won't even get near the store" was the direct quote.
Indeed, Irish eyes were smiling on my decision to head to Beverly Records that day - still the best place in Chicago for vinyl (thank you Dreznes family!).
On Saturday, I headed into Chicago to visit even more thrift stores and ran into the phenomenon known as the St. Patrick's Day parade and traditional dying the Chicago River green for the day:
This made travelling by car through Chicago miserable thanks to the many streets closed for parade prep and the parade itself. Thankfully, I stayed north of the river and searched through thrift stores there. Again, not much luck of the Irish in the way of LPs or Christmas albums.
I then headed to Laurie's Planet Of Sound in the Lincoln Square section of town. The owner of the store was a former acquaintance of my brother John and I and it was good reconnecting with him again. He did manage to have a good selection of Christmas LPs (including a mono copy of the Three Suns "A Ding Dong Dandy Christmas!" for $2) and I walked away with a short stack of LPs.
By now, I was getting tired of driving the streets of Chicago. I needed a pick me up. So I headed over to Nuts on Clark, several blocks from Wrigley Field, and home to the best caramel & cheese corn on the planet. I picked up some gift bags for the wife & kiddies (and a small taste o' my own), and kept driving south on Clark Street.
There are some places in the world that are truly heaven on earth. One such place for me is 1060 W. Addison Street. I have spent many days there with my family and friends. I have encountered joy, heartbreak, misery, anger, hysteria, nausea, and ever-flowing optimism from this corner on the North Side. It's a landmark, it's Valhalla, it's a ballpark. Its name is Wrigley Field:
On this day, Wrigleyville was alive thanks to the hoards of returning residents and tourists fresh off the "L" from the parade, wearing leprechaun derbies and green beads, heading to various bars for more alcohol consumption and mating rituals. Wrigley sleeps knowing that more of the same is coming in under a month when the Cubs return for another season.
I headed west on Addison to a little curio store 3/4 of a block from the ballpark called Yesterday's. It continues to sell old LIFE magazines, movie stills, film posters, vintage memorabilia, and baseball collectibles - a nod to its famous neighbor up the street. I picked up a few magazines that contain vintage Christmas ads that will continue to be a feature here.
After spending a full morning and afternoon in the city, I headed back to my hotel room to nap and get ready for another trip. That night, I spent an evening with Groucho at the Rialto Square Theater in Joliet, Illinois.
Frank Ferrante is perhaps the greatest Groucho Marx interpreter / impersonator this planet has known since the original Groucho was still smoking cigars. His recent tour brought him to Joliet and I couldn't pass up the chance to take in his wonderful show and laugh again and again at the genius of the one, the only...
I got a great front row seat (thanks Frank!) and watched as Jim Furmston, his pianist, played a rickety, badly out of tune grand piano to perfection. Frank hit the stage, transformed into Groucho, and explained that he was sharing the same stage Groucho, Chico, and Harpo used back in 1935 to fine tune their upcoming movie "A Night At The Opera".
The audience and I had a great time and it was great catching up with Frank and Jim after the show. We exchanged gifts (two vintage Marx Brothers stills from Yesterday's went to Frank - Jim gave me a copy of a children's book he did the music for), more laughs, and danced until the cows came home.
Yesterday morning, I awoke late and went to my final two thrift stores that were on the road to Indiana and home. I came away with nothing thanks to the minuscule selection of LPs both carried.
I stopped at one flea market and found a copy of Spike Jones' "Let's Sing A Song Of Christmas" in fair condition. I asked the elderly vendor for a price and he quoted $15. "Nope, too much money" I thought out loud. The vendor was a wee bit miffed - "That is the book price for that album."
Certain flea marketers strictly go by the book - anything Elvis is always $10 to $15 more expensive than anything else on his ship shod table of treasures. My weekend of trying to find Christmas albums was ending in an argument over a Spike Jones record. It was time to call it quits. Later that evening, I arrived home to many hugs from my family.
Overall, I came home with about 20 albums in total - half of which have already been posted along the sharity network:
(Click on image to enlarge)
Albums pictured from top to bottom (my reviews where applicable):
One moment - that "Holiday Bells" album of mine is different than the one I just linked. Hmmm... And my King Family album is in stereo while the linked copy is mono... differences, differences.
So I have several new albums to add to the share stack - which all depends on my schedule with my family, two special projects that are beginning to see the light of day (details will be released when I'm officially able to), and the production of my annual Christmas CD. Wait and see.
I didn't find as many new Christmas LPs like I hoped but the wild Irish ride was well worth it. Thanks you wife and kids for allowing me a few days of R & R - back to the regularly scheduled life already in progress.
