The First Album I Ever Bought

Growing up in a small town about 30 minutes from Topeka, that’s where we did most of our shopping. Going to Kansas City was different. Kansas City was the big city.

Every year after Christmas, my parents would take my brother, sister and me to Kansas City to spend our Christmas money. My grandparents gave each of us $100, which was a lot of money for a kid in the 1970s.

There was one requirement. We had to buy a new winter coat.

I usually tried to find the cheapest coat I could get away with, as long as it didn’t look lame. But let’s be honest, most coats in the ’70s looked lame. The less I spent on the coat, the more money I had left to spend on things I actually wanted.

Once the coat was taken care of, the rest of the money was ours to spend.

These weren’t quick shopping trips. We’d be gone the whole day and sometimes visit several malls. Oak Park Mall, Metcalf South, Indian Springs, Blue Ridge Mall and Independence Center were all part of those trips. We didn’t visit them all every year, but those are the ones I remember.

I’m guessing the five of us made those trips in our harvest gold Dodge Polara. Nothing says the 1970s quite like a harvest gold Dodge Polara.

I especially liked Independence Center. I haven’t been there in years, but one of the things I remember most was the layout. There were ramps and stairs all over the place. As a kid, I thought that was pretty cool.

The trip after Christmas in 1978 was a little different for me. I was 11, and this was the first year I got to choose what I wanted to buy with my Christmas money. Before that, my spending was heavily regulated by Mom and Dad.

I also got to walk around the mall on my own. That would probably be unheard of today. No cell phones. Just a time and place to meet. And if you weren’t there on time, you dealt with the wrath of Dad.

Somewhere along the way at Independence Center, I bought my first album.

I don’t remember exactly which store I bought it from. I feel like it was a department store rather than a record store. Sears had a record section, so there’s a pretty good chance that’s where I bought it, but after almost 50 years, who knows.

What I do remember is the album.

Briefcase Full of Blues by The Blues Brothers.

I’m pretty sure I first heard “Soul Man” on Saturday Night Live. My dad loved SNL, and I often watched it with him. At 11, I didn’t understand a lot of the jokes, but I loved hearing my old man laugh.

The Blues Brothers performed “Soul Man” on the show on November 18, 1978, just a few weeks before that shopping trip. I can’t say for certain that’s where I first heard it, but the timing sure makes sense.

I didn’t go to the mall that day planning to buy an album. But somewhere along the way, I came across Briefcase Full of Blues, and I bought it for one reason.

“Soul Man.”

That was pretty much it.

I don’t remember what else I bought with my Christmas money that day. I’m sure there were toys involved.

Whatever I bought with the rest of that money is long gone. I don’t even remember what most of it was.

But I still have the album.

Almost 48 years later, Briefcase Full of Blues is still sitting in my record collection.

When I first listened to the entire album, “Soul Man” was really the only song I liked. I didn’t know the original version by Sam & Dave. I didn’t know much about the blues. And I certainly didn’t know anything about the incredible musicians playing behind John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd.

I was 11. I liked “Soul Man.”

I probably recorded the song onto a cassette so I could listen to it without having to pull out the album. After that, I don’t remember playing Briefcase Full of Blues very much.

Then The Blues Brothers movie came out in 1980, and I pulled the album out again. This time, I really listened to it.

The movie eventually became one of my favorite movies. I’ve seen it more times than I could possibly count. But somewhere along the way, I also began to understand that there was a lot more to The Blues Brothers than two comedians from Saturday Night Live wearing black suits and sunglasses.

When I bought Briefcase Full of Blues, I had no idea about the musicians who played on it. I didn’t know who Steve Cropper or Donald “Duck” Dunn were. I didn’t know their history with Booker T. & the M.G.’s or how many classic soul records they’d played on. And I certainly didn’t know who Matt “Guitar” Murphy or the other musicians in the band were.

I didn’t know any of that.

I just liked “Soul Man.”

Looking back, that’s one of the things I like most about the story. My first album introduced me to music I wouldn’t really understand or appreciate until years later.

Since then, I’ve bought hundreds of records and thousands of CDs. I’ve spent countless hours listening to music, going to concerts, making playlists and rediscovering albums I hadn’t heard in years.

But every collection has to start somewhere.

Mine started just after Christmas in 1978, when an 11-year-old kid climbed out of a harvest gold Dodge Polara at Independence Center with some Christmas money in his pocket, bought a cheap winter coat because his parents made him, and somehow came home with Briefcase Full of Blues.

All because of “Soul Man.”

Do you remember the first album you ever bought?