One of the world's greatest record stores is Downhome Music in El Cerrito, CA. It was founded by Chris Strachwitz of Arhoolie Records (more on Chris in a separate blog) and is today managed by John McCord and Scott Glascoe.
Opal Louis Nations occasionally works the counter at Downhome, but he's also a secret agent man. He's one of this country's top music researchers, and authors like Peter Guralnick (most recently "Last Train to Memphis" and "Careless Love;" both books are now regarded as the definitive 'life of Elvis' histories) rely on Opal for gems and nuggets. Like, when I was in the store two weeks ago, Opal reminded me of the Screamin' Jay Hawkins song, "$10,000 Lincoln." How could I have forgotten that one??
Today I swung by the store to present Opal with his copy of ROCKIN'. He was simply overjoyed. He called ROCKIN' "scrumptuous."
Also working at the counter today was Lyuba, herself a specialist in Latin music. You can see from the wide shot here that the store is chock full of treasures. In fact, Downhome serves clients worldwide on a daily basis. Many of the '50s "boxing style" posters included in my ART OF ROCK book were contributed by Chris and the Downhome staff.
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Also working at the counter today was Lyuba, herself a specialist in Latin music.
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