Originals Vinyl — Local services in San Francisco

This record shop is on Fillmore Street, which was once home to all the jazz clubs and Black businesses and families, earning this neighborhood the nickname "The Harlem of the West." I bring this up because as a Black resident of this hood I claim this kind of tune temple. It has some of Black music's greatest contributions to the American songbook ever, along with gifts to international songbooks given by the African diaspora and also other stuff I truly love like Joy Division's Substance so Originals' is not just jazz. The guys who own the store always have time to help me track down some treasure - I played a mysterious lyric-free outro song used on a podcast and they were able to be human Shazams and tell me, "Yeah, that's Alice Coltrane's Journey in Satchidananda" and didn't stumble on any syllable. Sometimes they'll put on some record they just acquired from the father of Ethio jazz, Mulatu Astatke and give me a dissertation (you know music fans), or soulful DeeJays will be in spinning funky dance tracks on a Sunday afternoon (their sound system's nice). Anyway, they've been my neighbors for like 5 years and I'm finally getting around to sharing how they help me stay connected to good music. (I recently bought a tape cassette from Amoeba so I could listen to my teen angst collection - see Joy Division comment above -- and they have a small selection of recognizable music tapes! But also the owner let me borrow a reggae mixtape that I...

I stop in several times a week and I've bought a lot of records here in the year or so since this shop moved in. It's clean, well organized, and they have a great selection (at least for my tastes). The sweet spot here seems to be 60's-70's jazz, funk, and soul, plus classic and underground hip hop and rock. A fair amount of rare and high end stuff if you're into that. Most of what they sell is used, but they do sell some new indie or underground stuff from small labels. If you can't find a particular record or artist on the floor then make sure you ask them about it, because they may have it in one of the racks in the back.

Importantly, everything I buy here sounds great. They seem to focus on buying quality stuff, plus they have two high-end cleaning machines. They clean most, if not all, the used records in the upper racks. They've also cleaned up some of my favorite older records and placed them in new clean inner sleeves and clear jacket protectors.

The shop is very clean and comfortable. Lighting is good, there is good space between the racks, and there is a nice couch by the registers if you want to hang out and talk (or if the person you're with doesn't feel like looking at records).

Last but not least, the owners are great guys; friendly, knowledgeable, and no attitude. I've been going there pretty regularly and they seem to know what I like, might like, or even would not like. Overall, a very nice, locally-owned shop run by...

I hadn’t had a turntable or played my collection of records for over 30 years. I was more interested in passing them along to someone who appreciated them rather than the dollar value (mostly low) I could sell them for. Sent Matt at Originals Vinyl a note to which he enthusiastically responded to and was off to San Francisco to find a new home for my albums. The vibe of the store was clean, professional and uncluttered. Record albums are appreciated here and Matt was friendly and genuinely interested in what my two boxes might hold. I appreciated the turntable spinning great local music making me wish I could lounge awhile to take it all in. I decided to leave my collection so Matt could thoughtfully go through them. When he called back the next day to let me know I had some winners he wanted to purchase I was thrilled! I was going to have a great lunch and fill my gas tank with the money although I felt best about giving the music I loved a new home. I had the best experience with Matt who seemed more curator than salesperson. My daughter who tagged along that day thought the store was a gem and Matt was someone special. I wouldn’t be surprised if a new turntable and a trip to Originals Vinyl is in my...