More Blue Notes, More Record Price Tags
Prices for Blue Notes — at least those in near mint condition — are continuing to rise, based on some of the latest eBay sales. Take a look at these:
A Date With Jimmy Smith, Volume 2, Blue Note 1548. This was in near mint condition and it was sold by the same seller who sold those pristine JJ Johnson records the other day. This one sold for $792. The record features Hank Mobley, Lou Donaldson and Donald Byrd, but this is still a new high price tag for it, at least for the time we’ve been watching it.
This one was from Euclid Records: The Fabulous Fats Navarro, Volume 1, Blue Note 1531. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing. It was listed as M- condition for both
the record and the cover. It sold for $711.01.
Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers, Blue Note 1518. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing. The record was M- and the cover was VG++. The price was $561.01.
Bud Powell, The Scene Changes, Blue Note 4009. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing. The record and cove were both listed in M- condition. The price was $549.
Jimmy Smith at the Organ, Blue Note 1551. This was an original West 63rd pressing. The record and cover were M-. The price was $522.
The Jazz Messengers at the Cafe Bohemia Volume 1, Blue Note 1507. This was an original pressing in M- condition. The price was $517.
I could go on, and perhaps I will later, but you get the point. Condition is critical, and if you have the condition, and it’s an original vintage Blue Note, the market has probably never been higher.
I sold my double Blue Notes originals too early!!
Did anybody click on the bid history for the fats navarro record? Only 2 bidders were over $120. One guy bid 13 times in a row from $120 to $700. We need to look at some of these prices with a grain of salt. Did that bidder think blue note only pressed one copy of that record?
I guess it just bugs me that this Navarro is now on popsike and it will push the prices up the next time it sells. If that bidder kept going this could easily have went for $1500, or he could have slowly backed away from the computer around $350. One person holds a lot of power determining future prices.
If I were mainly a seller, however, I would toast this guy.
Hey guys, did anyone happen to notice a little problem with that Fabulous Fats LP ? Take a closer look… Euclid notes that the cover is a BLUE NOTE RECORDS INC., 43 West 61st. St., New York 23… Yet the LP itself is a Lexington !!!
Hmmmm… Correct me if I am wrong but an original Lexington pressing should probably have the original BLUE NOTE RECORDS 767 Lexington Ave, New York 21 address on the back. Sounds like someone along the line swapped the cover to milk some poor impulsive buyer out of $711 !!!
I suspect we will see this one on e-bay again in the near future… Probably selling for a lot less !(See Bob, things have a way of working themselves out…)
Don-lucky, you made me realize it’s not a flat-edge either because they would specify that. So it is guaranteed to be a later pressing. I think both 700+ bidders paid more attention to the phrase “gorgeous nearly flawless copy” than anything else. It’s funny too that a second pressing for this record sold for more than a first pressing ever did.
This kind of bidding puts all the records I have lost on ebay in perspective. Perhaps being the second highest bidder is just the best I can do on most records if there are bidders like this out there.
I was just updating the price guide and noticed a copy of the Eminent Jay Jay Johnson Volume 1 that sold recently for $300. The seller blared in the listing that it was an original Lexington Avenue pressing, but noted later on that it was not a deep groove pressing. Someone may have thought he was getting a bargain, but probably wasn’t. Although you never know these days with the prices continuing to rise for all early Blue Note records.
…Thanks Al, now I am starting to get a bit paranoid about that so called “bargain” Eminent J.J.- Vol.1 LP I picked up for +$85 recently. The listing states a deep grove Lexington, and someone also asked the seller for confirmation of the DG and got a “yes” response. The posting has a close-up photo, but it is almost too grainy to tell for sure. I will find out when it arrives… It seems we are all gamblers at heart I guess !
Ahhhh the joy’s of buying records on ebay… Remember that “bargain” Eminent J.J.- Vol.1 LP I picked up for +$85 back in January ? Well, it just arrived today, and guess what Al, you were right !
The LP was not a DG as posted… To make matters worse, it wasn’t even a Lexington on both sides of the LP !!! Side two was a Blue Note Records – 47 West 63rd New York 23 ! …On a positive note, the record itself is a nice heavy vinyl, great condition and the LP cover was a Lexington. Who knows, maybe it will come in handy someday. Ya’ win some, ya’ loose some right !
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