Earlier this year, I travelled solo to Chicago and raided every thrift store, Salvation Army, Goodwill, and vinyl record store in search of new and exciting Christmas albums. The trip yielded quite a harvest and this little nugget was one of my finds.
The Beverly neighborhood in the southwest corner of Chicago is a blue-collar, middle-class neighborhood that has flourished over the years. While other parts of Chicago look like Baghdad, this part of the city prides itself on its work ethic, family principles, and an urban sense of community that never went out of style back in the late 1960s like it did throughout the entire country.
Back in 1967, John Dreznes decided to buy a record store on South Western Avenue for his wife Christine. Christine wanted a positive place for neighborhood kids to visit, get after-school jobs, and a place where "Mrs. Dee" could keep an eye on her friends' kids. Her choice of name for this place? Beverly Records.
As the business took off, Christine expanded her horizons and soon the Dreznes family had four stores of their own scattered across the Chicago area, despite the fact she didn't know a "Beatle" from a "Monkee" to a "Rolling Stone". Beverly Records soon became known not just around Chicago but around the nation as THE place to find those amazing, rare, and otherwise forgotten albums that no one wanted anymore.
My brother took me to the main Beverly Records on Western Avenue for the first time in the early 1980s. I expected neatly organized racks and racks of albums, still in the wrap, well-lit, posters on the wall, young kids behind the counter, and a simple five minute visit.
When we entered, we nearly knocked over several dozen stacks of discounted 45s right at the door (10 cents each and if you took a stack on the way out, they probably wouldn't have cared). We entered and saw Mr. and Mrs. Dee behind the counter, cigarette smoke and a must smell was in the air, a soft Benny Goodman tune on the overheard speakers, records stacked up the walls, records under racks, records as far as the eye could see.
I remember squeezing through the aisles that were at least 2 feet in width. You shuffled sideways to get to your location and spent 15-20 minutes going through one rack. I asked for help in locating a Stan Freberg album (which was located in the other room) and Mr. Dee pointed the way.
They indeed had the album I wanted - the ORIGINAL album from 1954! I didn't want to pay the $30 price tag however. Mr. Dee then showed me a budget box underneath and found a "best of" Freberg album that was $9 and asked "Anything else?"
I asked about Christmas 45s and he gruffed "Christmas in June, eh?". He led me to a front closet that had their Christmas music in and I remember getting a 45 copy of "White Christmas" by The Drifters for $2. I still have that 45 and it was purchased in the same year I began my annual Christmas tapes - 1985.
Over the years, my family and I would trek to Beverly Records (always the main location) to find fabulous stuff. During my last visit to the store before I moved away from Illinois in summer of 1996, I purchased several Dr. Demento cassettes and two Christmas CDs. By this time, the Christmas section was in the back in a section of racks. I told myself it would never get bigger than this.
Flash forward to earlier this year. What was four stores in the 1980s were consolidated into the main location. When I entered, I had about 14 inches of space to move from the entrance to the main aisle which wasn't any larger. The store hadn't changed much - a few more CDs that I remembered but the stacks of stacks remained.
I slid around the aisles and looked for a Christmas section - there didn't seem to be one. Many "record" stores and "thrift" stores (including some Goodwill and Salvation Army stores) don't carry vinyl anymore. I hoped this wasn't the case. I approached the counter and asked. The employee led me to a back door and opened the padlock. I expected another closet of records.
Instead, the door opened to several back room additions and he led me to the wall of Christmas. That's right. A WALL approximately 8 foot high by 12 foot in length, completely crammed with Christmas albums. This was the mother lode, Shangri-La, and, well, Christmas all wrapped into one place.
During my two hours there, I found many rare and exciting titles (that I hope to share at Christmas). Among the budget albums was this simple polka Christmas album - no cardboard sleeve, no paper sleeve. It was in good shape and the price ($1) was satisfactory for me.
This is the type of music you'd hear at Christmastime in the Beverly neighborhood at taverns, VFW halls, or at family gatherings where the food and booze overflowed, kids ran rampant, and a great time was had by all. Many a Chicago Christmas was spent listening to music like this:
Late next month, Beverly Records will celebrate its 40th anniversary in business. The celebration will be a little bittersweet - Christine Dreznes died last month due to complications of pneumonia at the age of 87.
The Dreznes family continue to own and operate the store on 11612 South Western Avenue and if you get a chance, swing by the store - you'll spend over two hours there minimum.
If you can't visit the store in Chicago, stop by their website and search their catalog. Either way, they'll help you find what you're looking for.
