{"id":194213,"date":"2024-09-11T10:02:44","date_gmt":"2024-09-11T14:02:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=194213"},"modified":"2024-09-11T18:51:17","modified_gmt":"2024-09-11T22:51:17","slug":"finding-elvis-shakespeare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=194213","title":{"rendered":"Finding Elvis Shakespeare in Edinburgh"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve been in Scotland for the last 8 days. I haven’t had a ton of free time, but there was kind of an unexpected afternoon off so I decided to go out into the streets of Edinburgh and seek out something I was determined to find. I mean, it was not like hidden treasure, I literally had the address, but still it’s fun to go out without a real plan and without really knowing where the hell I was going. I couldn’t get my orientation at first and did not anticipate the HILLS in Edinburgh. The location was a couple of miles away, and my Google map said it was a 29-minute walk. I thought, “Hey, that’s not bad. I’ve been sitting on my ass for about 4 days straight. It’ll be nice to have a walk!” I mentioned this to the doorman who gave me a look like, “……” He told me he lived in that area and it was a “bit of a way”. He called me a cab. As the driver took me there (whom, I of course, befriended. He told me that this area wasn’t originally part of Edinburgh proper, but then it was incorporated into the larger city) … but anyway, I started laughing at one point, trying to picture myself staggering down these hills for miles. I realized almost immediately how insane it would have been if I had tried to walk it. Not to mention walking home. I lived in San Francisco. I understand the challenge. This was far outside the tourist-y center of the city. Regular citizens live here. We weren’t sure where it would show up – it was clearly mid-block (and the blocks were really big) – but the street was wide – for tram rails – not a lot of traffic – and lined with establishments like laundromats and kebab shops and barbershops. Then, I saw it. “There it is!”<\/p>\n

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\nI was so excited! I didn’t even have to look both ways when I crossed the street to get to it because there really wasn’t any traffic. There were bins of albums on the sidewalk. I looked through them. <\/p>\n

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\nThere was no real foot traffic in the area, at least not on a Monday afternoon. I know they have a huge online catalog, so I am sure a lot of their business comes from that. I was the only person in the shop. I looked in the front window and the first book I saw was …<\/p>\n

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\nI thought, “I am in the right place.” <\/p>\n

I stepped into heaven on earth. I was greeted by the proprietor, David Griffin, who asked me if he could help me find anything. I said I wasn’t sure yet, but I’d like to look around. There were vinyls everywhere, separated by genre (also CDs and cassette tapes), and also second-hand books. It wasn’t just a jumble, everything was neatly organized, easily scannable. The selection was great, too. The space is small but it felt like a treasure chest (speaking of which …) I could have spent hours in there. I went in there with only one plan: to buy some Elvis vinyl, whatever they had in, I wasn’t picky. After that, I’d just browse and let the browsing take me. I walked into the back to look at the shelves there, and suddenly this beautiful curious dog, with a soft gentle manner, tiptoed towards me to say hello. She sniffed my hand forever. David told me her name (and I forget – sorry!), and that she basically spends all of her time there – and he pointed. In the back area there was a pink puffy comforter on the floor, clearly her area. “She nests. She drags the blanket around to make it the most comfortable. Sometimes she drags it halfway across the shop.” She walked back there and carefully lay down in her spot. She was like the angelic spirit of the place. Welcoming and open. <\/p>\n

I talked to David for a bit, telling me a friend had told me about this place and I had to see it for myself. He told me a lot of people come and just take pictures, of the outside, of the albums on the wall. And then leave without buying anything.<\/i> “Are you kidding me?” I asked. “I’m like, ‘I’m trying to run a business here, mates!'” <\/p>\n

Time to get down to business. I told him I had searched the catalog to see what Elvis records they had and wasn’t sure how it all worked. He showed me the catalog on his computer and how it worked. (It really is impressive.<\/a>) I said, “So I’d love to buy an Elvis record. I’m not picky. What do you have right now?” He said, “Will you be here next week? Someone’s donating 4,000 Elvis records.” “What?? No, I won’t be here next week. 4,000?” (Elvis Shakespeare runs on donations. If you’re looking to get rid of your collection of anything …) <\/p>\n

He clicked around on the catalog. At that moment he had about 4 Elvis singles – “Green Green Grass of Home”, and … a couple of other 70s tracks. But he also had “Mess of Blues”, one of my favorites of Elvis’ early 60s period, off the Elvis is Back<\/i> album. One of his rollicking-est tracks, he sounds unleashed, free – and in a different way than the unleashed-50s Elvis. He sounds like a man, not a boy. With that innocence, that pleasure. <\/p>\n

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