THE STOOP: Crate Digging for Vinyl in Park Slope

Finding a new record to take a spin on your wheels of steel takes time, dedication and heart to sift through piles of vinyl leaning on a fence, plopped down on the sidewalk or sitting in a milk crate.

But, most of all, it takes luck and being at the right place at the right time. If you don’t catch a pile of classics right away, you’ll be the sucker watching a lucky man or woman walking away with an armful of vinyl with a wide grin.

The key is to stop, squat and sift the minute you see records. Don’t wait. Don’t say, “I’ll look through them after I run my errands.” Someone else will find them and loot the booty.

The other day I was the lucky one: I was the first passerby to come across three milk crates filled with records, which were left over from a stoop sale over the weekend.

The records were from many different genres: rock and roll, hip-hop, funk, bluegrass, soul and even some motion picture soundtracks.

As I was wrapping up after getting down and dirty while sifting through the crates, a woman stopped and started to look through them. Seeing the two piles I was tucking under my arm she said, “Man, you’re the lucky one today, aren’t you?"

It’s hard to say which album was the best, but here’s a run down of my stoop-side vinyl collection:

• Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Raise!” with their classic “Let’s Groove.”
• Lou Rawls’ “Let Me Be Good to You Tonight”
• Neil Diamond’s “Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show,” which has, of course, “Sweet Caroline.”
• Van Morrison’s “Tupelo Honey,” which has my favorite song, “Wild Night.”
• Rod Stewart’s “Atlantic Crossing” and “Every Picture Tells a Story.”
• Chuck Berry’s “Golden Decade” which is a two-record collection with hits like “Johnny B. Goode,” “Roll Over Beethoven” and “Bye Bye Johnny.”
• The soundtrack of “Round Midnight” by Herbie Hancock
• Cee-Lo’s “Getting Grown”

Good luck to all you crate diggers. 

What was the best record you found while walking the street's of Park Slope? Let us know in the comments or upload them to this article!