This is the first of a series of posts entitled “Visits to the Funk Yard,” where I head over to the best vinyl store I’ve ever been to:  Cousins Vinyl.

Before delving into what I dug, I should introduce this shop a bit.  I first discovered the place on google maps.  Its located in this rundown industrial park near my home and its possibly the hardest record store to find.  When I first went, there was no sign.  I entered a nondescript warehouse, not even knowing what I was looking for.  To the left of the “lobby” area is a long hall and a few doors, the first being an office labeled “Cousins Vinyl.”  Confused, I nervously knocked on the door and was greeted by one of the Cousins.  ”You here for the dollar store?”  He walked me all the way down the shady looking hall to another room.  ”Have fun digging.”  He said and opened the door to a room lined with records.  All for a dollar!  I probably spent two hours in this room, by myself, going through the walls of boxes:

What’s great about this place is that the boxes don’t discriminate.  You can literally find anything.  The records aren’t always in great condition, but most will play.  A couple interesting one’s I’ve bought are the original recording of Orson Welles’ “War of the Worlds” radio play and a recording of the first moon landing.  Half of the fun is finding the absurd:

Or this Elvis album, which illustrates satellite technology in an accessible way:

Lately I’ve been getting into some Jazz.  The artist I really look for (who isn’t hard to find) is Louis Armstrong.  I was excited to find an album with Satchmo with the Duke Ellington Orchestra.  What a combination:

Under closer observation, I realized that the only cuts on this album by Louis Armstrong with the Duke Ellington Orchestra were “I’m Beginning to See the Light” and “It Don’t Mean a Thing.”  The rest were by Jimmy Shore, singing in a rather poor impression of the Satch.  It was quite the let down.

After much digging, I finally left with these:

1. Woody Allen - Stand Up Comic
2. Simon and Garfunkel - The Concert in Central Park (1981)
3. Jimi Hendrix - Rare Hendrix
4. Ella Fitzgerald - These are the Blues
5. Duke Ellington - His Most Important Second War Concert
6. Ella Fitzgerald - Sings the Gershwin  Songbook

Pretty good overall trip.  Hopefully in my next post, I’ll have more absurds and maybe find out more about how the place started.  Oh, and definitely better pictures.