World Records

We love coming into Bakersfield for vintage rock and roll. Friendly atmosphere. Quick to help with locating specific artist.

This is a great little vinyl shop in Bakersfield, near the village grill. The guy in there is really friendly and knowledgeable about obscure music, and, although the place is tiny, it has a nice little selection of vinyls and cd’s, the latter of which are mostly on clearance. Also, the place looks to be in the midst of quite a big expansion! Oh, and they’re totally open on Saturdays.

World Records is the BEST music store in ALL of Central California! They have been my number-​1 choice for buying music for over 25 years, and have been, and continue to be the ABSOLUTE BEST in the music retail business! they are able to get music CDs and vinyl that in many cases are so rare and hard-​to-​find, that other «big corporate» stores are left in the dirt! I have been building up a huge library of hard rock /​80s heavy metal music for almost 3 decades now, and thanks to World Records, and their staff, Pat and Bruce, I have been able to get ahold of MANY very rare CDs of bands like Slade and LOUDNESS, along with many other bands whose stuff will never be found in a «big-​box» store! Yes many of the CDs and vinyl may be of higher prices at World records… BUT they are MUCH HIGHER QUALITY! and never censored like the trash that places like Wal-​Mart sell (and I will say this once more: I ABSOLUTELY HATE WAL-MART…and the schemes that Wal-​Mart tries to pull off to wipe out our local businesses… I WILL NEVER EVER BUY A MUSIC CD FROM WAL-MART…For me it is WORLD RECORDS ONLY!!! as my first choice! (Thanks again World Records and lets continue to work together in our continuing fight to keep Wal-​Mart from succeeding in wiping this town out of our wonderful local businesses!)

seriously what record store closes at 6 i guess im just use to bigger cities…

This place is a hidden gem in this little town of ours.
If you’re looking for music, this is THE place to get it
Jazz freak? They’ve got the classics
Love Punk Rock? They’ve got every DK album in the catalog
Maybe you like something in the top 40, they’ve got foster the people and lady gaga as well.
All on vynil too!
their CD selection is arguably better than that of Best Buy, and certainly better than Hot Topic. Friendly staff that is knowledgeable in every aspect of music and it’s just refreshing when you can just talk music with the staff, for 1,10 or 60 minutes.
If they don’t have what you’re looking for in stock, they can order whatever you need, and 9 times out of 10, they can order what you need at no extra cost!!(and provided it’s still in print)
Local record shop that knows what their customers’ needs and wants are, and they know how to fulfill it

I absolutely love World Records and won’t buy anything anywhere else! They’re always friendly, know your name, and always do their best to get what you want (assuming they don’t already have it)! Support local businesses and shop at World Records! Hi, Pat and Bruce! (Nope, I don’t know them personally – just from shopping there!)

World has been meeting my music needs for years. I usually know what I want and they always can get it for me, and they can also provide great suggestions for gift-​giving (like recommend a CD of mob-​movie music). Personal service and knowledgeable staff mean a lot to me. Think twice before you bypass this great local merchant for Amazon — it’s money well-​spent that stays in our community.

Admittedly, I used to hate World Records. Fifteen odd years ago, when I as a lowly teenager, I used to pop by the old Stockdale location from time to time to browse. Typically, I’d find condescending staff, iffy pricing, and really no reason to buy much of anything.
So, aside from my trips out of town to Amoeba in Hollywood and Boo Boo Records in SLO, I buy nearly all of my records online. Venturing into a Bakersfield music store really hasn’t been on my agenda for a long, long time.
Yesterday, I pop by for the first time nearly seven years, out of sheer boredom, at their current location on G Street. One of the staff was setting up some banners outside and he’s friendly and curious to know if I’m looking for anything special today. I spot a 2010 Record Store Day poster near the front of the store and ask him about it.
You see, I’ve been preordering a bunch of this year’s releases online, but one of them, The Bird And The Bee’s «Interpreting The Masters, Volume One,» has been eluding me. It’s a limited vinyl pressing, and no one seems to be carrying it yet. So, I ask about it offhand. The guy says, «Let me make a few calls.»
While I’m browsing their vinyl section, I find a few things to buy, and even a few things that make me go, «You know, when I get my next paycheck, I’ll have to come back and pick these up, too.» As I’m finishing up, the guy asks for my name and phone number and says he’ll call me when he gets an answer about my request.
Sure enough, a few hours later, he calls back and tells me he can get it. And not just that, but he can have it in 24 hours. In the back of my head, I’m thinking, «Yeah, right.» But I tell him to go ahead and order it and to give me a call when it comes in.
24 hours later, I get a call that my record is in. I go, pick the thing up for a mere $ 20, and head home to spin the platter. Utter bliss, I tell you.
My opinion of World Records has completely changed. Maybe it’s because I’m not a teenager anymore and the staff there treat me in a different way. Maybe my attitude has changed. Regardless, these guys are legit. They’re helpful and they don’t mess around. I will be making World Records a regular stop in my life from now on.

this is a great record store! they have a huge selection and if they dont have it just ask and they can get it. the owners do a good job of getting talented artists to come to town every now and then as well. for the most part i thought the prices were good too. they just moved to a new location downtown

This place defies capitalism. It makes no sense buying music from this store. There is better selection and prices at places like Best Buy, Walmart, and (sometimes) Borders.
That being said, I do shop here. The people working there are incredibly nice. I’ve pretty much had to special order all my music from them, they’ve rarely had anything I am looking for in stock. I normally get special orders within 2 days of ordering which is sometimes faster than
. You do get a warm fuzzy feeling when you know you are supporting local businesses, I would agree with that.
Maybe my music tastes are too obscure? World Records has been around for a while, so it must be doing something right.

Finding small independent record stores is getting harder and harder in Bako. World Records never disappoints. When I lived there, my GF and I would go a buy a CD every couple of weeks if we were feeling pretty flush. They have everything from the C&W to Metal imports. Check them out.

Looking for hard to find music? They probably have it on hand. Great shop. Many styles of music. Very knowledgeable! Involved with bringing a lot of great live music into town. Very helpful and a pleasure to talk to.