April 20 is almost here and you know what that means... RECORD STORE DAY!!! Our favorite holiday, celebrating the glorious musical community of independent record stores! Real record stores are where music lives and thrives, and anyone who works or shops at a neighborhood record store deserves their very own day of glory.

For Amoeba it's one of our best days of the year, when we throw open our doors and welcome one of the biggest communities of music lovers ever assembled under one roof. YOU ARE Record Store Day!

Of course there are hundreds of exclusive RSD releases, and folks line up hours in advance to grab the rarest of the rare. This year features the biggest lineup of exclusive releases yet, featuring records by everyone from The Cure to the Grateful Dead to Notorious B.I.G.. As always, line up early to snag those exquisite jams! The Coffee Bean is providing coffee for the early birds at Amoeba Hollywood, so they'll keep you nice and caffeinated that morning.

But it's more than just the RSD releases. We've been saving up treats and collections and goodies and rare stuff for months, and it's all hitting the floor on April 20th. It'll be a bonanza you won't want to miss! Our pricers and our warehouse staff have been prepping tons of rare records, posters, DVDs, books, 45s, toys and collectables, and piling it high in the warehouse in preparation for the big day. We're putting out bins and bins of fresh CDs in every department. Boxes and boxes of fresh 45s. It's like a whole holiday shopping season in one day and you're a part of it!

Head to the Vinyl Beat website to check out extensive LP label guides and wild cover galleries!

Eric  Christensen has made an entertaining and informative documentary called The Cover Story about iconic album covers and how they came to fruition. There are interviews and stories with a number of the photographers and designers such as Bob Seidemann (Blind Faith), Henry Diltz (Morrison Hotel, Crosby Stills & Nash, Eagles), Mouse (Grateful Dead), and Jim Marshall (Allman Brothers and hundreds of others). Along the way he also interviews such rock luminaries as Nick Lowe, Ray Manzarek, Huey Lewis, Elvis Costello, and Sammy Hagar. There’s also a very intimate chat with Yoko Ono where she talks about John’s blood smeared glasses, etc. It is also a hoot to see a psychedelic Amoeba SF in the introduction.

To read more Behind The Grooves, go to http://behindthegrooves.tumblr.com.

Born on this day, December 31, 1948 - Singer/songwriter Donna Summer (born LaDonna Adrian Gaines in Boston, MA). Happy Birthday to this Disco and R&B legend on what would have been her 64th Birthday. We love and miss you, Donna!!

 

On this day in music history: December 31, 1966 - "I'm A Believer" by The Monkees hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks. Written by Neil Diamond, it is the second chart topping single for "The Pre-Fab Four." Producer Jeff Barry will find the song while also working with Diamond. The track is recorded in New York City on October 15, 1966. The Monkees will record their vocals at RCA Victor, Studio B in Hollywood on October 23rd. Issued as the follow up to the group's first hit, "Last Train To Clarksville," it is an immediate smash. "I'm A Believer" will have an advanced order of 1,051,280 copies, the highest amount for any RCA recording artist since Elvis Presley. Entering the Hot 100 at #44 on December 10th, it will leap frog to the top just three weeks later, with the single going gold only two days after its release and becoming the biggest selling single of 1967. The B-side "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" written and produced by Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart will also chart, peaking at #20 on the Hot 100 on January 14, 1967.
 

      

Rock music has way too many incredibly memorable guitar riffs to limit a best of list to just one hundred, but the 100 riffs that guitarist Alex Chadwick of The Chicago Music Exchange came up with for the above video performance ain't half bad, and it is a nice informal overview of the history of rock n' roll. Sure it's a subjective selection that includes a lot of mega hits of the genre, and no doubt every rock fan could come up with their own unique list of a hundred best guitar riffs. But I like what Alex has done: from his playing to his choices of riffs, and from how he segues from song to song, to how he plays it on his 1958 Fender Strat all in chronological order. Below is that list of songs and artists in order with the artist names that are blue highlighted linking back to the Amoeba Online Store. where you can find their respective music (CDs, LPs, DVDs) including (in near all cases) the song played by Alex.

2 "Folsom Prison Blues" Johnny Cash
3 "Words of Love"  Buddy Holly
4 "Johnny B Goode"  Chuck Berry
5 "Rumble"  Link Wray

This Memorial Day Weekend in the Bay Area there are lots of fun events happening such as the annual San Francisco Carnaval celebrations in the Mission District, but the main event everyone seems to be talking about is the Golden Gate Bridge's 75th Year Anniversary, which culminates this evening (8pm to 10pm) with a big fireworks show over the iconic span that links Marin and San Francisco.

Yep, it's party time for sure in the Bay... especially in SF. Stretching along the San Francisco waterfront, from Fort Point to Pier 39, the main locations of the celebrations are at Crissy Field and the Marina Green with activities and events happening at the Presidio, Fort Mason Center, Ghirardelli Square, San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, Fisherman's Wharf, and Pier 39. [Drivers note that not only will the Golden Gate Bridge itself be closed for two hours starting at 8pm this evening, but also the Marin Headlands will be completely closed off by CHP and park police. Traffic (especially on the Marin side) will be disrupted from approximately 6pm onwards.]