Jazz Vinyl Today: 2 Prestiges, 2 For the $1,000 Bin
Here’s some jazz vinyl we’ve been watching on eBay this way, starting with this beauty: Webster Young, For Lady, Prestige 7106. This was an original pressing with the yellow label and New York address and it looked to be in almost pristine condition, with a promo stamp on the back cover and the original rice paper inner sleeve. This one sold for $648.80. I remember once having a duplicate of this record and offering it to a dealer, who offered me $35 for the copy and was insulted when I refused to sell it to him. That was pre-eBay, of course.
The other nice Prestige we were watching wound up not selling: Elmo Hope, Informal Jazz, Prestige 7043. This was an original New York pressing in at least VG++ condition for both the record and the cover. The top bid was $477, which failed to meet the dealer’s reserve price.
This one broke into the $1,000 bin, again: Lee Morgan, Indeed, Blue Note 1538. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing and it was listed in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $1,358.77. Also entering the $1,000 bin, again, was:
Jackie McLean, The New Tradition, Ad lib 6601. This was in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover and it sold for $1,810.20.
Arghhh Webster Young !!! Every time i see it for sale i remember that this one is on my short list of “i’ll buy it when i’ll be a millionaire” records : along with Ray Bryant 7098, Tommy Flanagan 7134, Mal Waldron 7111, Art Taylor 711…something…
‘For Lady’ has one of the most beautiful Jazz-LP-covers of all time. Gorgeous.
Has it occurred to anyone that the cover of “For Lady” and “Page One” are strikingly similar? Could this be the same location and if “For Lady” was released in 1957, could it be that Reid Miles was inspired by it for “Page One”? Who knows, I just thought it was fun to compare the two, please follow my photo link to see what I mean. Oh, and don’t forget to view in “slide show” mode 😀
great!
differences:
woman vs man
b-side vs a-side
umbrella vs saxophone
wall=wall
what a pity Pink Floyd missed this!
Looks like it was the same place…
I can remember that I’ve read about this location somewhere earlier. It’s the same spot somewhere in NYC.
Aha, so we can say that it’s both shot on the same location. That screams for more info 😉 And maybe I haven’t googled it well enough, but I couldn’t even figure out where Joe Henderson’s front cover photo was shot, let alone the Webster Young cover. Anecdotes anyone? 😉
I’m pretty sure Reid Miles did the cover for both, so I wouldn’t be surprised.
Your memory serves correct Katharsis ! …I recall posting something about the location for the cover photo of Joe Henderson’s ‘Page One’ awhile back. It’s the base of the Seagram Building, located at 375 Park Avenue, between 52nd Street and 53rd. This shot looks like it’s from the East 53rd Street side of the granite plaza base. The view (see Google Maps) is still pretty similar to this day, and looks to be the same location as Webster Young’s ‘For Lady’… It was likely convenient for Reid Miles to use Manhattan backdrops for his shoots as he worked with John Hermansader on the Blue Note account, and for Esquire magazine (which is located just North at 300 West 57th Street) In direct contrast to many of Francis Wolfs famous session photos which were taken in or around the RVG studio locations. Just a side note: John Hermansader, was educated in the Bauhaus tradition, and later studied at the “New Bauhaus “ in Chicago before opening a design firm in New York. This might explain why they regularly choose this icon of modernist ‘International Style’ Architecture as a cover backdrop as well, since it was Walter Gropius who founder of the original Bauhaus school that instigated the movement to which Mies Van Der Rohe, Architect of the Seagram Building had championed. (Jazz, Art and Architecture …It’s all a rich tapestry isn’t it !)
Well, Don Lucky, thank you once again for such an elaborate and informative comment. I’m going to check out Google maps right away. And if you haven’t already: maybe you should write a book with nothing but anecdotes like this. I’m serious! 😉
Oh, and one more thing, Don Lucky: you say that both the 52nd and 53rd side of the building is still pretty similar, but after four screen shots of Google streetview, I found that today it looks like THIS. Now, if you look at the photos of the two covers HERE, you can see that the walls back then were much higher than on the current Seagram building photos. So if they’re still ‘pretty similar’, then we can safely say -based on the original cover photos- that there’s been some major changes over the past decades. Is there more to tell to his? It’s interesting 😉
Tip: if you click on the above photo links that I’ve included, then make sure to view them in “slide show” mode!
…As far as I know Mattyman, the wall heights of the plaza base at the Seagram Building vary considerably as the grade changes. I suspect they just cropped the photos as required to eliminate any unnessessary clutter above. The Joe Henderson ‘Page One’ LP seems to have been a direct on-site photograph, where as Webster Young’s ‘For Lady’ seems a little “cut and paste” since the scale, contrast and perspective of the woman with the background seem off don’t you think ? It is also very possible that the cover photo of Webster Young’s ‘For Lady’ is a different location entirely. Upon closer inspection of your Webster Young cover photo, the texture of the stone retaining wall beyond looks more like like concrete, and not granite or travertine as is seen at the Seagram Building… Hard to say for certain with this one.
