Records, or "vinyl" as they've been called, have been around for years. But, this Cheyenne-man has record collections that date all the way back to the 1920's.

His name is Gary Maier and is a resident here in Cheyenne and known to have over 12,000 records. He probably has more than that, but who's counting?

Gary started his collection sometime after his tour in Vietnam, somewhere around 1968. His collection consists of, but is not limited to: Rock, Country, Folk, Bluegrass, and even Cajun. He also collects off-shoot genres such as Folk-Rock and the like.

Gary has assured us that he has no disco records at all. (This is an area where I think he's missing out.) Some of the records made their way to his collection because of the album cover and not necessarily the content on the record. Some have attracted him because of a uniqueness or some other sort of oddity about the cover.

His collection is not willy-nilly either. If you were to go and view his collection, you would find them decent and in order. If you asked him about a specific album or genre, he would be able to take you right to it. But not all of the records are on the shelf. He does have some displayed on the wall to round out the decor of the vinyl den, where they are kept.

He owns three record players, but there is one particular player that he uses all of the time when he wants to enjoy the music from his collection.

Gary is also a "charter member" of the Knights of the Turntable which meet at Phoenix Books & Music, located in downtown Cheyenne. The group meets on the first Thursday of the month around 6:30 p.m. and is open to the vinyl-loving public.

It's not every day that you run into someone who loves vinyl and nostalgia, like I do. But when you do, it's always a real treat.

 

 

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