Entry No. 44 — the Memphis file — filed under: records
Shangri-La Records
Shangri-La opened at 1916 Madison in 1988 as a wellness operation run by Sherman Willmott, offering sensory-deprivation tanks, massages and what it advertised as 'brain tune-ups'; a single crate of records ended that business model. What's there now is a converted house packed with LPs, 45s, 78s, CDs, tapes, sheet music, turntables and music memorabilia, with the buy-sell-trade counter still doing real volume. The store also threw off a record label that released some of the foundational documents of the early-'90s Memphis indie scene — The Grifters, Jim Dickinson, Othar Turner & His Rising Star Fife & Drum Band. Every spring it hosts Jugfest, a free day party honoring late former owner Jared 'Jughead' McStay, booked with the musicians who came up alongside him.
→ Three more vintage, record & maker shops in Memphis — never the same twice
The story
Shangri-La opened at 1916 Madison in 1988, and for its first stretch it sold nothing you could play. Sherman Willmott ran it as what he billed as a vacation for the mind and body: flotation tanks, massage, and 'brain tune-ups' — light-and-sound therapy machines, the kind of thing a Midtown storefront could get away with in 1988. Somewhere in there a single crate of records went out for sale alongside the wellness menu. The crate won. Everything the shop has done in the thirty-odd years since is downstream of that one bad business decision.
What occupies the converted house now is a floor-to-ceiling working record store: LPs, 45s, 78s, CDs, tapes, DVDs, sheet music, magazines, turntables, stereo gear and music memorabilia, with a buy-sell-trade counter still doing genuine volume. Around 1990 Willmott started the Shangri-La Projects label, which put out some of the foundational documents of early-'90s Memphis indie — The Grifters' One Sock Missing in 1993, Crappin' You Negative in 1994, and Ain't My Lookout in 1996 as a co-release with Sub Pop. Willmott left in 1999 to become curator of the Stax Museum and handed the store to Jared McStay, a musician from the label's own roster. Ike Turner and Jim Dickinson both played inside the shop; Scott Bomar and Eric Friedl both worked the counter.
Every spring the store clears out for Jugfest, a free day party held in memory of McStay — 'Jughead' to everyone — and booked with the musicians who came up alongside him. It is the one day a year the place stops being a retail operation and becomes what it has functionally been the whole time: the Memphis music scene's front room, which happens to have a cash register in it.
What it's like
Shangri-La is a converted house, so the browsing happens in what used to be somebody's front rooms — narrow, stacked high, and not built for two people to flip the same bin. Hours are the real planning constraint: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 1 to 5 on Sunday, which makes this an afternoon or pre-dinner stop and never a late one. Ask the counter what came in that week; the buy-sell-trade side moves fast and the good material does not always survive long enough to reach the wall. If you're selling rather than buying, come early in the day — weekend afternoons the counter backs up badly. Inventory is also listed on Discogs, which is worth a scan before you drive over if you're chasing something specific rather than browsing for the pleasure of it.
The move: This is an early-evening move — the doors close at 6. Get there by 4:30, hand each other $15 and a rule (one 45 you'd actually play, one record picked purely for the sleeve), meet at the counter at 5:30, and take the finds to dinner somewhere on Madison to argue about them. Ask what came in that week; the good stuff moves off the buy counter fast and doesn't always make it to the wall.
📍 Before you go Hours are Monday-Saturday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday 1 to 5 p.m., so this is a daytime or pre-dinner stop, never a late one. Phone is (901) 274-1916. Inventory is also listed on Discogs if you want to scout before driving over. Jugfest is annual and springtime only — free, outdoors, and not something you can catch on a random visit. Selling records? Bring them earlier in the day; the counter gets slammed on weekend afternoons.
- 📍 Memphis
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Low-key
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 1916 Madison Ave, Memphis, TN 38104
Hours: Added 2026-08-26 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- Kwik Chek — A couple of blocks east at 2013 Madison, a corner store whose back deli counter turns out bibimbap, banh mi and a kimchi burrito — dinner for roughly the price of the 45 you just talked yourself out of.
- Murphy's — Half a mile west on the same street: Shangri-La shuts at 6 and Murphy's is where the loud end of what you've been flipping through occasionally turns up in person, assuming anything's booked.
- Flashback — About a mile southeast on Central, another Memphis shop selling the city back its own past — and another one that locks the door at 5:30, so do both in one afternoon or neither.
More weird in Memphis
Good to know
What are the hours?
Monday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday 1 to 5 p.m. Phone is (901) 274-1916. The early close is the thing that catches people out — this cannot be an after-dinner stop.
Was it really not a record store to begin with?
Correct. Sherman Willmott opened it at 1916 Madison in 1988 as a mind-and-body operation with flotation tanks, massage and light-and-sound 'brain tune-ups.' The record business started as a single crate and took over.
Do they buy records, and what else do they stock?
Yes — buy, sell and trade is a live part of the business. Beyond LPs and 45s they handle 78s, CDs, tapes, DVDs, books, magazines, sheet music, turntables, stereo equipment and memorabilia. Bring anything you're selling earlier in the day.
What was the Shangri-La label?
Shangri-La Projects, started by Willmott around 1990. Its best-known releases are The Grifters' One Sock Missing (1993), Crappin' You Negative (1994) and Ain't My Lookout (1996, co-released with Sub Pop).
What is Jugfest, and can I plan a trip around it?
It's an annual free outdoor day party each spring honoring late former owner Jared 'Jughead' McStay, booked with musicians from his era of the scene. It's a once-a-year thing, so it's not something a random visit will catch.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · choose901.com · Wikipedia
last checked: 2026-08-26