When I was young I thought vinyl records were something that just old people listened to. I grew up during the CD era, and remember huddling over the boom box with my older siblings while listening to Vanilla Ice and M.C. Hammer. I eventually grew into my own tastes and immediately took a liking to the hard rock of the time. One day my mother brought out her old turntable and played me “Whole Lotta Love” from her vinyl copy of Led Zeppelin II. I was amazed that her old records could rock as hard as the ones I was listening to at the time. “Cool, Mom!” I thought, but vinyl would not really grab me until a few years later.
It wasn’t until I discovered punk/indie music that I started paying closer attention to vinyl records. I noticed that contemporary bands were releasing their music this way and that it wasn’t a medium restricted to old bands. This was really exciting for me and even though I was a little hesitant to embrace it at first, I quickly began to notice how great everything sounded on vinyl. The medium is just so attractive. The large artwork, the warm sound, the charming crackle of old records, that “new record smell”, these are the reasons I love vinyl records.
Not long after my initial romance with vinyl, I began to get into a lot of 60s and 70s rock music, and asked my mom if she still had all of her old records. Fortunately she did and ended up giving them all to me. This was like hitting the jackpot. I never realized the wealth of great music that was sitting above all of our old VHS tapes. There was everything in there any lover of great pop music could want: The Kinks, The Stones, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, even more obscure 60’s pop gems by The Electric Prunes, The Castaways, and Memphis’ own The Guilloteens. These records quickly made their way onto multiple mix-tapes for myself and friends. This was the greatest supplement to my own musical discoveries I could have imagined.
Over the years I’ve collected all kinds of cd’s, vinyl records, and tapes, and as a musician and record collector, vinyl will always be my favorite way to listen to music. I’ve played on two vinyl releases so far by Memphis bands Jump Back Jake and The Bulletproof Vests, and every time we record something I want it to be released that way. In the age of digital releases and download mania, recordings often don’t even get pressed. But when bands do decide to put something out, I always look for the vinyl copy first.
-Greg Faison
Greg Faison is a staple in the Memphis music community. He has worked with Makeshift Music and is currently the drummer for The Bulletproof Vests, Holly and the Heathens and Jump Back Jake. When he isn’t playing in a band, you can probably find him listening to one a local dive in midtown.
