eBay Watch Resumes: Here Are Some 10-Inch LPs
I went back on eBay last night for the first time in a couple of weeks. It was like a visit with old friends, seeing the Prestiges and Blue Notes and Norgrans all hanging out as if I had never left. After a short visit I put a few on my watch list to see once again. Here are some of them:
Gigi Gryce Big Band Featuring Clifford Brown, Blue Note 5049. This is an original 10-inch record and is being offered by Euclid Records. The vinyl is listed as VG++ and the cover is M-. The current price is $73.85, which seems pretty low, but the 10-inchers no longer seem to have the cachet they once had, even though in many cases they are the original pressings. This one was originally issued on French Vogue, right? Anyway, I’d be tempted to bid on this one myself since I once had a near-mint copy of this record and let it slip through my fingers, although for a price of $200 more than 20 years ago, so I can’t complain too much. In a similar category is this record: The George Wallington Showcase, Blue Note 5045. This one is being offered by Atomic Records, one of the other large sellers on eBay. This one seems to be in
VG+ condition for both the record and the cover, although Atomic uses a different nomenclature than we use, and it sometimes varies the language between “excellent” and “VG” or “VG+.” In any case, this one is under $70 and hasn’t yet reached the seller’s reserve price. When I purchased the Clifford Brown/Gigi Gryce Blue Note many years ago, I also purchased a copy of the Wallington record in near mint condition. This one I kept and it is still sitting on my shelf, but I am considering selling it and I’m curious to see the final price on this copy. Finally, while we’re watching 10-inch LPs, here’s a nice Prestige, also from Euclid Records: Jimmy Raney, 1955, Prestige 199. This is an original 10-inch LP with the yellow label and it is listed in M- condition for the vinyl and VG++ for the cover. The picture of the cover does not seem VG++, so perhaps that is impacting the bidding, although we know Euclid is reliable in its grading. Sometimes it’s hard to get a good picture of a cover, especially a black cover. In any case, this one is $76 with a few hours to go. Perhaps I may even bid on this one as well.
In the end I never did bid on any of these records I was watching yesterday. The Wallington sold for $300 and, as noted, I do have a nice copy of that, which I would be willing to sell for the same price. Just send an email to al@jazzcollector.com if you are interested. There was also the Clifford Brown/Gigi Gryce 10-inch LP on Blue Note. This one sold for $159.50. This was a pretty reasonable price and, if I’d remembered to bid, perhaps I would have been in the running. Finally, the Jimmy Raney 10-inch Prestige LP sold for $102.50, also a reasonable price, although you do wonder how much longer will there be a market for Jimmy Raney 10-inch LPs. Do younger jazz fans get it that Raney was one of the pre-eminent jazz guitarists in the ’50s? I do wonder.
Al: you touch upon the generation gap. Effectively, the market for Jim Raney, Bob Gordon, Lennie Niehaus, Jack Montrose et al. may disappear. Stronger, WILL disappear. But this very fact will not hinder me from thoroughly enjoying these wonderful guys and their heritage left on vinyl, and, maybe, along the road, picking up some bargains, to improve upon the overall quality of my collection.
By the same logic, eventually, the high end Blue Notes of the hard bop era will loose appeal. Better sell them now, if at least you are collecting as an investor.
Back in January Euclid sold this Jimmy Raney 10″: Jimmy Raney-Quartet-New Jazz 1101-SUPERB 10″ for $699.
If I remember correctly the Jimmy Raney New Jazz 10 inches are originals, whilst the Prestiges are second pressings. At least that is what the Japanese Jazz Critique Prestige catalog asserts.
Doug: that is correct, although I never came across such a Prestige re-issue of the New Jazz 1101-1106 series. Maybe they were just planned to be re-issued as PrLp 201-206, but in reality were not.
The Raney # 199 is the original.
I saw that Euclid’s Bob Gordon album on Pacific Jazz sold for $ 444. So justice is done to this fine artist.
To answer Al’s generation gap question… born in the 70’s and rating my knowledge of jazz a 7 out of 10, I have never heard of Raney. This is why I love this site.
It is possible, now that I think of it, that a jazz knowledge scale is not stepped evenly, but rather is like the richter scale with higher numbers being exponentially higher. The more obscure you get the more obscure obscurity gets… making 10 unattainable.
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Interesting that the Wallington sold for $300. There was a copy on eBay a few weeks ago that had a start price of $300 and didn’t sell at all. That one was in superior condition to this. Part of it has to do with the seller, but part also has to do with listing strategy on eBay. Sometimes it pays to start with a lower price, as Rudolf has suggested, and let the bidding get started and get more people involved. There is an art as well as a science to it, which is still somewhat shrouded in mystery, no?