And Starting 2013 With Jazz Vinyl
Happy New Year, all. Hope you get all the vinyl of your dreams this year. We start the year watching eBay, as we are wont to do. It actually seems kind of slow to us, probably not unexpected at this time of year. We’re not seeing a lot of action on the auction from the Jazz Record Center and there’s not the usual frenzy over some items you would expect. But there’s still plenty to watch, starting with: Duke Pearson, Profile, Blue Note 4022. This record looks to be in M- condition for the record and the cover, and it has already been bid up to $273 with 14 bids. Quite impressive with five days left in the auction. More impressive still when you look at the questions below and realize it has neither deep grooves nor the ear in the deadwax.
Curtis Fuller, The Opener, Blue Note 1567. This is an original pressing that looks to be in VG++ condition for the vinyl and VG or VG+ for the cover. This one has the ear, has the deep grooves, yet, unlike the Pearson LP, it doesn’t have any bids. Start price is around $300. There are five days left. It will sell.
This one is closing soon at it has a lot of bids:
Workin’ With the Miles Davis Quintet, Prestige 7166. This is an original yellow label New Jersey pressing in what looks to be VG++ condition for both the record and the cover. The bidding is closing in on the $200 range.
I find it easy to forget to check for the “P” when I get excited about seeing a rare record pop up. But this is the first time I personally have ever heard of a W63 label without the “P”.
Hard to imagine why the seller of the Miles lp would list items with such poor lighting. On the other hand,it’s easy to see that better lit,more detailed images could only benefit sales(and quality of bids). A no-brainer,IMHO.
wonder if the Duke Pearson has the W63 label on both sides?
I have a Liberty/non-Plastylite BLP4017 (no ear) with a NY label on one side and a W63 on the other…
Good to know, kb!
In the photo of the Duke Pearson LP, you can clearly see that the inner sleeve is the 1966 first Liberty sleeve. Not that the sleeve is determinative, but with no ear and no DG, it’s clear that’s a 1966 non-Plastylite first Liberty repress. A bit disingenuous, then, of the seller to say “original” in the listing title, when the “original” has a deep groove and was pressed 7 years before that sleeve was even printed. Still a nice pressing, I’m sure, but not as described. At least he answered the questions, though.
By the way, the seller of the Pearson has a TON of great records on auction this week. His copy of the Helen Merrill with Clifford Brown is already up to $360 with 5 days to go. It’s going to go for a big price: http://www.ebay.com/itm/300837847894
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ORIGINAL-1st-US-press-LP-Lawrence-Marable-Tenorman-1956-Jazz-West-JWLP-8-/190772245474?ssPageName=ADME:B:WNA:US:1123
I was watching this one as well.. I’d love to have an original copy. The seller calls it one of the five rarest jazz albums in existence… Any idea what the other four are?
Agreed, Joe: It’s one thing to not point out that there’s no “P”, that I don’t have a problem with, but it’s definitely not cool to use the word ‘original’ in a listing like that (I’d be surprised if he didn’t understand what was going on).
Rich – hard to tell. He has a lot of listings, and we know it’s sometimes hard to keep track, even with the best intentions. And, he answered questions directly and clearly right away, which is great (and has a 100% feedback rating). However, I looked at a lot of his listings, and while he uses a lot of label lingo to try and puff his sales (like you, I have no problem with this), he does not actually show any of those labels, despite the nice “posing” and lighting of the photos, and all of the vinyl is hidden in the sleeves. So, despite the nice titles (and there are many), I would be a bit suspect.
Duke Pearson, no Plastylite “P” and no deep grooves on either side. No “P” means Liberty and in that case I feel that $273 really is over the top. I mean, what would a copy that does have the “P” and deep grooves fetch? I think it’s weird that with the currently available information it is easy to figure out in less than five minutes what kind of copy this Duke Pearson is and still folks are willing to fork out serious money.
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Happy new year everybody 😉
Andy,
While Tenorman is one of my favorites and is very rare it’s clearly not one of the “five rarest jazz albums”. There are tons of 78s that have only a handful of copies in existence, while Tenorman goes on sale 5+ times a year in VG+ or better. Now if we are saying it’s one of the “five most sought after” albums I could definitely see that argument. But I would love to hear the seller say what the other five are too just out of curiosity. Anyone want to come up with a list of the five most sought after albums? I think it would be fun.
Sought after by price, or sought after for the music?
I think by music, although usually there is a decent correlation. “Take Five” and “Kind of Blue” are great music but less “sought after” due to being much more common that “Cool Struttin”. So a list of the most “sought after” albums would be albums that are difficult to obtain and contain great music in some combination but not just one or the other.
Depends on what kind of collector really. Some record collectors aren’t necessarily music fans, but moreso completists. I listen (or would listen) to most of the records I own, however there are some records that I know I wouldn’t enjoy, but I’d still like to have due to their scarcity.
Anyone watch that Pearson “original” sell for $777?!