Homely Mobley, Fine Miles & Kelly’s Blues
This one looks like it’s been through the ringer: Hank Mobley, Blue Note 1568. We know this is one of the rarest of the rare and has sold for as much as $5,600 in the Jazz Collector Price Guide. This one will not approach that price. The cover looks like it’s been stored in a sewer — and the cover is listed in better condition than the record. The cover is listed as VG and the record is listed as G+. Still, it will fill a gap in someone’s collection, and for a fairly hefty price. This one is already close to $250 and there are still three days left on the bidding. If you want to see a copy of the cover, you’ll have to click the link. We don’t want to tarnish the site in any way.
This is a cover we’re happy to show: Miles Davis Volume 1, Blue Note 1501. This looks to be an original Lexington Avenue pressing with the Lexington Avenue address on the cover. It is listed in M- condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. The start price is $249 and so far there are no bidders with more than three days to go. The same seller is also offering this:
Miles Davis Volume 2,Blue Note 1502. This also looks to be an original Lexington Avenue pressing in similar condition as Volume 1, M- for the record and VG+ for the cover. Same $249 start price and no bidders so far.
Don’t want to do all Blue Notes today, so how about this: Wynton Kelly, Kelly Blue, Riverside 298. This is an original blue label pressing. The seller repeatedly referred to it as “Kelly’s Blues.” Argh. Go ahead, advertise your ignorance. The record and the cover were both listed in VG+ condition and it sold for $332.77
well, the seller of the Miles Blue Notes doesn’t have the best rating … perhaps that explains the lack of bidders.
“small stain to front”.. does he mean the whole front is lightly stained? because even then he’s wrong.
Artie – I noticed that in all of the Miles’ seller’s poor ratings, the disputed records were described as NM. Also, all of his other jazz records for sale are described as NM. I have a hard time believing everything he sells is NM.
I have Lex Aves of 1501 and 1502 and I’m glad that I once found them for a reasonable price. 250 bucks is a bit too steep for me, not to mention the outstanding Wynton Kelly album that fetched 332…
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In the meantime I’m keeping a close eye on Mobley’s 1568. Indeed it looks trashed, but I’m curious what the end bid will be.
It is incredible that someone will pay more than 400 $ for a 1568 in such a bad condition. I think it would be far more interesting to spend 400 $ to buy lesser rare BN title in NM condition.
Regarding the Wynton Kelly on Riverside, for sure this is another masterpiece that every collector should have. No doubt it ‘d be much more clever to spend 400 $ for a NM copy of this one than for any trashed 47 w Blue Note.
It’s hard to understand that someone would spend $400 on a record in such a bad condition, only because it’s an original pressing… Isn’t the sound quality the reason why you buy an original pressing? Especially with Blue Notes, where there are (most of the times) plenty of alternatives with good sound quality.
I haven’t heard the Wynton Kelly record before, but it features some of my favorite players, so I’m really curious about it. The same seller is offering Donald Byrd – Byrd’s Eye View on Transition: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=271140534132&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en
I bought a Japanese reissue of it last week and it’s a really fantastic album.
…The writing on the back cover (“wobc”)of that copy of Hank Mobley 1568 must have been pretty bad for the seller not to show a photo of it. Looks like the winning bidder was the “devil” on this one !(Check out the winning bid amount…)
Here’s another one in much better condition that is closing in an hour:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HANK-MOBLEY-BLUE-NOTE-1568-Original-US-47W-63rd-NY-23-DG-LP-VG-ED1-Holy-Grail-/281049955005?pt=Music_on_Vinyl&hash=item416fe1fabd
…Just noticed that the copy of Hank Mobley 1568 I linked above doesn’t have an original cover !!! Hopefully the buyer noticed that one as well, although the seller did mention it in their description as “not the original cover, but taken from the EMI-Capitol reissue.” Too bad they didn’t have the original cover though, as even in bad shape, the LP itself was still in decent condition, enough so that it may have fetched a beter return.
Lander – I think you have hit upon an interesting aspect of jazz record collecting (and, indeed, any other consumer market segment which features some kind of scarcity): that some records have ceased to be records, and have rather become collectible objects. In other words, anyone willing to pay $666 for a trashed record is doing so only to say he/she has it, not because it’s worth $666 to listen to. Ironically, I would guess that it plays well; I have quite a few beat up W. 63rds that play great (as I bet many of the readers of this fine blog do as well). The difference I paid $3 or $4 for them, because they were sold as records, not as collectible commodities.