Where It All Began: The Birthplace of Tower Records in Sacramento

Before Tower Records became a global temple of vinyl, CDs, and cassette culture, it was just a scrappy little shop tucked inside a drugstore in Sacramento, California. The year was 1960, and a young Russell Solomon had an idea: sell the records that lined the shelves of his father’s Tower Cut Rate Drug Store. That corner of Watt Avenue and El Camino wasn’t just retail space—it was ground zero for a revolution in how people discovered and consumed music.

By 1968, Tower Records had grown beyond Sacramento, planting its legendary flagship store on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, a beacon that drew rock stars, crate-diggers, and wide-eyed teenagers alike. But the Sacramento roots remained sacred. The original shop embodied the DIY hustle of Solomon—rows of LPs and 45s stacked high, an open-door spirit that made music feel accessible, communal, and alive.

That humble beginning set the stage for Tower Records to stretch across the U.S., Japan, and beyond, forever etching its name in music history. Sacramento wasn’t just the hometown of Tower—it was the birthplace of a cultural movement. The original store may be gone, but the mythos of its foundation still spins like a record that never ends.

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