I think you’re right, Don Lucky. ‘Cause indeed the looks of both covers are similar, but I can’t help but think that the For Lady cover wasn’t shot at the same place. Indeed, if we look at the Page One cover, it’s clear that the top part of the photo was cut off, probably exactly at the point where the actual Seagram building would begin. But with For Lady, well, those walls are just too high and, you’re right, the stone looks so much more different, so it can’t be the Seagram building as well. If only we could ask Hermansader or Miles themselves! Last but not least: as in one of my previous comments, have you ever thought of writing your memoirs down in a book? I’m sure that it’s not just me who loves to read about the things that we, the younger cats, never experienced first hand 😉
Thanks Mattyman… I doubt anyone would buy a copy of an Architects memoirs these days, especially with all the great commentary here on Jazz Collector. I think most of us just happen to be at the right place at the right time. I have been lucky enough to meet lots of amazing people along the way, especially at the clubs and as a long time Jazz festival patron. Just an example: I had a good friend by the name of Marty Ross who passed away a few years back. He owned a super club with Buddy Rich in NYC called ‘Buddy’s Place’ then opened a place of his own called “Marty’s” in the 80’s… (If you like Mel Torme, he recorded a few sessions at the club and relesed them on some great LP’s called ‘Mel Torme and Friends – Recorded Live at Marty’s NYC’ …It has that great Hirschfeld cover and is among the best of Mel’s live albums next to those with George Shearing, but I digress) This guy knew everybody in the industry and had some really amazing stories from those days that he managed to draft into a memoir, but could never manage to get them published sadly. That being said, I think our best bet is really the Jazz Collective these days… It really seems to be the best depository for all this great ephemera.
Looking at the “For Lady” cover I think it’s probably shot at Seagrams building. My explanation would be that they inserted a small lady from another photo on the backdrop of the Seagram building. The lady looks a bit out of place and her shadows are very faint as with the umbrella cast no shadow whatsoever. Hmmm.
Above the wall it also looks “blanked out”.
See: http://www.popsike.com/pix/20041022/4046447217.jpg
The Henderson however looks real and is probably shot at a high section of the back wall.
It’s hard to be really certain thoung 😉
I was going to say the cover resembles the same location as “Page One” as well. I’m not from NYC and have never been there (I hope this changes soon) but let me ask everyone. Is the lp good? What about that J.McLean on Ad-lib($1800.00?) – that must be killer to pay that kind of money for an lp! I know people spend ridiculous amounts of money on rare stuff to fill the collection wheter or not is good. I need to be able to look into my collection and whatever I choose from it I know I’m going to be able to dig it. If I don’t, it’s not there. Sold. Gone. Adios machCHA! Just like that KENNY DREW TRIO lp! Sons of biatches!
…You will find your copy eventually zarabeth47. Every now and then, there are less that perfect copies of Jackie McLean’s New Tradition that go for much less than $1800. I have an original copy in +VG condition that I picked up a few years ago for around $750, and another copy I downloaded from itunes ($5.94) for the car and it is a solid album either way. I don’t know if I would go as high as $1800, but it is quite a rarity in the Lp world.
Well, Don Lucky, your anecdote about Marty Ross is much appreciated. Once again great reading material about things you’d otherwise never hear of, not to mention seeing photos of it. And to read that Marty Ross never managed to get his memoirs published is a bummer to say the least. One wonders if the draft of his work has survived; maybe his family is able to get it published. If not, well, then they can always digitize it and make it available online for everyone to read. 😉 The reason I’m so into these memoirs and anecdotes, is because we can all enjoy the superb music from back then, but we will never be able to truly experience those days, for the simple reason that we weren’t born yet. It’s exactly the stories from the older cats that can draw a fantastic image of what it was like to actually live in that era. The clubs, the people, the atmosphere, the live performances of all those great artists that we will never see in the flesh, you know; the joy of reading great anecdotes is that you can think about them when you put a great record on, ease back, listen and imagine how it was to be there at that time. Well written liner notes sometimes have that effect: you hear the music and read the liners and if they contain nice little details, you automatically float back in time 🙂 It was for the same reason that I used to grill my grand parents, too. In other words, Don Lucky and the other cats: anecdotes are welcome. And if you don’t feel like writing them down, hey, you can always record them digitally on your computer. Audio books are very 2011 ! 😉
Hey Mattyman, I’ve had the opportunity to read the memoirs a while back myself, and one of his daughters is actually in publishing believe it or not. Unfortunately, I have no idea why they never managed to get it published for him. I guess they didn’t think it was marketable enough, but who knows… It’s really up to the family now. In the meantime, there are some great Jazz books out there that do have lots of interesting anecdotes. If you haven’t read them here are a few I have been slowly working through myself:
(1.) ‘Blue Note Records – The Biography’ by Richard Cook.
(2.) ‘The Jazz Ear: Conversations over Music’ by Ben Ratliff
(3.) ‘Mel Torme – It wasn’t all Velvet’ by Mel Torme.
After that I am sure there are hundreds of great Jazz books out there that the collective can recommend for the rest of us. Enjoy !
Thank you, don-lucky, for claryfying this!
A big thanks from me, too, Don Lucky. Those three titles are already on my want list. Since you’re close with Marty Ross’ family, perhaps you can ask them some time about why his memoirs have not been published yet. And you say you actually read them, so the question of course is: are they good and do they offer some great things to read about? Maybe you’re in it, too! 😉 Anyway, yes: if there are other members that can add a few more titles to the three you already gave in the little top three above, then I’d be over the moon. Reading about the old days from the people like you who were there when it all happened is something I can’t stop thinking/talking about. It’s the only true source of information in my opinion 🙂
TO Mattyman and Don-Lucky:
Hi guys. I worked with Marty Ross at Marty’s for several years. Job of a lifetime. Saw Carmen McCrae, Johnny Hartman, Joe Williams, Mel, Anita O’Day. Man what a treat. I knew his daughters, Sherri and Steffi. His daughter Sherri and I were friends. I last saw Marty in L.A. when he came as my guest to a friend’s wedding. I only recently read that he passed away in (I believe) September 2008. I would love to be in touch with Sherri. I know she married and had kids, but I don’t know her maiden name. I’d love any info if you guys know where she is. Lots of incredible memories from that job. I cried when Johnny Harman died. he was a gem of a human being. So was his wife Teddy.