DESCRIPTION:
Alabama Music Office.com goes to Birmingham, Alabama to attend the Birmingham Record Collectors Show & Hall of Fame Inductions. Those inducted this day was Henry 'Gip' Gipson, Don Mosley, Donnie Fritts, Spooner Oldham and Dan Penn.

Don Mosley - local 60's - 70's DJ and owner of Sound Of Birmingham Recording Studio.

Henry 'Gip' Gipson - Bluesman and owner of Gip's Place in Bessemer.

Donnie Fritts - Muscle Shoals singer/songwriter. Kris Kristofferson's keyboardist for 25+ years.

Dan Penn - Muscle Shoals singer/songwriter. Produced the Box Tops & Sweet Inspirations.

Spooner Oldham - Muscle Shoals singer/songwriter. On much of Aretha Franklin's early LP's. With Neil Young for over 20 years. Member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He and Dan Penn wrote songs such as 'I'm Your Puppet', 'Cry Like A Baby', and 'Sweet Inspiration".

The Birmingham Record Collectors is a gathering of various people who in 1984 decided to establish a special record club to satisfy their individual tastes. As the name implies, the club found its roots in Birmingham, Alabama, USA and includes international membership. BRC members were exposed to every type of music (and dance) imaginable. The club turns no prospective member away. To be a member a person need only possess the three club precepts which are devotion to:

1. "The collection of music".

2. "The preservation of music".

3. "Lasting friendships".

BRC currently has over 400 members. Chicago, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Houston, New Orleans, and Atlanta are home to BRC members. We also have members in Great Britian, Holland, Japan, Austrailia, Germany, and France. We are the largest organization of its type in America.

Members of BRC meet the second Sunday of every month for the main purpose of sharing and discussing music. When possible, we have special guests who either have been or are still active in the music industry in some form or fashion. This includes the recording artists themselves as well as record producers and radio personalities. Some programs are presented by our own members in an area of music they are particularly interested in and who have become experts on the subject. We discuss local talents and labels, record discographies, genres of music, and much more. We choose two meetings a year and designate them as mini-record shows where we have members bring records and CD's to sell/swap/buy and we invite fifty non-members to join us.

To expand our activities, BRC club members travel together occasionally to musical points of interest such as New Orleans, Nashville, Memphis, and Clear Lake, Iowa - and also go on record hunts in other cities and to concerts and shows.

In 1985 the inaugural BRC Record Collectors Show was launched, and continues to grow in size and popularity every year. In addition to our own members as merchants, dealers from well over a dozen states and some from as far away as Great Britain and Germany look forward to our annual event where they buy, sell and deal in records, CDs, memorabilia, tee shirts and many items connected to recorded music. Buyers from France, Japan, and Holland come to the show every year.

In 2001, our own "Hall of Fame" was established and remains an attraction during the final hours of our annual Record Collectors Show. During our Hall of Fame program, we honor people in the music industry from around our area. We want to show our appreciation to these artists and personalities for the music, fun, and memories they gave us. This is our way of letting them know they will always be remembered. Some BRC Hall of Fame inductees include such celebrities as Eddie Kendricks of the Temptations, Harmonica Blues Man Jerry "Boogie" McCain, singer Roscoe Robinson, recording artist and local performer Henry Lovoy, songwriter and recording artist Larry Parker, and bands such as The Tikis, The Premiers, The Distortions and many more.

A monthly newsletter is published to give members updates on current events of the club, provide special articles regarding the music business, and post reminders about upcoming meetings. Over 250 BRC members look forward to the newsletter sent by either email or postal delivery.

The club is a non-profit organization giving donations to area charities such as Toys for Tots, Meals on Wheels, Kid One, and the Jimmie Hale Mission.

Again, The Birmingham Record Collectors was formed to "Preserve the Music" in whatever form the particular member appreciates the most - whether that be vinyl, compact disc, or the rapidly evolving high tech modes. In the end, the byproduct is "Lasting Friendships!"