Despite the impending arrival of Winter Storm Fern and the dipping temperatures, a Jan. 24 event at the Westobou Gallery on 1129 Broad St. had record numbers.
Strike that. Reverse it. But don’t scratch it.
They had a number of records. In fact, the Westobou Gallery hosted c with approximately 10 vendors, from stores to collectors, with hundreds of records from which to choose.
Early bird arrivals didn’t mind paying a $10 entry fee from 10 a.m. to noon; 20 collectors came to visit the vendors, anxious to put some needles down on some new finds at the second annual event.
Bethany Marshall, programs director at Westobou, said they were considering cancelling because of the impending icy weather and expected a low turnout, but there were more than 100 in attendance by the end of the day.
A line of about 10 bundled-up individuals waited before the event even started, including William Marks, who was originally from Augusta but just moved back. Marks said he was looking for 1960s and 1970s albums but did not have an exact list in mind.
Those first 20 people plus others also came to see the many vinyl dealers as well as the Westobou Micro Gallery Pop-Up with cyanotype prints by Erin Tallent.
Tallent is known for landscape photography and had prints available of those for sale along with prints which thematically matched the event. In fact, the artist had framed cyanotype prints of records and cassette tapes in her pop-up show and was projected to arrive later in the day. Also, she had totes with a cyanotype of a record of them which were the perfect size for sealed vinyl. By the way, cyanotypes utilize a photographic printing process that produces blue images using iron salts and UV light. So not only were there blues records but blue records at the happening.
Matt Porter, Executive Director of the Westobou Gallery, which is a non-profit, said their gallery space is open six days a week and is free to the public. Porter is also a DJ who is well-known in the Augusta scene and had turntables set up at the front of the main room. He let people play their own records there. In fact, DJs and non-DJs alike could sign up to do so during the event.
Jay Anderson, a local DJ and collector who has more than 2,000 records, spun some records.
“What better way to share my collection with others, he said.
Westobou was not the only sponsor of the event.
Porter said, “We partnered with Grantski Records who have a store a couple of doors down.”
Evan Grantski said he opened it a decade ago, and he had some impressive finds on display from the store.
He showd several individuals what appeared to be a mint copy of the 1970s blaxploitation film, “Lialeh” (pronounced Lay-la) soundtrack by Bernard “Pretty” Purdie. Purdie was a famous sessions drummer with Steely Dan.
Grantski said this particular rare record by Purdie is worth $2,500.
He also had a copy of Pink Floyd’s 1994 album, “The Division Bell”, for $200.
When asked why a record from the ‘90s would be worth that much, Grantski said, “Cassettes and CDs were taking off more in the ‘90s,” making vinyl scarce.
In fact, this was about a couple of decades before the resurgence of new vinyl later in the new millennium. Several online sources have cited a vinyl revival which happened in 2007 as has grown since then.
Granted, the year does not always matter when it comes to rarity. Grantski had a Limited Edition 2025 re-release of Pink Floyd’s 1975’s “Wishing You Were Here” with what he called a Simon-game-like cover. He said the Limited Edition could only be ordered within 72 hours online.
It ended up being as valuable as the one from the ’90s.
People from outside the region came to the event.
Franklin Farr, owner of Pharmacy Records in Greenville, S.C., drove two hours and 20 minutes to sell records there.
The visiting record store owner had a copy of 1982’s GBH.’s “City Baby Attacked by Rats”. Farr said the album was a premiere punk album and sells for $40.
He also had more contemporary vinyl like Star Wars: The Mandalorian soundtrack.
To Farr’s right, local record collector Chip Creamer had a copy of the British press of CBS record’s Iggy and the Stooges “Raw Power”. It still had the British pound amount sticker of $2.79 on it when it was first released. Creamer had it priced at $50.
Creamer said Iggy Pop was a big influence on the punk scene but was also considered glam rock. Shirtless and with makeup on, Iggy embodied punk and glam on the cover.
In contrast, Creamer had a 1960s record of “The Flintstones”. It ran for $15.
He said though it had “Original T.V. Soundtracks” on the label that he did not think that it had the theme song on it – just dialogue from an episode or two.
A find from another vendor was also in the juvenile pop culture category.
High schooler Allie Wilkerson bought a heart-shaped Peanuts’ Valentine’s special record.
She said, “The nostalgia and the heart-shape appealed to me.”
Wilkerson also bought a 1986 Alabama album which was before she was born and said she likes music of all genres and from different time periods.
Vendor Justin Heath, resident DJ at Savannah Brewing Company who goes by “Slickerthanoil”, sold all types of records at the event, too.
He wore a Nina Simone T-shirt and also had one of her albums for $25.
But he did not bring one especially rare album to the event.
He said he has a Vietnamese soul album at home which dates back to the early 80s.
“A lot of influences were brought over by the American soldiers during the Vietnam War,” he explained when discussing the rarity.
Checking back with Marks from the very beginning of the event, he said he found a good price on Lou Reed’s “The Blue Mask” (1982) and also found “1969: The Velvet Underground Live”.
Both came home with him, and he said he was happy with the prices.
Ron Baxley, Jr. is a veteran journalist who has been a published author for 34 years and is working on writing a Southern-set television series. His latest satirical Southern fantasy Oz book, “O.Z. Diggs the Fifth Estate” is the third in the O.Z. Diggs VII series. For additional columns and fiction, go to https://substack.com/@ronbaxleyjr . Contact him via ronbaxleyjr.com
