I still love covering local stories, especially when it’s about two 80+ year old dudes who run the largest and oldest record store in my area. Joe (pictured above) yells “there he is!” every time you walk through the door. I wrote this a few months back but if you’ve ever been in the South Bay or been by Al’s through the years, check the story HERE.
I’m glad this piece finally ran. I was actually the kid digging in there the day you and the photog were getting your interviews. Hadn’t been there in years and was glad they were still open. Al has always overpriced his records, but as you pointed out in the article, you could probably find a random obscure gem on the cheap if you had the patience. And definitely a lot of early SJ digging and AOL chat meetup memories going back to the El Camino spot, when all were after was CTI and Blue Note joints.
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thnx for the comment dave. yeah, definitely not the greatest store in terms of quality but certainly a time capsule. and in this area? it’s even more striking. i once walked out of there with an original fela record and that’s something that still blows my mind. moments like that make up for al’s bad attitude and all the junk that clutters that place.
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