Record Riot draws hundreds of vinyl and CD lovers to Leesport

Jan. 13—It was a lifetime ago when the Beatles played before a fanatic crowd of young Americans on the Ed Sullivan show, but watching that historic musical moment on television is something Quentin Black will never forgot.

"I saw that and I was sold," he said of the night his Beatles fanhood began.

Now 67, Black continues to collect Beatles albums and singles on vinyl, which is why on Saturday the Hazleton man drove an hour to Leesport for an event he hoped would bring him new Beatles treasures.

He and several hundred others attended the Record Riot at the Leesport Farmers Market, where there were dozens of tables manned by vendors selling albums, compact discs and music memorabilia.

The event was staged by Record Riots, a New-Jersey based company that will hold 18 such events across the Northeast this year, said owner Stephen Gritzen.

Black left with a bag full of Beatles records he didn't previously own, including a live album of them playing on the BBC, and he was excited about what he acquired.

"I did good," he said. "I'm pleased."

He now has about 400 Beatles records total, and plans to keep adding.

"I'm going to need another room," he laughed.

Gritzen said vinyl lovers enjoy holding albums in their hands, looking at the cover art, placing the albums on their turntables and reading the liner notes more than they do pressing buttons to stream their music.

"Streaming is boring," he said. "Records are a rebellion against technology."

The numbers back him up. Vinyl sales in the U.S. were up 21.7 percent for the first half of 2023 over the same period the previous year, according to Luminate, an entertainment data firm.

The vinyl resurgence is not new — 2022 marked the 17th consecutive year that sales of vinyl records rose, the company said.

There is a camaraderie at record sale events, Gritzen said, with customers enjoying meeting each other and talking about their shared love of music.

And vinyl continues to grow more mainstream, with many current artists releasing new albums in that format, he said.

"All of Taylor Swift's music is out on vinyl," he said "It's no longer just a weird thing."

Indeed, through Nov. 2, Swift's catalog of albums had sold 2.484 million copies on vinyl in 2023, Luminate said. That equated to 6.43 percent of total vinyl album sales (38.585 million) — or, nearly one out of every 15 vinyl albums sold.

But on Saturday in Leesport, most shoppers were looking for older records, which there were plenty of.

The sellers acquired their collections in various ways. For Jimmy Blackburn, his thousands of albums and 45s came with the home he bought in Richmond, VA.

"I like to listen to them, then sell them so I can spread the joy to other listeners," he said.

He left Richmond very early Saturday to bring part of that collection with him and said shoppers were buying a wide range of music, including classic rock, underground rock, soul, jazz and reggae.

"There is a buzz here," he said. "People are excited to go home and play their music and make the rest of their month better."

That included Steven H. Slagle and his son, Steven M. Slagle, both of Boyertown, who both were happy with the music they found.

The younger Slagle, 25, bought an old suitcase record player at a flea market last year and has enjoyed acquiring new albums to listen to ever since, he said.

On Saturday he picked up vinyl versions of albums by rock legends Alice Cooper, Santana, Rush, and Uriah Heep.

His dad bought CDs of several concerts, including a Deep Purple show he attended in Camden. While streaming music has its merits, he said, he still likes putting a CD into his car's player while he's on the road.

George Ehrgott and his wife, Brooke Leister, of Denver, both said they too are thankful they still have vehicles that play compact discs, and on Saturday they were searching the CD racks for new music.

Among their purchases were CDs by Blind Melon and Billy Bragg & Wilco, which they planned to listen to on the drive home.

While the albums being sold Saturday ranged greatly in cost, the CDs that Ehrgott, 32, and Leister, 30, were shopping for were only $5 a piece.

"It's nice that they're cheaper than albums," Leister said.

The Record Riot is scheduled to return to the Leesport Farmers Market on Sunday, Oct. 27.