Trade Regrets: Jim Salzer

On March 16, NAMM‘s Dan Del Fiorentino sent the following:

Jim Salzer passed away on Saturday after a series of falls, the first of which broke several vertebrae in his neck. Please keep his family in your thoughts during this difficult time.

Jim opened his first store in 1966 with a focus on selling records. At the time Jim was a concert promoter in Southern California and really understood what teenagers and young adults were interested in hearing. His concerts involved acts such as The Doors, Led Zeppelin, and The Grateful Dead. He booked shows at the Santa Barbara Showngrounds as well as the Starlight Ballroom in the same town as his store, Oxnard. In 1967, the store carried a new brand of amplifiers, which got the attention of Jimi Hendrix, who Jim was promoting at the time. Jimi came to the store and played the amp so loud that even the pizza place next door complained. If those pizza eaters only knew who was playing!