Black Dog Records & CDs

02/11/12

Black Dog Offer

by Lloyd Bishop

Black Dog offered an amount that was acceptable to me for my record collection -

08/14/11

Customer relations affect this rating

by jipman

While Black Dog has a periodically good selection of clean, used vinyl and a small selection of new records, the prices are high and the owner has no sense of how to treat customers.

06/27/11

My Home Away From Home

by SirLaxer

I started a vinyl collection a few years back, mostly relying on friends and neighbors to give me some of their old records. Once I started going out on my own and finding stores here and there, I was hooked. Half-Priced Books always had a little record section, but their vinyls were usually torn up and were only good for folks on a budget.

I then started going to a few others in Houston (I still hadn't visited Black Dog yet) and found them to be a bit overpriced and pushy. When I'd travel in California, I'd go into any record store I came across and would be blown away by their selections, price, and knowledgeable, friendly staff. I longed for that in Houston.

Then, one day, I was headed over to Star Pizza when I saw Black Dog nestled off of a one-way street. I couldn't resist my urges, and I pulled in. Boy was that a good idea.

The first face that greeted me was...well, a black dog's. A beautiful chocolate lab was sleeping near the front of the store, along with a yellow lab. I was then greeted by two men I knew would become my favorite record store owners ever.

As I perused the racks, I was amazed at the depth and quality of their stock. It was as if they only accepted the best vinyls from sellers, and found the best prices to sell them back to us. They also had a ton of cds, shirts, posters, old magazines, etc. I'll never forget walking out of that store with about 15 records, some old LIFE Magazine issues covering the break-up of the Beatles, and a giant white bumper sticker with the store's logo on it.

I have been back to that store several times a month for some time now, and that white bumper sticker has graced the back of my car on every trip. And for good reason. You will not find a friendlier owner, cleaner atmosphere, and better selection anywhere in Houston, hands down. I would give Black Dog 100+ stars if I could.

06/22/11

Owner Should Lay Off the Booze

by RecordsAreForever

I realize that I'm the odd man out regarding positive reviews of this place, but wanted to share my experience.

I used to be a frequent customer of this store, oftentimes spending a few hundred dollars per month. However on my last visit about a month ago, I went and brought a close friend who is another serious LP collector, who also knows exactly how to handle LPs, etc.

The owner accused my friend (in an unfriendly way) of opening a sealed bootleg in the store, which he absolutely did not do. The LP was wrapped in a shrinkwrap that was very loose fitting and one end was already opened when my friend touched it. Since it was already opened, he was going to visually inspect the vinyl before purchasing.

After we left and I heard the entire chain of events, I called the store and asked Cliff to explain to me exactly what happened from his point of view. Cliff was cordial and nice with me on the phone, though he stated that my friend "got shitty" with him, which I would have done as well if I had been wrongfully accused of such nonsense.

Cliff told me on the phone that my friend was "turning the cover around every which way, determined to get into it." (What he was doing was inspecting the spine and the top and bottom seam for seam-splits.)

He admitted to me that he did NOT see my friend open the record and said that he couldn't really say that he did it, but quickly retorted that he couldn't say that he "didn't do it either." I told Cliff that my friend absolutely did NOT open that LP and that he was very upset about this. Cliff's reply was "too bad."

If you're in the retail business, you can't have it both ways. Either you saw him open the record and handle the situation accordingly, or let it go. You can't say "I can't say that he did it but can't say that he didn't do it either" and "too bad" when I said my friend was very upset.

I used to like this store and the relaxed atmosphere, but I think that walking around the store with alcoholic beverages in his hand has seriously impaired the owner's judgement and customer relation skills.

I have not been back since and will no longer do any business with this store nor recommend them to anyone else in the future.

08/02/10

Best Vinyl record store in Houston, TX

by YoNitz

DEFINITELY one of the best VINYL record-stores I’ve ever shopped – and I’ve shopped in a few great ones:

Bleeker Bob’s – outstanding as it gets, but Black Dog Records must have shopped there too (owner is from Baltimore!).

Princeton Record Exchange – deep and worthy of stopping by, but not as organized and concise as Black Dog Records.

3rd Street Jazz - Philly’s most renown LP store, but a tad on the dirty side. Kinda too-jazzy, if y’know what I mean.

Full-Circle Records – Mike tried to stay vinyl AND digital within a changing market up into the early 2000’s, even if it meant downsizing. Mike, Black Dog Records, in Houston, TX, made me think of your store because the owner was so like you; friendly and dedicated to knowing as much about the product of music that you once sold.

I originally dropped-by that other store that’s advertised on Sirius satellite radio, via Steve VanZant, just 100-yards from Black Dog Records. I shopped that other place for over 2-hours – picked just one B+condition LP (Robin Trower; Long Misty Days) priced at $3.99, a goofy backwards-ticking clock, and went to find my way to back over to Black Dog because I’d caught their sign in my left-eye on my way in off the Interstate (I’m from out-of-town; the Delaware Valley/Poconos, NJ/PA), just following my GPS, to that other store.

What a difference! I ended up spending 30-minutes – finding 4 records I’d been wanting at fair prices – and enjoyed every minute!

Nelson Keith Clifton

• Pros: knowledge, dedication and service
• Cons: too far from Philly!