Village Music

Last updated
Village Music
TypeMusic retailer
Founded1940s
Headquarters Mill Valley United States
OwnerJohn Goddard
Website www.villagemusic.com

Village Music was a record store in Mill Valley, California owned by John Goddard. It was nationally recognized for its extensive collection of old, rare and specialty records. Village Music was also known for its in-store performances and anniversary parties at the Sweetwater Saloon by well-known musicians who were also Village Music store customers. [1] A documentary about the store's history and the surrounding music community, Village Music: Last of the Great Record Stores, was released in 2012. The store closed in 2007. [2]

Contents

History

Village Music opened as a mom‐and‐pop music store in 1960 in the Sequoia Theater building, and moved the following year to 9 East Blithedale Ave, where it remained until closing. [1] John Goddard was born in Mill Valley and in 1957, at the age of 13, he started working at the store's progenitor, a branch of San Rafael-based Marin Music Center. [3] Goddard purchased Village Music in 1968. [4]

The store was known for its extensive collection of old, rare, and specialty records and rare memorabilia covered almost every inch of the walls and ceiling. Items such as Robert Johnson's gold record award, Janis Joplin's police mug shot, and Howlin' Wolf's first royalty check were hung on the walls. [1]

Goddard published an open letter about the closing of Village Music in September 2007. [5]

Live music events

Goddard held twice-yearly parties at the nearby Sweetwater Saloon and invited his favorite blues and R&B performers to perform in front of packed invite-only guests. [1]

Some of the notable musicians who performed or attended: [1]

Documentary

Village Music: Last of the Great Record Stores, a documentary film by Gillian Grisman and Monroe Grisman (daughter and son of San Francisco Bay Area musician David Grisman) debuted at the Mill Valley Film Festival in October 2012. The concert film tells the story of the birth of Village Music through the timeline of the final days of the closing of the store by its owner, John Goddard. The film documents Sweetwater Music Hall, and the music community in Mill Valley in the late 1960s through the closing of Village Music in 2007 and contains performances by Elvis Costello, Bob Weir, Ry Cooder, Nick Lowe, John Sebastian, Dan Hicks, Huey Lewis, Bonnie Raitt, John Lee Hooker, Pop Staples, Jerry Garcia, and Carlos Santana. [6]

Notable quotes

"Some of my best discoveries have been made in what may be the greatest record collector store in the world: Village Music in Mill Valley. Any shop that confronts you with its own ever changing 'Hall of Fame' (which might include a Lester Young, The Fairfield Four, some Bill Monroe and the great Otis Rush Anthologies) and a rack called 'Sometimes a Cover Is Enough,' featuring such classics as 'Music for Sleepwalkers,' must be doing something right" [7]

-Elvis Costello, from the liner notes to his 1985 studio album, Kojak Variety

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Hidalgo</span> American musician

David Kent Hidalgo is an American singer-songwriter, best known for his work with the band Los Lobos. Hidalgo frequently plays musical instruments such as accordion, violin, 6-string banjo, cello, requinto jarocho, percussion, drums and guitar as a session musician on other artists' releases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ry Cooder</span> American musician

Ryland Peter Cooder is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, and his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Hiatt</span> American singer-songwriter and musician

John Robert Hiatt is an American singer-songwriter. He has played a variety of musical styles on his albums, including new wave, blues, and country. Hiatt has been nominated for nine Grammy Awards and has been awarded a variety of other distinctions in the music industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Grisman</span> American mandolinist, composer, and record label owner

David Jay Grisman is an American mandolinist. His music combines bluegrass, folk, and jazz in a genre he calls "Dawg music". He founded the record label Acoustic Disc, which issues his recordings and those of other acoustic musicians. He was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Rice</span> American bluegrass musician (1951–2020)

David Anthony Rice was an American bluegrass guitarist. He was an influential acoustic guitar player in bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, newgrass and acoustic jazz. He was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Furtado</span> Musical artist

Tony Furtado is an American singer-songwriter, banjoist, and guitarist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pete Thomas (drummer)</span> British musician

Peter Michael Thomas is an English rock drummer best known for his collaboration with singer Elvis Costello, both as a member of his band the Attractions and with Costello as a solo artist. Besides his lengthy career as a studio musician and touring drummer, he has been a member of the band Squeeze during the 1990s and a member of the supergroup Works Progress Administration during the early 2000s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merl Saunders</span> American pianist and keyboardist

Merl Saunders was an American multi-genre musician who played piano and keyboards, favoring the Hammond B-3 console organ.

