In the Groove: The Vinyl Record and Turntable Revolution, penned by several writers with overlapping areas of expertise, is an informative history and great source of nostalgia for many readers.

Like many people my age (I was born in 1958) I grew up listening to and buying vinyl of one form or another. I had parents who had a decent size collection of 78s and 33s, mostly jazz, swing, and pop standards as well as older (11 and 12 years older) siblings who were part of the big initial wave of teenagers affecting the marketplace well beyond music. I ended up getting my parent's collection and quite a few of my sibling's records as well, plus the ones I bought or had given to me. I was particularly fortunate in living near some older couples who liked a kid listening to their music who also gave me numerous records. By graduation I had a modest collection, about 1000 albums and maybe 200 singles. When I joined the Navy, I hit the motherlode! I knew a few guys who bought albums and had great sound systems (an advantage at the time of being in the military, quality equipment at reasonable prices). They chose to record their albums on cassette, usually two copies, then get rid of the albums for pennies. I bought these in groups of anywhere from 10 to 150 and my collection ballooned. It never became particularly large by some standards, but by the time I got out of the Navy I had just over 4000 albums and probably the same number of 45s I started with. All of this is to say that this book brought back so many wonderful memories and the joy I used to experience collecting, organizing, and listening to the albums. I remember a housemate and I arranging two chairs and my speakers, two of which were the old reliable Klipsch corner-horns, so we could enjoy music in our listening room, which was actually our living room, but music was living back then.

Whatever your personal history is with vinyl, from long ago or as a more recent collector, this book will be an enjoyable read. The history is fascinating, from the discs themselves through the technology and the many changes in listening preferences. Even if you have no desire to collect records you will gain a better appreciation for how listening to music has evolved over the last century, as well as buying music.

Highly recommended for both the information (with many sidebars highlighting labels, albums, record stores, etc) and the photographs (people, albums, equipment). I'd also suggest looking up some of the music itself, even if you aren't listening to it on vinyl. You can find different quality recordings if you search not only YouTube and other usual places but also the Internet Archives and Library of Congress websites. Beware, you will likely go off on many tangents, all of which will be fun and educational.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. ( )