Kickin’ it old school

Father

by John English Hoopla Correspondent

Doc’s Records and Vintage in Fort Worth is more than just a record store, and Jerry Boyd is a big part of the reason why.

Boyd, 67, who helps run the store with his son Jenkins Boyd, said Doc’s was destined to surpass the offerings of a garden variety record store from very early on.

“From the beginning at the first store, I had a son who wanted it to be something more than just a record store,” Boyd said. “We started carrying vintage clothes and a few antiques and art pieces. We did that from the beginning and had concert Tshirts and all of that kind of thing.”

Doc’s started out in Hurst with a 600-square-foot spot in 2006, then moved to a bigger location on Montgomery Street, then to Camp Bowie West with a 4,500-squarefoot store, and then to it’s current location at 2628 Weisenberger St. in Fort Worth.

“My son pretty much ran it from the get go,” Boyd said. “He and I learned about records and record stores together, and by golly, we happened to do it at just the right time. About five years after we got started, records became in vogue again.”

Boyd grew up in Dallas in the Pleasant Grove area and went to the University of Texas at Arlington.

He then graduated from the Baylor College of Dentistry and practiced dentistry for 35 years, retiring two years ago.

But the Azle man said he had always had a great affection for music that had not been completely explored.

“In my early 20s, I really started getting into different genres of music,” Boyd said. “I became addicted to going to thrift stores, and this was like the mid to late 70s. You could go to Goodwill or Salvation Army back then and buy all kinds of good records for 25 or 50 cents. I would buy anything that looked interesting, and consequently, I bought a lot of records. I continued buying and collecting records. My brother-in-law and I began setting up at record conventions.”

They did that throughout the early 1980s, including a giant record convention in Austin, a tradition he would eventually carry on with his son, Jenkins.

“When my kids were young, and I have four children, all of my record convention collection went into a closet,” Boyd said. “When my son, who owns the store now, got to be 10 or 11 years old he had an interest in it. I started going back to the record conventions with him. We also had a booth at the cattle barn flea market for a couple of years selling records. By the time he was around 18, I had spent a lot of time with my boys fishing and hunting, but I became disenchanted with deer hunting, so I said what the heck. I’d always wanted a record store. I knew it was a really dumb idea, but I decided to open one, and it was my new hobby.”

Boyd said there were a few stumbling blocks along the way.

“My son and I are both terrible at picking out clothes,” Boyd laughed. “We’d go to Goodwill or a garage sale and think, ‘This is so cool, and this is going ot sell.’ And we were pretty bad. But it was fun, and now we have delegated the sale of the vintage clothes to people who know what they are doing.”

Those types of hiccups have never detracted from the bond formed between father and son, however, and Boyd said his relationship with his son, Jenkins, means the world to him.

“We’re really close,” Boyd said. “He’s kind of a mini-me. We like a lot of the same things. So we watched zombie movies and cheap horror movies together when he lived at home. And we would go on adventures to find DVDs to watch and look for records and what have you.”

Boyd describes Doc’s as being “half antique mall,” with booths and vendors who are responsible for stocking their own booths and said the store has a very popular monthly event.

“Once a month, we have a party,” Boyd said. “We have three or four bands playing, and we have free beer. I really love those days. It feels like we’re really contributing something to the community. It’s nice to be a part of that.”

Doc’s has a stage in the center of the store where the bands perform.

As far as jamming with the bands themselves, Boyd said that is not really an option for him or his son.

“We exercise our passion for music in listening,” Boyd said. “Neither one of us has one iota of musical talent. And ironically, almost all of the people that work for us are musicians.”

But music is still a great passion—so much so that it is embedded in his emblem.

“My initial logo was a picture of young man in a wheelchair hooked up to an IV that is going into his arm and it says, ‘Get your fix at Doc’s,’” Boyd said. “That’s how much of a passion it is.

“I love records. I love them because they’re tangible—they’re something you can hold,” he said. “The artwork is interesting, the liner notes are interesting. If you own a record, you have something that you can treasure, whereas if you own a download, you basically have nothing. So yeah, I love records.”

Boyd said he has a few suggestions for anyone looking to get into the record store business.

“My advice is that it looks like fun, which it is, but it is also an incredible amount of work to do it correctly,” Boyd said. “It’s an unlimited amount of work, and it never gets caught up. It’s not easy, but I worked as a dentist before, and I loved my patients and they loved me. But nobody likes to go to the dentist. Now I’m in a business where people are excited to be here. I’m glad that I did it.”

Doc’s Records and Vintage is always buying records, cassettes, vintage clothing, interesting toys, magazines, and more. You can reach them at 817-7325455.

Parker County Quilter of the Month

Weatherford resident Gail McNeil was chosen as the Parker County Quilter of the Month.

Gail , who retired from the Department of Labor, has quilted for over 25 years. She started the hobby when her daughter was leaving for college. At the time, Harvest Baptist Church in Keller had a Bible study group that created quilts for each lesson. One of her first quilts was called Apple Cake.

Gail enjoys paper piecing and creating unique borders, like in the quilt above. She is currently working on a “Seven Days of Christmas” quilt and looking forward to an upcoming retreat at Cactus Rose in Stephenville.

She and her husband, David McNeil, moved to Weatherford three years ago.

To nominate a Quilter of the Month, email seniors@hooplamagazine.com.

Hood County Quilter of the Month

Benbrook resident Melissa Kendrick has been chosen as Hood County’s Quilter of the Month. Melissa may be from Benbrook, but she is a regular at the Sit and Sew every Monday at Patti’s Last Resort in Granbury.

Melissa started quilting 10 years ago when she and her sister decided to learn the skill together. The quilt pictured was created for her eldest daughter, who loves Halloween. She’s working on a second Halloween quilt for her youngest daughter next. When she’s not sewing quilts for family, she’s crafting with them. Each year, Melissa hosts a day-long crafting party for children and grandchildren, where they make homemade gifts.

Melissa retired as an accountant for XTO Energy, now Exxon. She and husband, Kenneth, have lived in Benbrook since 1978.

To nominate a Quilter of the Month, email seniors@hooplamagazine.com.