I first heard Sleepy John Estes & Hammie Nixon back in about 1980 in the listening room at the York University Library. I discovered they had a marvelous collection of blues greats on vinyl and I decided I wanted to listen to them all. The room was set up with little cubicles with turntables and headphones and you could ask for any of the recordings they had and play them all afternoon. I’d bring in my books and I’d sign out a few records with the intent of studying while I listened.

Instead, the music pulled me in and I’d spend hours in there exploring all these fantastic blues. I listened to Sleepy John and Hammie and I listened to Big Joe Williams, King of the Nine String and both Sonny’s Boy Williamson and I listened to Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee and Leadbelly and Son House and Skip James and Elmore James and Robert Pete Williams and on and on.

These were records, vinyl records. Fantastic objects, complete with static and bits of dust and a scratch here and there, and record covers and liner notes. These were albums. And they were hi-fi. They were real, they took up space. 33 and a third….does that mean anything to you?