A television journalist gives up a career in broadcasting to open a record store that thrives on its diversity

ALL THAT MUSIC is located in El Paso, Texas. Photos courtesy of All That Music

What do you specialize in?

George Reynoso: In general, we stock all the recognized chart artists from the last 60 years, that is: classic rock, country, vocalists, jazz, world, hip-hop, DJ, dance and electronica, indie-modern, hard rock and metal. Our particular strength is in oldies and oldie compilations on CD from the 1940s through the present. Because of our geographic location on the border, we also stock the region’s best Spanish-language music department. That area is categorized by rock-en-español, baladas, nostalgia, tejano, norteño, banda, tropical, and ranchera.

What was your first job?

GR: I was the neighborhood lawn boy from [age] 10 to 14. When I was 15, I got a job sanding and prepping cabinets for painting at a local kitchen-cabinet shop. Those two jobs, combined with the discipline and values given to me by my parents, instilled in me the work ethic that’s allowed me to succeed in almost every entrepreneurial project I’ve undertaken.

What was the first record you ever bought?

GR: I don’t remember exactly, but it must have been one of these three 45 RPM records from 1964-1965: Ronny & The Daytonas’ “Little GTO,” Petula Clark’s “Downtown” or Del Shannon’s “Keep Searchin’.”

When did the idea of owning your own record store first occur to you?

GR: I was a successful radio DJ and television reporter by the time I was 21. Somehow, I was always able to talk management into allowing me to produce stories on pop culture or host oldies shows on Sunday nights, so in the ’70s I became known as the local music guy. By the time I was 26, I became disillusioned with the prospects for a future in the broadcast business, so owning a music store seemed logical. People were always coming up to me and asking me, “Where can I get that song?”

Has the neighborhood where your store is located changed?

GR: I started the store as Nostalgia Records with 700 square feet in a small strip center in 1980. By 1987, I increased our square footage to 3,000 square feet on the city’s east side. In 1994, I changed our name to All That Music to counter the perception that we were the store with all the old stuff. In 1998, we moved to a new 5,700-square-foot location up the street, and in 2007, I adapted our name to All That Music & Video. It’s 2010 now, so I’m considering a restructuring and relocation that reflects the changes in our industry. Stay tuned! We’re excited about our new reincarnation.

How has the music retail market changed over the years?

GR: In 1980, I stocked primarily LPs. By 1983, it was LPs and cassettes. We were stocking LPs, cassettes and CDs in 1990. As LPs and cassettes disappeared in the ’90s, new and used CDs and DVDs became our primary inventory. The future music store will be all about service and collectibles for serious music enthusiasts. The impulse or casual-buyer market has slowly eroded in the last 10 years and will continue to do so. Local operators like ourselves know the nuances of the market and survive by knowing and stocking the regional and local favorites.

Have you noticed resurgence in vinyl record sales?

GR: Absolutely! In 1999, I remember we did a “Goodbye to LPs” promotion. Basically, we cleared out all LPs for cheap. Fast forward 10 years and LPs are now a growing part of our business model. However, we never quit buying and selling LPs. Over the years, we removed LPs from the sales floor but built a hefty collection of nearly 10,000 quality collectible LPs that were sold mainly on the Internet. We’re now reconfiguring the store to accommodate our deep catalog of LPs on the sales floor.

What was the biggest day the store ever had?

GR: Our biggest day was probably in 1995 with the posthumous release of Selena’s Dreaming of You CD. I did a press release for a midnight on-sale. We had all three major TV affiliates broadcast their 10 p.m. newscasts from our parking lot, which was attended by an estimated 5,000 people. We sold nearly 3,000 units of the CD that night.

Ever had anybody famous come in and shop at your store?

GR: Sherman Hemsley, a.k.a. George Jefferson from the “The Jeffersons” ’70s and ’80s sitcom, is a regular customer. We have handled many of his special orders and media transfers. By the way, this is another growing revenue stream for us. We transfer LPs, cassettes and VHS to CD-R and DVD-R at an affordable price. We aren’t presently advertising the service, but not one day passes that another media-transfer project lands on our lap.

What’s the rarest record you’ve ever had in your store?

GR: In 30 years, I’ve had the pleasure of discovering three variations of the famous Beatles “Butcher Cover” LP. I presently have one on display in our collectors’ showcase.

Do you collect anything else besides records?

GR: I collect old gadgets, memorabilia, paper, and especially old radios, clocks, postcards, posters, photos and documents. I’m fascinated and intrigued by the process and evolution of mankind, technology and pop culture in general. To acquire a well-preserved object from the past is to own a part of history and the evolutionary process.

Robin Zander at SxSW. Photo by Chris M. Junior

By Chris M. Junior

They came, they spoke and they performed.

This year’s South by Southwest music conference/festival featured its share of legendary artists, and here’s a recap of what some of them did in mid-March while in Austin, Texas.

Cheap Trick interview — March 17:

Rick Nielsen usually does all the talking during a Cheap Trick concert. And while the guitarist spoke the most during the band’s South by Southwest interview on March 17, it was singer Robin Zander who made some of the most interesting and humorous statements.

