A new book, Record Store Day—The Most Improbable Comeback of the 21st Century, written by Larry Jaffee, has been published by Rare Bird on April 12, 2022. The book, according to a press release, “tells the story [of Record Store Day] in the voices of the artists who love [records], the people who founded Record Store Day, and the people who make up a record store: those who run them, those who shop in them and those who make the music they love in them.”
Foo Fighters at Fingerprints in Long Beach, Calif., on Record Store Day 2011 (Photo courtesy of Larry Jaffee)
Hardbound and trade paperback editions will be available at indie record stores, bookstores and other booksellers. A limited-edition Think Indie x RSD + Vinyl edition, a hardback book packaged with an album of tracks recorded at record stores around the U.S. (featuring Paul McCartney, Metallica, Pearl Jam, Billie Eilish, Brandi Carlile, Imagine Dragons, Jason Isbell + the 400 Unit, Justin Townes Earle, Regina Spektor, Frightened Rabbit, Mudhoney and Jose Gonzalez), comes to record stores on April 23.
The announcement provides background on the book’s publication: “In 2007, record stores were told that they were over, relegated to a footnote in the history of modern music. Instead of reading their own obituary, a bunch of record store owners decided to throw a party with their friends, some of whom happened to be among the greatest musicians and bands around. In the past 15 years, that party has grown, exponentially and worldwide, becoming the largest single-day music event in the world, and accidentally relaunching the vinyl format, a physical medium that, in 2021, saw its greatest sales in three decades, and challenges streaming services for supremacy with music fans. How did that happen? Who were the people behind it? Why did they succeed beyond all odds?”
Related: That time that Neil Young found a Neil Young bootleg in a record store
Author Larry Jaffee is a New York-based journalist who teaches writing at the New York Institute of Technology and Mercy College, as well as co-founder/conference director of the continuing Making Vinyl series of conferences about the global rebirth of manufacturing the format.
The first 1100 purchasers who opt for the $50 deluxe hardcover will get the exclusive Live at the Record Store, pressed exclusively for the Record Store Day book, which is also available as a $20 standard paperback. The LP includes tracks by Paul McCartney, Metallica, Mudhoney, Pearl Jam and others.
About Record Store Day:
Record Store Day, the organization, is managed by the Department of Record Stores and is organized in partnership with the Alliance of Independent Media Stores (AIMS), the Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS) and promotes independent record stores year-round with events, special releases and other fun things. Record Store Day, the global celebration of the culture of the record store, takes place annually. Record Store Day 2022 is April 23.
Watch The Sound Garden (Baltimore) Record Store Day event with Clutch 2013
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Jump into a conversationDon’t be square;) see you there & on the flip side….