The History of Henrys Records : Southampton's finest record store 1956-1988

A fascinating look at the story of Henrys Record Shop Southampton from the Fifties to the Eighties.

Fondly remembered as a local landmark by thousands of music lovers across those decades as they browsed the shelves that encompassed a wide range of tastes.

This book tells of a young Welsh lad born in 1917, charting his life as a talented musician with dreams of owning his own record shop.

This dream came true after a family move to Hampshire, leading to the opening of his store in 1956, with perfect timing as the new rock'n'roll craze was sweeping the country.

Henrys Records soon established itself as one of the finest outlets in the South, then elevated to its higher profile when a local fifteen year old 'vinyl junkie' landed his own dream job behind the counter. John Clare's encyclopaedic knowledge of the music industry, along with his legendary personal customer service, boosted the takings to new levels by giving the customers exactly what they wanted.

The History of Henrys Records takes the reader behind the scenes of the music industry, with its highs and lows and inside looks of how it all worked back in the days when the charts dictated the ever changing tastes.

This will be very nostalgic for the 'baby boomers', whilst younger readers will be able to see what later generations missed out on, although vinyl has made a comebackJohn wrote down this basic story many years ago, merely for his own personal use until circumstances in recent times gave him the idea of getting it published.

Some of the content appeared as a webpage dedicated to Henrys, in amongst a number of other pages that outlined much of the Sixties live music scene.

Much of the information was copied across from a massive compilation written back in the early Eighties by John Clare and Terry Hounsome, named 'Southern Roots'.

Later this year (2021) sees the publication of edited material from that collection via David St John who assisted in this book.