jimmyjrg

Thanks for your reply. I'm sorry you didn't know about his death. It sounds like he died of natural causes, but he was living rough at the time. In September 2001 He was found dead in a shed he'd been renting to store his records. He was 58. From what I can piece together it sounds like he had been renting a shop in Merced, but when the rent got increased he put his best records in storage and began living with them.

I've been working with a DJ Shadow fansite which is compiling interviews and articles with Shadow and his influences, and I've been researching John Hillyard. It seems like there's a heap of people here like @Robbkwho met John and I was hoping to compile some information for an article, similar to this one I did on Ed Hartman's Record store in Sacramento. So far I've been able to find a few mentions of John in some old California newspapers, and I'm aware of how he died. But I'm curious when he came from Canada, which record label(s) he worked for, and what his store was called? If anyone is able to help, or point me in the right direction I'd really appreciate it. Apologies, I know this is my first post here. But hopefully this is ok.