RECORD STORE TALES Part 147:  Cassettes Part III – Aaron’s Tale

I first met Aaron in 1996, when I was given my own store to manage.  Aaron came in, and as he’s mentioned in his previous guest shots under his pen name Statham, he likes to befriend the local Record Store Guy.  That is an excellent way to get the inside scoop on cool new arrivals.  But Aaron isn’t a shallow person and this is a friendship that has lasted since then, across many provinces and many years.

Aaron also made sure it was a give and take relationship.  I made sure he got good discs at a good price, and he repaid me in kind.  But before he made me discs…he made me a cassette.

Foamfoot was a cover band side project featuring Chris Robinson and Marc Ford from the Black Crowes.  Back then, Aaron was my Crowes guru.  He knew everything, and was eager to share.  He made me this cassette, live at the Troubadour.  The exact date seems to be a matter of conjecture.   Aaron wrote 11/??/94 on the J-card spine.  The link above states the show is both 1/08/1994 AND November 1994.  So, either a mistake or Chris Robinson is capable of time travel as well as rock n’ roll.  Another site states the January date as the correct one.

The setlist features a heady mix of The Band, the Dead, CSNY and many more.  Needless to say this is now a legendary concert, and I had the chance to hear it way back in the day of the tape traders!

The concert is now widely available online, making the cassette redundant.  Except as a momento of a friendship and good times a long time ago.  I’d never part with it for that reason alone.  Aaron even provided his own liner notes — that’s David Crosby guesting on “Long Time Gone”.

Plus, if you take a look inside the J-card, you can see what Aaron was listening to before he recorded Foamfoot over this cassette!  Apparently Iggy Pop, Gene, Limblifter, Deep Blue Something, Bad Religion and Aimee Mann among others!

Thanks Aaron, I’m glad I found this again.

And this concludes my trip down the memory lane of cassettes from the record store days.  Hope you enjoyed!