Miles Way Ahead

milesHere’s an interesting one I seemed to miss: Miles Davis, Miles Ahead, Columbia 1041. This is an original pressing but that’s not what makes it interesting. On the back cover are six signatures: Miles Davis, Julian” Cannonball” Adderley, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Jimmy Cobb and Paul Chambers. The signatures are all in blue ballpoint pen. The seller admittedly had no idea of the provenance of the signatures or whether they were legitimate. Seems that he picked up the record at a yard sale or estate sale.  The cover was probably in VG+ condition with a seam split on the bottom. There were 39 bids on the item and in the last hour it went from about $2,000 to its final price of $3,100.99. Imagine if the signatures aren’t legitimate? Or, on the other hand, imagine what this would have fetched if the signatures were 100% verified. I do have a question, however. Why would Jimmy Cobb sign his name “Jimmie Cobb?” Are there other circumstances where he went by Jimmie, as opposed to Jimmy or, as on Kind of Blue, James Cobb?

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12 comments

  • Gregory the Fish

    daaaaannnnnggggggg.

  • Considering the signatures and the faded ballpoint pen I’d say this thing is legit. Pretty rad.

  • I also think they look legit. The “thank yous” take it out of the realm of autograph bait, i.e., they were signed to someone at the time for a reason, not faked later to look pretty. Also, the Miles and Cobb signatures match this listing, which also looks like the real thing: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Miles-DAVIS-Jazz-Kind-of-Blue-LP-SIGNED-/380898288112?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item58af4ea1f0

  • That seller cost himself a lot of money with his/her HORRIBLE listing. First of all, why is the photo the front cover and not the autographs!?! Second, no idea on the musicians: Jimmie Cliff!?! John Campbell Oddey!?! WTF?!

  • Gregory the Fish

    yeah, joe, i wondered about that too. what a goofball.

  • John Campbell Oddey is almost as good as Buckshot La Funke.

  • brian o'blivion

    i actually sent that guy an email saying its “julian “cannonball” adderley…” not the legendary bebop tenor hero john campbell oddey…but i guess mixing those two up is a pretty common mistake..

  • …Sorry I’m late to the party on this one. At first glance Coltrane & Miles look reasonable, but if you look a bit closer at the ‘Jo’ in John, it’s not quite right, and the rest are generallt off in my opinion. That being said, no two signatures (like snowflakes) are ever exactly alike right ? There are a bunch of subtleties that make me question this one though. (as I offer do with all autographs with absolutely no provenance) The pen weight for example, is very consistent throughout, and little too heavy handed on them based on similar LP’s I have signed on the back from this era in my collection by these artists. (Almost as if they had been traced over.) Some of the signature scales are off too. As for the Jimmy Cobb signature, I do have examples from this era that were also signed ‘Jimmie’, but in this one, the b’s in Cobb aren’t typical. Normally they are upper case script. He has signed a bunch of LP’s for me over the years in person and always signed them ‘Jimmy CoBB’, not Jimmie Cobb’, but I will be sure to ask him next time he is in town why he spelt his name Jimmie back then… The list goes on and on, but like so many others we see on ebay, this one seems a bit too good to be true sadly. Close but no cigar in my opinion. Although I have to give the seller credit, if this was an intentional rouse, they seem to have gone to great lengths to “wag the proverbial dawg” on their posting in order to give us the impression that this one could be legit, based on a series of misinformation…

  • hello i have a rare jazz-signed chuck credo- 45.talked to his grandson over the internet and emailed him photos he says its his signature and rare any one collect this guy let me know looking to sell 45- husband has ms and need for dr bills thanks

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