Bay Area Big Al's Questions.

Oldschoolspinna

OK so I walk into Big Al's....old dood behind the counter, seems nice enough.I start diggin thur some boxes by the counter, and old dood says those are all 10 bucks, no price break, as everything in the store is on 50% discount.Ok so I feel the 5 records I pulled arent worth 10 a pop, but he tells me theres a huge soul section in the back corner.So I go to the corner he points to, and I pull the same 5 albums out of the stacks with price tags on them, takie them to the front and pay 18 bucks for the SAME 5 records he wanted 50 for.....ok so what gives?Is Big Al's worth diggin? Prices to high? whats on that wall of 45s hes got, nobody can look at?Its not picked out, are there tricks to getting deals there?Just wondering.

Controller_7

I think the 50% off sale has been ongoing for awhile now. At least a year, maybe two, maybe more.

I used to live in SJ and I went there semi-frequently for awhile. I found that if you said "what can you do on these?" or something to that effect then you got a somewhat ok deal. It was always better when Al didn't ring you up. Some of the other dudes were really cool.

A lot of stuff is way over-priced, especially for the condition. It's not the place where you can really "come up" on something for $1 or $3. I haven't had any major finds there. Some cool stuff, but nothing major. Anybody else? Stories?

He had a box of Lou Courtney "Hey Joyce" 45s about 4-5 years ago. I think I paid $10 for one.

He's cool with portables though. I always appreciated that.

mrpek

I've never really come up on raers in there but they always seemed to have decent prices. He always seems to work out a deal if you ask. Dude likes the Steelers for what it's worth, try rocking a Betis jersey or something.

Young_Phonics

I've found some dope dollar bin records there over the years, but never anything supser consistent (biggest score was Pete Jolly Seasons for a buck)

grandpa_shig

big al's sells records?

age

He does have records...

...on Tuesdays and Thursdays!)

hint,hint...

You can look at the stuff behind the counter(7's and some lp's)when Al or Jim is around..But even that can be a task at times(there is a shit load of stuff in the back and upstairs)But that can be a task too..

In the long run, they will hook you up with a discount(or something)
I was just there this week and they gave me a minty copy of Marian Mcpartland:Bossa Nova+Soul(on Time Records)Been after that for a sec.

It's really influx that place(not like the El Camino days in the original location(s).

Like P#####k,R#####d and T###y say, you can find multiples of things there(it be unplayed stock of funk,jazz,psych,ect or just dope dollar finds..

I have found several pieces out of that place(most my local collection has came out of that store.)

I go there once a month and I ALWAYS find some crazy shit there!

Found the Invaders lp there,Axelrod shit,Dope Internation stuff, Always really nice Jazz and Gospel titles there too(If you are a jazz 7in collector, they ALWAYS have jukebox BlueNote,Riverside,Prestige,ect 7in(Nice 7in jackets, like the lp's).

It can be worth it at times and not..it's just up to ya'll to take the time to deal with looking through it.

It's no different from any other record store I have been too.It's just smells like bird shit and mold in there(poor Parrot)

As far as bulk stuff there,found a quantity of Village Cruisader "Akiwawa",Moon People"Happy Soul with a hook" a couple of years back.

I know B###n R##s and J####n go there from time to time.

Yeah..the prices are funny

150.00 for a zappa record that is beat to shit.

fun times.

age

oh yeah..


i saw him years ago at the old store throw someone out and told him never to come back..ALSO the ever famous..

"If someone gave me a million dollars, I would sell this store to them!"

He bust that out from time to time..been awhile though..

Oh...for awhile, the records behind the counter were for EBAY AND EBAY ONLY!!!!

funny guy that Al

oh..and that 50% sale has been going on for the past 7+ years!!