All Star Autographs?
We are going to need the expertise of our friend Don-Lucky for this one: Sonny Rollins, Blue Note 1542. This is an original Lexington Avenue pressing with a signature on the front that purports to be a Sonny Rollins autograph. I actually have an authentic Sonny Rollins autograph in my collection and, to my eyes, this one definitely looks legitimate. But this is Don-Lucky’s area of expertise, so I will refer to him, assuming he’s paying attention to Jazz Collector these days. The record looks to be in about VG condition and the cover is graded as good, but it does potentially have Sonny’s signature. The price is around $90 and the auction still has four days left. I find this of particular interest, not only because it would be cool to own an original pressing of this record with Sonny’s autograph, but because the seller has several other cool records with purported autographs, including this very special one:
John Coltrane, Blue Train, Blue Note 1577. This is a West 63rd Street pressing with the deep grooves, but not with the New York 23 on one side. So, autograph aside, this would be of less interest to collectors than the NY23 version. But, there is the factor of the Coltrane autograph, assuming it is real. Again, looks real to me, but my eyes are untrained or, in this case untraned (sorry about that). How many copies of Blue Train do you think there are in the world that have been autographed by John Coltrane? Maybe 10? What is it worth? I would grade this at VG+ for the record, based on the seller’s description, and probably VG+ for the cover as well. So far the price is in the $225 range.
While we’re on these listings, here are a couple more:
Miles Davis, Volume 2, Blue Note 1502. This is one of those weird pressings with the Lexington Avenue label on one side and the West 63rd Street label on the other, so it is definitely not a first pressing. It does have an ostensible Miles Davis autograph on the cover. The record looks to be VG+ and the cover VG-. Bidding is in the $150 range.
Sonny Rollins, Tenor Madness, Prestige 7047. This is an original New York yellow label. The record looks to be in VG or VG+ condition and the cover is probably VG-. The signature on the front is pretty cool, if legitimate. It states: “to real Sonny Rollins fans best Sonny.” There is one bidder at this point in the $100 price range.
the seller is one I’ve been dealing with for probably around 20 years (starting when he was still sending out xeroxed auction catalogs by overseas mail) and he’s very trustworthy and reliable. I’d assume they are real and came from a jazz autograph hound’s collection.
Thanks for the vote of confidence on this one Al ! …In all honesty, before Clifford vouched for the seller, I was leaning towards a thumbs down on these because of the sellers location and reputation. Generally speaking, the epicenter of autograph forgery is in Europe…
Typically, when analyzing any autograph I have a three strike policy myself… That my friends, would have been strike one ! But in this case, Clifford saved the day, and I trust Clifford so I will grant the seller a proverbial hall pass for the moment.
I also look at the varying signature styles and defining characteristics from different time periods in an artists career, the medium they used to sign with, and the date the lps were pressed in relation to the artist’s life. (You would be surprised at how many lp’s re-issued after an artist has passed away had supposedly been signed by them, often with mediums that were not readily available when they were alive…)
However, just looking at the signatures alone, I reserve the right to remain a bit suspect, after all, without any form of provenance on these (like a photo of them being signed) one only knows for sure if one was there to get it autographed first hand right.
That being said, lets start with Sonny: He is the toughest to authenticate as I have many autographed LP’s I’ve had signed by Sonny in person over the years and they all look totally different ! Even when I asked him to sign more than one Lp for me after the same show ! This applies to his signature style, size and even the printing style of his personalized messages before each autograph. That being said, there were a few tell-tale traits that distinguish them as his. Since Sonny is still with us thankfully, it is plausible that both LP’s were signed by him. The style is certainly a “later” version of his signature, but unfortunately, none of them really seem reasonable enough for me to vouch for with any real certainty… They both seem questionable in numerous areas and I would proceed with caution on them…
Next up, Miles… What can I say, aside from being a musical genius, the man had excellent penmanship, but didn’t have an elaborate “paraphe”. He also hated signing autographs, and was notoriously difficult to get. Later in life, he never signed his full name either, and eventually just resorted to signing his first name, often followed by an exclamation mark as seen used when signing his paintings and sketches… In this case, I see numerous subtle issues with the scale, rotation style, ascenders, descenders etc… For that reason, I’m out on this one as well.
Last but not least, John Coltrane… This one looks surprisingly good, despite the faded medium. Hard to tell for sure if this one was just traced from a known authentic example from the photos, but it’s certainly the most passable of the lot IMHO.
p.s. – I’m still hear Al ! (Just been lurking in the shadows of the “Jazz Collective”) Cheers !
…Almost forgot to mention that there is a nice Percy Heath signature on the back cover of that Miles Davis album that appears authentic, so at least it has that going for it !
For me personally, having an authentic autograph signed contemporaneously around the release of an album would be the most interesting. In other words getting Miles in 1985 to sign a 1st press Lex would not be exciting (putting aside that any interaction with Miles would have been an adventure.). On the flip side anything from say Clifford Brown would be very cool as he passed away so young. It is also interesting that nowadays with the state of the music industry, musicians are compelled to set up after the gig selling merchandise and hanging around all night autographing things just to survive.
I can confirm what Clifford Allen says about the seller.I’ve been buying records from him since 1985.
About the signatures: Miles and Coltrane performed in Milan (Davis, Miles – (Coltrane, John – Kelly, Winton – Chambers, Paul – Cobb, Jimmy) Teatro Lirico, 6 aprile 1960); the same about Modern jazz quartet : Modern Jazz Quartet – MJQ in concerto a Milano, Auditorium del Conservatorio, 11 maggio 1960 Lewis, John – Jackson, Milton – Heath, Percy – Kay, Connie; Sonny Rollins performed in Sanremo,Italy in 1959 and in Milan in 1963 Rollins, Sonny – in concerto a Milano il 13 gennaio Teatro dell’Arte). All records listed for auction were issued before those concert dates.
The Rollins and Miles signatures could certainly have been acquired much later on these worn record covers. It’s totally plausible. It’s also possible that if they are fakes, they were applied by whoever had the records before Roberto got them.
I have two Miles, one on 10″ and the other on lp, and I happen to like autographs on lps, however that may put me in the minority.
And, not that anyone would care, but I have listed a copy of S.R.’s S.C. on eBay.
I sell when I sell as bsidechi
https://www.ebay.com/itm/183119515637?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649
Never mind lp sold.
Clifford, got that Michael Cosmic/Phil Musra reissue you had a big hand in, nice. Read there is a third bonus lp for subscribers. Subscribers to what? Who do i have to know/pay off to get this?
Thanks!
Oh, that’s for subscribers to the Now-Again Reserve series — a yearly rate and you get bonus LPs, though probably more beneficial if you’re into the psychedelic rock and funk stuff that Now-Again mostly releases. I’m not sure if there are any of the 3LP sets left, to be honest…