Earlier this year, I travelled solo to Chicago and raided every thrift store, Salvation Army, Goodwill, and vinyl record store in search of new and exciting Christmas albums. The trip yielded quite a harvest and this little nugget was one of my finds.
The Beverly neighborhood in the southwest corner of Chicago is a blue-collar, middle-class neighborhood that has flourished over the years. While other parts of Chicago look like Baghdad, this part of the city prides itself on its work ethic, family principles, and an urban sense of community that never went out of style back in the late 1960s like it did throughout the entire country.
Back in 1967, John Dreznes decided to buy a record store on South Western Avenue for his wife Christine. Christine wanted a positive place for neighborhood kids to visit, get after-school jobs, and a place where "Mrs. Dee" could keep an eye on her friends' kids. Her choice of name for this place? Beverly Records.
As the business took off, Christine expanded her horizons and soon the Dreznes family had four stores of their own scattered across the Chicago area, despite the fact she didn't know a "Beatle" from a "Monkee" to a "Rolling Stone". Beverly Records soon became known not just around Chicago but around the nation as THE place to find those amazing, rare, and otherwise forgotten albums that no one wanted anymore.
My brother took me to the main Beverly Records on Western Avenue for the first time in the early 1980s. I expected neatly organized racks and racks of albums, still in the wrap, well-lit, posters on the wall, young kids behind the counter, and a simple five minute visit.
When we entered, we nearly knocked over several dozen stacks of discounted 45s right at the door (10 cents each and if you took a stack on the way out, they probably wouldn't have cared). We entered and saw Mr. and Mrs. Dee behind the counter, cigarette smoke and a must smell was in the air, a soft Benny Goodman tune on the overheard speakers, records stacked up the walls, records under racks, records as far as the eye could see.
I remember squeezing through the aisles that were at least 2 feet in width. You shuffled sideways to get to your location and spent 15-20 minutes going through one rack. I asked for help in locating a Stan Freberg album (which was located in the other room) and Mr. Dee pointed the way.
They indeed had the album I wanted - the ORIGINAL album from 1954! I didn't want to pay the $30 price tag however. Mr. Dee then showed me a budget box underneath and found a "best of" Freberg album that was $9 and asked "Anything else?"
I asked about Christmas 45s and he gruffed "Christmas in June, eh?". He led me to a front closet that had their Christmas music in and I remember getting a 45 copy of "White Christmas" by The Drifters for $2. I still have that 45 and it was purchased in the same year I began my annual Christmas tapes - 1985.
Over the years, my family and I would trek to Beverly Records (always the main location) to find fabulous stuff. During my last visit to the store before I moved away from Illinois in summer of 1996, I purchased several Dr. Demento cassettes and two Christmas CDs. By this time, the Christmas section was in the back in a section of racks. I told myself it would never get bigger than this.
Flash forward to earlier this year. What was four stores in the 1980s were consolidated into the main location. When I entered, I had about 14 inches of space to move from the entrance to the main aisle which wasn't any larger. The store hadn't changed much - a few more CDs that I remembered but the stacks of stacks remained.
I slid around the aisles and looked for a Christmas section - there didn't seem to be one. Many "record" stores and "thrift" stores (including some Goodwill and Salvation Army stores) don't carry vinyl anymore. I hoped this wasn't the case. I approached the counter and asked. The employee led me to a back door and opened the padlock. I expected another closet of records.
Instead, the door opened to several back room additions and he led me to the wall of Christmas. That's right. A WALL approximately 8 foot high by 12 foot in length, completely crammed with Christmas albums. This was the mother lode, Shangri-La, and, well, Christmas all wrapped into one place.
During my two hours there, I found many rare and exciting titles (that I hope to share at Christmas). Among the budget albums was this simple polka Christmas album - no cardboard sleeve, no paper sleeve. It was in good shape and the price ($1) was satisfactory for me.
This is the type of music you'd hear at Christmastime in the Beverly neighborhood at taverns, VFW halls, or at family gatherings where the food and booze overflowed, kids ran rampant, and a great time was had by all. Many a Chicago Christmas was spent listening to music like this:
Late next month, Beverly Records will celebrate its 40th anniversary in business. The celebration will be a little bittersweet - Christine Dreznes died last month due to complications of pneumonia at the age of 87.
The Dreznes family continue to own and operate the store on 11612 South Western Avenue and if you get a chance, swing by the store - you'll spend over two hours there minimum.
If you can't visit the store in Chicago, stop by their website and search their catalog. Either way, they'll help you find what you're looking for.
