They crackled and popped. Sometimes they skipped.
But that did not matter to sophomore Gage Inman.
He loved them anyway. Vinyl records, that is.
Inman began collecting LPs a couple of years ago. “My neighbor was getting rid of some old records he doesn’t listen to and gave me a copy of the Rolling Stones Made in the Shade and Miss You Special Disco Version,” he explained. “My main form of listening to music was mostly CDs at the time, so I bought a record player. Then while at Super Target, I grabbed a copy of The Beach Boys: Sounds of Summer, but behind that was a copy of the Rolling Stones Let it Bleed. I already had the album on CD, but I still bought it. And after that, I started collecting vinyl.”
His favorite band, the Rolling Stones, was a major part of his collection. “My ‘ultimate’ record is probably my copy of Let it Bleed,” he said. “That album was the first complete album of The Rolling Stones that I listened to. I had heard songs off of it, but hearing the complete album was amazing.”
His goal was to get all of the Stones recordings on vinyl at some point. “I have almost all their ‘70s work on CD, but I’d love to get them also on vinyl,” he explained. “I am missing three of their ‘80s albums on vinyl, and their ‘90s, but their 2000s records are hard to find on vinyl.”
Even though downloads, CDs, cassette tapes and even old-school 8-tracks were a listening option, Inman explained that he always defaulted to records. “I do really like listening to vinyl,” he said. “If I have an album on both vinyl and CD, I am going to put the vinyl on over the CD. But CD still has its place. When I go out on a car trip, I bring CDs to listen to. With digital, I’ll listen to that whilst at school or a gym, but I do think that vinyl is the way to go for me.”
As a musician himself, Inman appreciates the appeal that music offers. “Music is the best way to express yourself, even if you didn’t write the song,” he said. “In a way, I feel that rock ‘n’ roll, the blues, and swing are the best ways that I can express emotion. I am connected to these songs as they give me great memories, or they help me get through some hard times.”
For example, he noted, “When I feel tired, I’ll put on Frank Sinatra’s In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning, the Stones Sticky Fingers and The Beatles White Album. When it’s a nice day out, I’ll put on something like Best of Cream, the Stones Beggars Banquet and The Beatles Abbey Road.”
With an ever-growing record collection, Inman felt that he understood the reasons why people gravitated toward their prized possessions. “I think people hang on to things that are prized possessions because of the memories that are attached to them,” he said. “I love Let it Bleed because it’s a great album, but also because it was the first album of the Stones I listened to. People have memories attached to these items that make them sentimental over them. I cherish my memories of listening to The Stones, The Beatles and Frank Sinatra, therefore I have extra sentiment towards the albums.”
He added, “I think the three words that best describe my collection would be good, bad and hard. I listen to these albums non-stop, and I associate my memories with them. I remember the good times in my life with albums like Let it Bleed, Undercover and More Hot Rocks. I remember how I got through the bad times with albums like Abbey Road, Beggars Banquet and Dirty Work. And I remember having to cope with the hard times with My Way, In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning and McCartney.”
As far as his future purchases go, Inman had some ideas in mind. “I’d love to get a copy of Black and Blue by the Stones and Hard Again by Muddy Waters. Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys would be another cool one to get. Let It Be just got a re-release and I’d love to grab a copy of it,” he said. And when he is able to add those LPs to his collection, perhaps his heart will skip a beat – along with the vinyl record spinning on his record player.