Beverly Records Hosts Record Store Day Saturday With Party On

Round and round the vinyl goes at Beverly Records, founded in 1967.

The long-time, family-owned Beverly shop is planning to spin its biggest all-day festival to date, weather permitting.

Doors open at 8 a.m. April 20 for those queued up and ready to buy precious Record Store Day 2024 new releases, re-releases and rare finds categorized for crate diggers of all ages and interests.

Beverly Records claims a vinyl collection in the hundreds of thousands with gently used and new records on display. The store at 11612 South Western Avenue in Chicago will be jammed Saturday with artists, collectors, guest musicians and bands outside (weather permitting). The bins are lined with records, vinyl treasures and crates stacked with every musical genre recorded to date. Collector tee shirts celebrating “Where Vinyl Still Lives” are first come, first serve.

Beverly Records can find most anything recorded, upon request. In addition, the Dreznes family has the resources to help customers find receivers, turntables, repairmen, karaoke machine rentals or that special 45 that brings tears to a love one’s eyes.

In 1967, the previous owners opened a costume shop, but after constant record donations from family, friends and neighbors, they decided to convert the space into a record store, “and that's how it began,” said owner Jack Dreznes.

“We're probably one of the few record stores that survived on the South Side and extremely proud of it,” said Dreznes. “We pledge to go out of our way to find the 'hard to find' music, and feel pressure to do that because people who come in for the first time are likely referrals from friends or relatives.”

The store also boasts a classic collection of 45s, many from the "golden era" of rock and roll, which brings in the occasional soul legend or music royalty.

Record Store Day began internationally in 2007, conceived to protect and generate interest at independently owned stores, just like Beverly Records. Dreznes raised the stakes and experience by bringing in artists, collectors, special guest musicians and bands to play outside under sunshine, not rain.

With a projected 500 new vinyl projects being distributed around the world in limited runs, Dreznes will fill special orders based upon “what we get in” and how many of each. Novices, or those just building up their collections, are encouraged to look through the unedited bins for starter package vinyl, replacement records that didn’t survive the 60s, 70s, 80s or just rarities.

Projected to perform Saturday are “The Secret Four” a go-to studio band who have played with the Rolling Stones; Chicago Blues artist Willie Buck, an elder statesman of the Blues as a art form and one time band mate of Muddy Waters; The Bourbon Belts, an independent Acoustic Country-Folk duo from Chicago, who have gained a following with their gigs at Hailstorm Brewery Co. in Tinley Park.

Chicago's Finest Rock station WXRT continues its Record Store Day tradition of spinning album sides all day and of placing vintage vinyl from the XRT studio at record stores throughout Chicagoland, including Beverly Records. These albums have been played over the past five decades and have markings and comments from DJs, making these albums and covers perfect for collectors, with a suggested minimum donation of $20 to the Lin Brehmer Scholars Fund.

Beverly Records is located at 11612 South Western Chicago, IL 60643

773/779-0066 Email: info@beverlyrecords.com or visit beverlyrecords.com.