When asked about “The Flame,” a song not written by the band that became the only No. 1 Billboard pop hit of Cheap Trick’s career, Zander recalled Nielsen smashing the cassette demo after hearing just a few seconds of the song.

Producer Richie Zito talked Zander into listening to it, and in turn Zander had drummer Bun E. Carlos check it out.

“Then we decided that we could probably pull this off,” said Zander, who added that the entire “Flame” experience proved “we can turn s**t into something.”

Zander also said the band thought At Budokan, Cheap Trick’s breakthrough album in America, “was crap. We didn’t like it at all. … A year later, it was the biggest [selling] album we ever made.”

Asked about post-production doctoring that was done to At Budokan, which was recorded in 1978 during multiple concerts in Japan, Nielsen admitted to Carlos’ bass drum getting a boost because its microphone had fallen to the side. Zander then admitted that “I Want You to Want Me,” the album’s Top 10 pop single, was added “about 15 minutes before we went on” in order to lengthen the set list.

During the interview with journalists/radio hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot, Zander also said that Cheap Trick is thinking of doing another run of concerts where the group plays entire albums from start to finish.

The band also talked about having a re-recorded version of In Color in the can that may be commercially released in the future.

Wanda Jackson showcase — March 17:

Wanda Jackson is not one to rest on her laurels or live in the past.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member (and contemporary of Elvis Presley) took time during her South by Southwest showcase on March 17 to perform new material alongside her classics as well as say a few kind words about producer Jack White.

Jackson described White as “quite a young man” who pushed her “right into the 21st century.” After that, she launched into her version of Amy Winehouse’s “You Know I’m No Good,” and she did anything but phone in it. As she sang the last line, Jackson playfully milked the moment by putting a finger to her mouth and pulling on her lower lip.

The packed crowd ate it up, as well as her comments about the unique hairstyles she spotted in the audience and the annoying white pole at the front of the Beauty Bar/Palm Door stage. She also had the crowd laughing as she described how her pink acoustic guitar was designed with the female figure in mind.

On March 19, Jackson participated in the SXSW panel “Elvis at 75,” during which she showed the audience a ring Presley had given her.

Smokey Robinson keynote and showcase — March 18:

Not much time passed during Smokey Robinson’s South by Southwest keynote interview before he told his classic tale about meeting Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr. and how the experience changed his life both personally and professionally.

At the time they met, Gordy was best known as a songwriter for Jackie Wilson, and the astute Robinson knew that. Gordy asked to hear some of the aspiring Robinson’s material, so Robinson sang about 20 original songs for him.

But Robinson was far from a polished composer, and Gordy was quick to critique what he heard.

“I would have five songs in one song,” he told interviewer Dave Marsh. In many cases, Robinson added, all he really had was “a bunch of stuff rhymed up.” He improved thanks to Gordy, who was essential to teaching him how to “write songs professionally,” as Robinson put it.

Here are some other highlights from Robinson’s keynote interview:

• “I wasn’t actually writing ‘Shop Around’ for the Miracles and me. … Berry had assigned me to do an album on Barrett [Strong]. … [But when Gordy heard ‘Shop Around’], he said to me … ‘I want you to sing this song, man.’ ”

• “I get in moods about music. … For the last three weeks, I’ve just been loving classical. I listen to classical music all the time, so I’ve been listening to Mozart and Beethoven and people like that. … When I listen to that music, I think how wonderful that is: This music is 300 years old, it’s 400 years old, and we’re still listening to it. … So I want to be Beethoven; I want to be Mozart.”

That night at a jam-packed Austin Music Hall, Robinson followed a show-stopping performance by Raphael Saadiq with a string of Miracles and solo hits.

John Hiatt and Ray Davies showcases — March 18

John Hiatt is considered by many to be a songwriter’s songwriter, and the same description applies to Ray Davies, so their presence on the same South by Southwest bill March 18 at La Zona Rosa made perfect sense.

Backed by a solid three-piece band simply dubbed The Combo, Hiatt alternated between acoustic and electric guitars as he performed songs old and new, including “Your Dad Did” from his classic Bring the Family. He closed his set by dedicating “Memphis in the Meantime” to a pair of late music legends with strong ties to that city: producer Jim Dickinson, whose credits include Big Star’s Third/Sister Lovers; and singer/guitarist Alex Chilton, the Big Star/Box Tops leader who died March 17 in New Orleans.

Davies began his set playing acoustic guitars while sitting on a stool, but he wasn’t in a mellow coffeehouse mood. Supported by a second guitarist, Davies performed stripped-down readings of such Kinks classics as “Where Have All the Good Times Gone” and “Victoria” that were upbeat, spirited and, like all good songs, able to stand tall with just the barest of instrumentation.

Alex Chilton/Big Star tribute panel and performance — March 20:

Alex Chilton had a blasé attitude toward death.

That was one of the many small but significant personal anecdotes shared by those who knew him best during a pair of South by Southwest tributes to the late Box Tops/Big Star leader.

