Former Jerry's Records owner now selling vinyl from Swissvale spot
Jerry “Vinylman” Weber owns hundreds of thousands of records. He’s not a fan of acquiring music on digital platforms.
“I have never downloaded a song,” Weber said. “I have a flip phone. I am what you call ‘eccentric.’ ”
Weber loves to help others acquire music.
He owned Jerry’s Records in Squirrel Hill for 40 years, retiring in 2017 and selling it to employee Chris Grauzer. Weber, 72, an Oakland native, needed two knee replacements. He took a few years to mend. In 2019, he started selling records from his warehouse in Swissvale, Vinyl-Man’s Clubhouse. The space is a former car dealership and light fixture store.
He has 250,000 records stored in the large building where 50,000 are for sale, most for $5 in every genre from rock to jazz to country-western.
He decided to open more hours to give customers additional shopping time.
The record store on Washington Avenue will be open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
“I love music, but I have so much that I want to find homes for all of these records,” he said. “They aren’t playing sitting in this warehouse. Music connects everybody.”
He said he has been able to be open during the pandemic. The space is large enough to social distance.
He also buys records for cash.
On his website, he wrote:
“I hope these additional hours will make it more convenient for some of my ‘good old days’ Jerry’s Records friends and music lovers to come and visit,” said Weber. “Friends, come visit me. I’d love to see you.”
Weber is known as one of the country’s premier collectors of vinyl.
In a 2017 Tribune-Review story about his last day at the Squirrel Hill shop, he said that some people had been his customers for 35 to 40 years. Notable celebrity customers over the years included Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant, singer-songwriter Ben Folds, jazz musician Paul Winter and DJ Jazzy Jeff.
Weber entered the record business in 1978 as part-owner of Record Graveyard, maintaining his day job delivering mail for the U.S. Postal Service. He opened his own store and, in 1985, quit the post office to sell records full-time. The Squirrel Hill location opened in 1993.
“I like people who like music,” Weber said in the 2017 article. “If people come in here and buy 20 records, I give them at least two for free, just because I can. What am I going to do? I got all these records.”
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop is a TribLive reporter covering the region's diverse culinary scene and unique homes. She writes features about interesting people. The Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist began her career as a sports reporter. She has been with the Trib for 26 years and is the author of "A Daughter's Promise." She can be reached at jharrop@triblive.com.
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