Maritime music enthusiast emerges onto the vinyl culture spotlight with over 40 000 records in his collection

We know we have spoken about the largest known collections of vinyl records in the world before, but this particular case really touched our hearts. The story of Gerry Taylor and his collection of over 40 000 records, most of which are Maritime folk music collections with many priceless vinyl records included!

Gerry is not your average 20-something music lover. He is 80 years old and hangs onto his priceless vinyl record collection as if each record is a beloved family member. He got his first record player and records 60 years ago and simply hasn’t stopped since. Gerry describes himself as a “collector of fine vinyl records”. He maintains that there is a difference between collecting and obsessing and he is on the “right side” of that equation! With a love for Maritime legend, Wilf Carter, it is no surprise that Gerry says that is the first thing (record) he would grab if there was a fire outbreak – much to his wife’s protests of course.

In an interview with Global News, Gerry stated that there is something romantic about records that today’s music just doesn’t grasp, and we couldn’t agree more. Where did his passion for music start? It all began in the 1950’s when he was a writer and music critic for the Telegraph Journal in the USA.

It is quite a sight to see all of the records neatly stacked in Gerry’s basement and to hear him passionately state, “…it’s like building a life, I guess each one of them adds something to what I know about things”. It certainly makes us feel that Gerry should be an honorary member of our vinyl culture society! We extend great congratulations to Gerry for his many years of loyal and dedicated vinyl record loving and collecting – and to his wife for her patience over the years too!

Check out this video interview with Gerry and Global News: http://globalnews.ca/video/embed/1624854

How big is your vinyl collection? Are you focused on a specific genre or do you have another record collecting strategy? Let us know.