Vinyl in the 21st Century: Ben Lyon

A photo and interview series on college students with record collections.

Ben, who is a friend of mine at Wesleyan, is an avid listener of jazz and 70’s classic rock. He’s certainly an old soul — he wears the same cologne as George Washington, is confused about the cloud, and of course, collects records. Here’s an inside look into his collection.

Ben, on our friend Matt’s couch, with his crate of records.

Hi, I’m Ben Lyon. I generally go for more classic rock, r&b, soul music on vinyl. I prefer to get vinyls from the 80s and before, because once music was starting to be made on CDs, why get it on vinyl!

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “Damn the Torpedoes.”

I’ll go through some vinyl of people that recently died. This album [Tom Petty’s Damn the Torpedoes] was produced by the same guy that produced Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run. Classic. All the best songs are off that. Most of my vinyls are tangentially related to either the Eagles, Crosby Stills and Nash, or Bruce Springsteen in some way. I have a whole section in here devoted to New Jersey-based rock music.

Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA.”

“Crosby, Stills, and Nash, oh my god.”

From left to right: Creedence Clearwater Revival’s self-titled album, The Rolling Stone’s “Hot Rocks,” and Boz Scaggs’ “Silk Degrees.”

My dad was a DJ in the 80s, so I inherited most of my vinyl from him. A lot of them are a little weird because he was a huge Bee Gees fan. I don’t know, I have one Bee Gees album in here, but most of them didn’t make the cut. Some CCR [Creedence Clearwater Revival] ones are from him. Bruce Springsteen, Born in the USA. What else did I get from him? I got Eagles Greatest Hits from him, Rolling Stones I got from him.

BOZ SCAGGS! Where’s Boz Scaggs. Here it is. I like the coloring on this. Lowdown has one of the funkiest bass lines.

Rod Stewart’s “Foot Loose & Fancy Free.”

Rod Stewart. My dad literally wanted to be Rod Stewart. He had a band in the 70s and he dressed up like this which I find really funny.

James Taylor’s “Sweet Baby James.”

James Taylor! This is significant because my baby brother, who’s one years old, is named James after this album.

“What do I have in jazz? Some Coltrane, some Charlie Parker, yeah…”

This album is great [B. B. King’s Live in Cook County Jail]. This is when B.B. King went to the Cook County Jail and played for the prisoners. In the background of the recording, you can hear the prisoners going apeshit.

This one I bought from an old German woman in Natick [Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life]. There were used toothbrushes and half-drunken bottles of whiskey all over the record store.

And Frank Sinatra [Songs for Swingin’ Lovers], this is another one I bought from the weird drunk German woman.

The Band’s “The Best of the Band.”

Also The Band. That’s another tangential relation to all my albums. Most of them are from Canada except for Levon Helm, who is from Virginia, I believe. They were the original backing band for Dylan when he went electric in 1966. But then they went off and did their own thing. Rick Danko on bass, Robbie Robertson in guitar. The Band, The Band!

Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes’ “The Jukes.”

My records were alphabetical originally, but I said fuck that and made categories. So Bruce Springsteen and New Jersey-based artists are in one category. Specifically Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes!

“Billy Joel is from New York City… you should be in the Bruce Springsteen section.”

From left to right: Dan Fogelberg’s “Souvenirs,” Jackson Browne’s “The Pretender.”

I have a whole SoCal region too. The Eagles were centered around there, and then Joe Walsh of the Eagles ended up producing a bunch of other people so I have a bunch of Joe Walsh albums. Jackson Browne is from California too. Crosby, Stills, & Nash are also California. I have a whole Steven Stills section from Crosby, Stills, & Nash. Steven Stills and Neil Young before they joined Buffalo Springfield, oh my god. Oh, Dan Fogelberg, California also. Joe Walsh from the Eagles produced this album.