Collecting vinyl

Store owner enjoys rich sound of records

By Sara Greene

LITTLE ROCK — When it comes to collecting records, Records in Bee Branch is all about quality, not quantity, said owner Lee Richardson, 68.

“I guess there’s about 50,000 records here. I never really paid attention to the quantity as much as the quality,” Richardson said.

A native of Kansas City, Kan., Richardson lived in Nashville before moving to Bee Branch about 20 years ago.

“I had a favorite uncle who said, ‘Do what you love, and love what you do,’ so I guess that’s how I got started with all this,” Richardson said.

He started collecting records as a child. He recalls owning a wooden orange crate full of 78s. He explained the term 78s refers to 78 rpms or revolutions per minute, which is the speed at which the records need to be played.

“When I was 12 I sold my first record for $3. By that time records were about 69 cents each, so that was quite a windfall,” Richardson said.

The first record he sold was “Walking the Floor Over You” by Ernest Tubbs.

For years collecting records was a hobby for Richardson, who went to trade shows and bought and sold records through the mail with other collectors.

“As an adult, I was working making $29 a week and spending about $28 on records, Richardson said.

For him, music on compact disc almost sounds like it is coming through a telephone line, compared to the rich, full sound he enjoys with records.

His store doesn’t have a lot of space, but there are numerous stacks of vinyl organized by genre.

Richardson said the mostsought-after records for collectors are originals from the Sun Recording Studio in Memphis, Tenn. He has quite a few of the Sun labels tucked away among the racks, where records can cost anywhere from $1 to $300.

A small corner of the store is set aside as a flea market with antique bottles, pottery and other knickknacks. The bulk of the store is full of piles of treasures he has found throughout the years, but has yet to sort through.

Richardson said a lot of hisbusiness are tourists and there has been a reduction in the number of them this year, which he attributes to the rising cost of gas.

“I’m going to work as long as I can. I wouldn’t be happy sitting at home doing nothing,” Richardson said.

He said the most important aspect to collecting records is the quality of the vinyl.

“It helps to collect the music you love and have a good record player at home, too,” Richardson said.

River Valley Ozark, Pages 131 on 08/03/2008