The Brooklyn Allstars

Artist: The Brooklyn Allstars

LP: The Exciting Brooklyn Allstars

Song: "A Soldier's Prayer"

[ listen ]

One of the stores the guy at RamaLama Records said I should visit while I was in Toledo was AA Records Are Us. Packed with records that have been gathered over the years by Frank Lynn, the store's friendly, chain-smoking owner, AA Records Are Us is one of those dusty places that you'd never manage to get through in a single day. I'd hardly begun poking around on the main floor when Frank took me downstairs to show me another room that was also filled with records from wall to wall. I began browsing through the soul and jazz LPs, but found them over-priced. (Things I'd just seen in Cincinnati and Dayton for $3 or $4 were $10, $15, or even $25 at AA Records; there was even a Martha & The Vandellas LP that was going for $700. I'm sorry, but if a record is worth $700, it belongs behind glass with laser-beams around it, not in a dusty bin next to the $10 Melba Moore LPs.) Still, I found good deals on several neat records, including Connie Smith's first LP, an old Marvin Rainwater album, and this late-'60s-ish gospel LP by The Exciting and Famous Brooklyn Allstars, who are evidently still making music today (see video below). You can read about The Brooklyn Allstars on AllMusic.com here, and visit the AA Records Are Us website here, where you'll find an unsuccessful attempt to link to this interesting 2007 Toledo Blade news story about Frank and his wonderful store. LP liner notes and photos are included below, along with some pictures I took at AA Records Are Us.

The Brooklyn Allstars on YouTube:

[ "I've Got My Ticket" ]

 [ The Brooklyn Allstars ]

[ AA Records Are Us — Toledo, OH ]

[ AA Records Are Us, main floor ]

 [ AA Records Are Us, basement ]

[ Frank Lynn, owner of AA Records Are Us — Toledo, OH ]