The above photo is possibly the location of a music store, Elliott & Craun, that was on Pacific Boulevard in Huntington Park, CA.
They primarily sold musical instruments. But way in the back, in an area that appeared to be added on to the building, they did sell records, mostly 45s and several albums.
The entire area was hawked over by a much older woman (at least she seemed much older than we teenagers, though she might have been in her 40s). As soon as you flipped through the rows of 45s in the bin, organized alphabetically, she would swoop in and shove the row back in place.
While record sales, even 45s for only a dollar, must have provided the store with a steady cash flow, I never understood why she seemed to resent our presence and why she seemed extremely relieved whenever we departed her protected realm.
I cannot recall if she said it to me directly, or I learned of the remark from Mike, but she once responded to a request for a specific record by flatly and arrogantly replying, "We don't carry 'kid' records." Of course, we were not "kids"; we were teenagers.
The store did carry charting songs such as Dionne Warwick's "Walk On By", "You'll Never Get To Heaven", and "Reach Out To Me". However, it might have been because those singles would also be purchased by adults.
As I said, 45s were often 99 cents or one dollar. Albums were typically $3.99 for monaural and $4.99 for stereo. The minimum wage when I was a senior in high school was $1.25 an hour, so it took a few hours of work to have enough money to buy one album.
The first pop album I bought was We Five's YOU WERE ON MY MIND. I remember the day I brought the record home, slit the plastic covering off the sleeve and took out the record. Mom had bought us a portable record player with speakers that swung outward or could be detached for greater sound separation.
I put the album on and listened intently. To this day, I still enjoy every song on that record. While I remember the day I brought the album home, I cannot recall where I might have purchased it. Elliot & Craun is a possibility. However, a Woolworth's across the street and perhaps down a block also started carrying pop 45s and albums, and I might have purchased it there. I was with my 9th-grade friend, Richard Watson, when he snapped up a few Dave Clark Five 45s there in 1964. It was he who owned the first U.S.-released Beatles LPs, MEET THE BEATLES and THE BEATLES SECOND ALBUM before anyone else I knew.
In the next few years, actual record stores would open in Huntington Park and Downey, though none in South Gate. Mike and I would buy albums at the Lucky market near him on Abbott Road and South Atlantic. And another new Lucky store would open on Firestone Boulevard, only a few blocks away from me.
I bought THE FANTASTICKS cast recording there, as well as many other albums, since the store was within easy walking distance and the prices were competitive.
There were several Wallich's Music City record stores throughout Southern California by the mid- to late-1960's, and they featured booths where you could actually listen to a record before buying it. But the store in West Hollywood, at the corner of Sunset and Vine; and another store later in Lakewood; were simply too far away to hike to. We did not have cars while we were in high school, and our parents frequently voiced the opinion that buying so many records was a waste of money. We only rarely could get a ride with them to make a record purchase.
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