Rob Wasserman was an American composer and bass player. A Grammy Award and NEA grant winner, he played and recorded with a wide variety of musicians including Bob Weir, Bruce Cockburn, Elvis Costello, Ani di Franco, Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, Stéphane Grappelli, Rickie Lee Jones, Van Morrison, Aaron Neville, Lou Reed, Pete Seeger, Jules Shear, Brian Wilson, Chris Whitley, Neil Young, Jackson Browne, Laurie Anderson, Stephen Perkins, Banyan, Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, and Ratdog.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sweetwater Saloon</span> Bar and music venue in Mill Valley

Sweetwater Saloon was a bar and music venue located at 153 Throckmorton Avenue Mill Valley, California, with a 30-year history of live musical performances by the likes of Bonnie Raitt, Elvis Costello, Jerry Garcia, The String Cheese Incident, John Lee Hooker and Carlos Santana. There were typically at least 4 to 5 musical acts booked per week making it a popular local hangout. Sweetwater Saloon also featured an open mike night on Mondays that occasionally featured surprise performances by well-known artists such as Gregg Allman, Train and others. Village Music, a nationally recognized independent record store also in Mill Valley held twice-yearly parties at Sweetwater by well-known musicians who were also Village Music store customers. A documentary film about Village Music, Sweetwater and the music community in Mill Valley,Village Music: Last of the Great Record Stores was released in 2012. After closing in 2007 it was reopened as Sweetwater Music Hall in 2012 by Bob Weir and his partners a few blocks away from its original location

<i>Grateful Dawg</i> 2000 American film

Grateful Dawg is a documentary film released in 2000 which chronicles the friendship and musical relationship of musicians Jerry Garcia and David Grisman. Director and producer Gillian Grisman uses multiple videos, as well as live recordings, to help show this bond between two friends and musicians. It gives a view of Garcia outside the Grateful Dead.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great American Music Hall</span> San Francisco music venue

The Great American Music Hall is a concert hall in San Francisco, California. It is located on O'Farrell Street in the Tenderloin neighborhood on the same block as the Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theatre. It is known for its decorative balconies, columns, and frescoes and for its history of unique entertainment, which has included burlesque dancing as well as jazz, folk music, and rock and roll concerts. The capacity of the hall is 470 people.

<i>Kojak Variety</i> 1995 studio album by Elvis Costello

Kojak Variety is a 1995 album by Elvis Costello, composed of cover songs written by others. Rhino Records reissued an expanded, double-CD in 2004 containing a bonus disc.

Buell Neidlinger was an American cellist and double bassist. He has worked with a variety of pop and jazz performers, prominently with iconoclastic pianist Cecil Taylor in the 1950s and '60s.

<i>Into the Purple Valley</i> 1972 studio album by Ry Cooder

Into the Purple Valley is the second studio album by roots rock musician Ry Cooder, released in 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Sister (Elvis Presley song)</span>

"Little Sister" is a rock and roll song written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman. It was originally released as a single in 1961 by American singer Elvis Presley, who enjoyed a No. 5 hit with it on the Billboard Hot 100. The single also reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart. Lead guitar was played by Hank Garland and the rhythm guitar was played by Scotty Moore with backing vocals by the Jordanaires featuring the distinctive bass voice of Ray Walker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Full Force Gale</span> 1979 single by Van Morrison

"Full Force Gale" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was included on his 1979 album Into the Music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pete Sears</span> English rock musician

Peter Roy Sears is an English rock musician. In a career spanning more than six decades, he has been a member of many bands and has moved through a variety of musical genres, from early R&B, psychedelic improvisational rock of the 1960s, folk, country music, arena rock in the 1970s, and blues. He usually plays bass, keyboards, or both in bands.

Terry Evans was an American R&B, blues, and soul singer, guitarist and songwriter. He worked with many musicians including Ry Cooder, Bobby King, John Fogerty, Eric Clapton, Joan Armatrading, John Lee Hooker, Boz Scaggs, Maria Muldaur and Hans Theessink. Cooder stated that he always thought that Evans made a better "frontman."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Garcia discography</span>

Jerry Garcia was an American musician. A guitarist, singer, and songwriter, he became famous as a member of the rock band the Grateful Dead, from 1965 to 1995. When not touring or recording with the Dead, Garcia was often playing music in other bands and with other musicians.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Selvin, Joel (2007-09-03). "Renowned record store fading out". SFGATE. Retrieved 2021-04-26.
  2. ↑ "Vinyl vitality: Indie record stores are surviving in an MP3, file-sharing world". Marin Independent Journal. 2009-04-10. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  3. ↑ "Thirty Ninth Annual Walk Into History" (PDF). Mill Valley Historical Society. May 22, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Village Music - Mill Valley California,US [closed in 2007]". Vinylom. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  5. ↑ "Village Music: Closing Letter". villagemusic.com. Retrieved 2022-07-28.
  6. ↑ Whiting, Sam (2012-10-05). "Gillian Grisman's film 'Village Music'". SFGATE. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  7. ↑ "Kojak Variety (2004) liner notes - The Elvis Costello Wiki". www.elviscostello.info. Retrieved 2021-04-26.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.