Chilton’s unexpected death earlier in the week at age 59 naturally put March 20’s originally scheduled Big Star panel (dubbed “I Never Travel Far Without a Little Big Star”) and showcase performance into jeopardy. But the principle figures involved – among them current Big Star members Jody Stephens, Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow – decided to carry on and turn both SXSW events into Chilton tributes.

Commercial Appeal writer Bob Mehr, who wrote some of the liner notes for last year’s Big Star boxed set, Keep An Eye on the Sky (Rhino), started the Saturday afternoon panel by talking about the Memphis, Tenn., home of Chilton’s parents. Mehr described it as “almost like a salon for artists” that shaped Chilton’s artistic sensibility.

“Just walking into the house, it felt like a pretty artistic environment,” recalled Stephens.

“He was exposed to a lot of intellectual views and political discussion and all that, and he stuck with that his entire life. You would not see him without a book and a couple of newspapers,” said Ardent Studios owner John Fry (who first met a teenage Chilton at a Box Tops session) via a Skype connection.

During his Box Tops days, Mehr said, Chilton hung out with Dennis Wilson as well as Charles Manson, a friend of the Beach Boys drummer at the time. Stephens, in his dry, deadpan style, promptly launched into a funny story about Chilton doing a grocery run for Manson in San Francisco. Manson’s list included a gallon of milk, but Chilton elected not to buy one because of its weight.

“Charles was really upset about that,” Stephens said. “I’d loved to have seen the look on both of their faces.”

That Stephens memory prompted laughter from the audience, and there were some light moments as well during the Chilton tribute concert several hours later at Antone’s in downtown Austin. After brief opening comments from Stephens, publicist Heather West read a long, heartfelt statement from Chilton’s wife, and it included his attitude toward death. The subject “didn’t interest him,” which prompted a few chuckles from the rapt audience.

Then the show started with the three current Big Star members playing “Back of a Car.” After that, the parade of guest musicians began, with some of the best performances coming from dB’s co-founder Chris Stamey (who sang “When My Baby’s Beside Me”) and X leader John Doe (“I’m in Love With a Girl”).

After the show ended, Stephens had the final word, thanking the audience for celebrating Chilton’s life and music.

His hardcore fans have never been blasé about either one.

Tres

The next several years found the boys digging deeper into the new technology, as the Eliminator follow-up, Afterburner, took their sound into outer space. The ’33 Ford was now a space shuttle on the record cover and in the video for “Sleeping Bag,” the synth-heavy tune that went all the way to #1 in 1985.

“Rough Boy” went Top 5 and was an uncharacteristically serious slow song, but it was an effective fusion of the band’s blues roots and their more modern sound.

With a bigger budget, the trio’s live shows became Vegas-worthy extravaganzas. By the time Recycler came out in 1990, the ZZ Top stage included a massive auto junkyard set with a construction crane, car crusher, a conveyer belt that moved the guys across the stage, and, of course, leggy babes in spike heels.

The momentum launched by Eliminator propelled the boys through the rest of the ’90s.

They had come a long way from singing about “Bar B Q,” a glorious and greasy slice of grunge from 1972, and by the time of the new millennium and a meatier sequel, “Poke Chop Sandwich,” they were bringing the power with blistering guitar vibrations and an even greater sense of urgency. On another track from XXX, they stepped it up with bellowing bass and a slight hip-hopping rhyme sensibility, but “Crucifixx-A-Flatt” was still unmistakably the product of that street-savvy little ol’ band from Tejas.

These days, it’s back to the basics, just three guys quickly approaching 60 but still rocking as effectively as they did on that first record’s opening track. They remain in perfect synch, an organic union with the same lineup since album one. It’s their Southern home-styled recipe for success, and it landed them in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2004.

Billy Gibbons is keenly aware and appreciative of this uniquely rare creative situation. “That’s really a value not only with a trio, but any kind of aggregation, be it a two-piece, a three-piece or ten-piece. Everybody working toward the same goal is really important. We would like to think we could read each other’s minds. Sometimes we can. Then there’s the moments when we’re not sure who’s doing what or who’s going to do what. It gets interesting.”

He is also thankful for the best rhythm section in rock and roll, a duo whose dynamic force is less about support and more about driving the engine. It’s a bass/drummer combo that goes all the way back to their teens.

“They’ve been at it as a working force from the beginning,” says Gibbons of Hill and Beard. “Their backbone, their understanding of what they’re doing is almost seamless. They make up a really true solidarity. Their interaction, it’s really a solid platform. It allows me to go stretch out in ways that I might not be able to do, if you’re having to concentrate on getting the rhythm guys together. I don’t have to even think about it. It’s just solid.”

This many years of understanding one another musically makes studio time that much more productive, and spontaneity remains vitally important.

“Most of the … in fact, all of the things we do are ‘dive in there and go after it.’”

The songs are still credited as Gibbons, Hill, and Beard. Such is the democratic approach to the unit, but it’s also appropriate, as each plays a vital role not just in the final sound, but in the creation from the get-go.

Gibbons explains: “There’s one funny bit. Someone said, ‘How do you write these pieces?’ Generally, Dusty and I will hunker down in one corne