Yesterday and Today Records – 9274 SW 40th St. aka Bird Road, Miami, Florida 33165
Since the dawn of time, that is if time began in 1981, Yesterday and Today Records has been offering tasty vinyl to the public in Miami Florida. Located on the second floor of a 60s era strip mall, its relatively small space is packed with new and used lps that, like the store itself, are off the usual beaten path. You can also find 45s in metal file cabinets at the rear of the store, some cds and cassette tapes, and, on my visit, used turntables as well. On its website, the store offers a large selection of 60s era obscure garage and psych reissues that include some of that genres’ finest – the Remains s/t is a personal favorite, as is the first Sweetwater album. Rock, jazz, latin and other genres are also available, mainly from the ’50s to ’90s. All were reasonably priced.
Highly Rated Throwback to Record Stores of Old
Yesterday and Today Records is a throwback to the days independent record stores were the pride and joy of a single owner. In this case, that owner is named Evan Chern, who you will find perched behind his store counter. He will happily discuss music and the offerings in his store, giving worthy advice and suggestions to those who ask. He spent a number of years doing the same as an area DJ with his show “Notes from the Underground.”
The store was recently named one of 8 Incredible Record Stores Every Music Lover In Miami Should Visit in a May 11, 2025 post from Secret Miami, and one of the 9 Best Record Stores in Miami by the Miami New Times in this October 22, 2025 article. I suspect alot of that has to do with the presence of its owner.
History
Yesterday and Today Records was started by Chern’s childhood friend Rich Ulloa in 1981. At its height in the 90s, it was a chain with three locations in Miami and another in Gainsville. The mighty Ramones visited for an instore record signing. Ulloa also started a record label – Y and T Records – in 1991.
Chern started as a customer, then began working at Yesterday and Today, and subsequently became its owner in 1998. Today, its sole remaining location is this outpost in the Bird Plaza strip mall.
Location
Wanna go? You can find Yesterday and Today Records on our Record Stores Map. Or if you have some spare time, you can pay a visit to Bird Bowl – just across the street.
That loud fuzzy pink thing with black beady eyes you see on the top of the speakers, themselves on top of the tv (?), which in turn is on top of the file cabinets, is actually a portable storage container for 45s. When you visited a friend back in the dawn of time, you would bring over your 45s in a handy carrying case such as this, known as a Disk Go, so you could both listen to today’s hits.
What The Press Is Saying
The Miami New Times published this extensive article Yesterday & Today, Miami’s Oldest Indie Record Shop, on 38 Years of Vinyl on April 12, 2019, interviewing both Ulloa and Chern about Yesterday and Today’s journey.
From the Miami Herald comes this ode to Yesterday and Today Records – Miami’s oldest indie record store on music history and how to snag an Olivia Rodrigo rarity Published on April 16, 2024, it describes the store and its preparations for the April 2024 record store day.
On November 2, 2017, the New College of Florida’s student weekly, the Catalyst, published Yesterday and Today: local Miami record store of 36 years, good for the oldies.
And VoyageMIA interviewed Chern about his vinyl journey and shop in this October 12, 2017 post Meet Evan Chern of Yesterday and Today Records.
What’s in a Name
Started by a Beatles fan, the store got its name from the Beatles’ record of the same name – Yesterday … and Today. Collectors will remember this album is also known as the Butcher cover. In their early days, different Beatles’ records were released in England and the US. Some featured different tracks. Others – like this one – just assembled different tracks. Yesterday and Today featured singles left off the Rubber Soul album, including Yesterday and Day Tripper, and some not yet final mixes of tracks that would be found on Revolver (Doctor Roberts and You’re Bird Can Sing) – released shortly thereafter.
Reportedly upset with the tracks this US release featured, the Beatles infamously had a cover made that featured the boys in Butcher smocks, replete with red meat and dismembered babies. Albums with the initial Butcher cover were shipped to retailers and djs but subsequently recalled due to the cover’s poor reception. Albums that were recalled had a second cover – with the Beatles assembled around a steamer trunk – pasted over the first.
Despite their best efforts, not all of the albums bearing the initial covers were recalled. These albums are called First State by collectors. The paste over replacements are called Second State. (You can tell its a paste over if you see Ringo’s black sweater from the Butcher cover peaking thru the paste over). And covers where the owners attempted to remove the paste over Steamer trunk cover – with varying degrees of succes – from the Butcher cover beneath – are called Third State. All sell for quite a lot of money. Present listings on eBay include a First State offered for $20,000! Alas, there were no Butcher covers offered for sale at the time of my visit. And if you’re going to start to hunt for these, be aware later editions only had the steamer trunk cover, with no Butcher cover beneath.
Cool Vinyl Bought There
Grateful Dead – Truckin’ I’ve long been a big fan of the Grateful Dead and have countless albums, tapes, cds and boots to prove it. One thing the Dead wasn’t was a singles band. Songs progressed over time, as they were refined in live shows and jams, constantly evolving and improving. And a single couldn’t capture a jam in its fullest, as the format severly limited song duration. But I still head over to the 45s section, in hopes of finding one of their 45s, with a picture sleeve if luck would have it.
Buried in the Yesterday and Today’s 45 file cabinets was a first press of the Grateful Dead’s Truckin’ 45, offered for the princely sum of $5. From the band’s American Beauty album (1970) this single was edited to 3:13 minutes/seconds from the album release’s 5:09. It reached no. 64 in the charts. By 1972, it became a complete jam, lasting over 13 minutes on Europe ’72.
While I found the 45, I didn’t find the picture sleeve that accompanied it in its German release. The hunt continues.
Here’s the 45 version.
And here’s the Dead performing the song live at Tivoli Concert Hall in Copenhagen Denmark on April 17, 1972. It’s not the version that appears on Europe ’72, but it is from the same tour.
Happy hunting.
