This Christmas my dad gave me a useful gift - and I'm not talking about the AS SEEN ON TV thingie still sitting on my sofa in its unopened blister pack. He also gave me a smaller CD holder, the kind that might be more reasonable in my car than the massive 200-CD deadweight which I currently use. I say that I use it, but more often than not, loose CDs lie scattered in nooks and crannies. Occasionally, after a brake-testing close call on the highway, some formerly valuable rarity will be found beneath my gas pedal.
And I used to love my CDs so dearly. Before downloading and CD copying, every disc was sacred. The bulk of my shop business involved used and new CDs. Some hung over college sophomore would need another case of beer for the evening, and voila! - a James Brown box set would appear on my counter, available for purchase. I hoarded oddities and beloved favorites. I continue to buy and sell, but only on Amazon and Ebay. My bricks-and-mortar shop has slowly evolved into a giftier place. The used books and CDs are all warehoused on shelves at home. And - like everyone else - I download, borrow and burn. The ipod sits on my desk - that's the next step in my musicological journey.
It was so hard to give up most of my jewel cases, but I would look at my hundreds of CDs and realize that I had not listened to most of them in years. And I do not live in Championship Vinyl land, a la High Fidelity. I gave up my music snobbery a decade ago. Music's gotta be listened to. Collecting for collecting's sake is a luxury that I can't afford... and these days, what's the point anyway? Any 13 year old with a computer can find almost any alternative take, any former B-side. Record collections are becoming like stamp collections - interesting, but not a recommended investment.
So I keep transferring my CDs into these cases, so that I will listen to them on the road. The car is the perfect listening room. And I toss most of the jewel cases (keeping booklets and inserts in case I ever want to re-case them).
Today we're going to listen to 1950s-era Lefty Frizzell. And maybe Half Japanese. And a live Flying Burrito Brothers. Professor Longhair. The Fuzzy Sprouts. And whatever else fits into this CD holder my dad gave me.
Thanks, Daddy.
NTD
9:55:07 AM 
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