Tower Records founder Russ Solomon died this year. Solomon and Tower were big deals here in my hometown of Sacramento, California. This is where it all began, after all, when young Russ started selling records out of the back of his dad’s pharmacy. That location is a restaurant now, and the first free standing store Solomon opened is a Goodwill. Both still retain some Tower signage. Solomon’s ghost will probably always haunt Sacramento.

If you long for the Tower Records days but don’t want to make the trek to Sacramento (or Dublin or Japan, two locations that still have Tower Records stores), this 1972 promotional album might hit the spot. It’s a Capitol Records sampler featuting Steve Miller, Helen Reddy, Linda Rondstadt, and for the power pop fans, Raspberries. If you look closely on the back cover, you’ll see that the album is dedicated to Russ. Pretty cool.

This one will only set you back a couple of bucks, which isn’t bad for a piece of Tower history. Happy hunting.