Jazz Vinyl and a Touch of the Poet
Been a while since I did an update from the Jazz Collector inbox and, so we shall do so today and close with a little bit of jazz vinyl poetry, courtesy of our friend CeeDee. This one came in from Michael with a simple note: “Nice one.” And it is: Tina Brooks, True Blue, Blue Note 4041. This is an original pressing in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $2,900, with 29 bids. It went from about $1,900 to the final price in the final seconds. Frankly, I’m surprised it didn’t sell for a higher price. How many M- copies of True Blue do you think there are left in the world? How many ever come up for sale? Not a lot.
Somebody also sent me this completed listing: Hank Mobley Quintet, Blue Note 1550. This was an original pressing with the New York 23 labels. It was listed in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover. The seller had a buy-it-now price of $1,250 with the option of accepting the best offer, which he did. So we don’t actually know what it sold for.
As for the jazz vinyl poetry:
CeeDee sent this along with a note, summarized as follows: “A recent reading of the excellent literary journal Brilliant Corners (Winter,2005) contains a poem — “A Love Supreme” — too special to delay submitting. Written by poet Robert Wrigley,it contains much of what makes LP listening such a unique experience. I think his combination of humor and wistfulness is right on target.”
Here it is:
Dusty Groove had a copy of True Blue listed at $79.99 in 2003 and I tried to buy it – seemed like it had just been posted as it was around 6 PM central time. Naturally I didn’t get it… the condition was listed as “Very Good” which in those days, at that particular retail outlet, often meant VG+ and sometimes VG++ (they used to be more conservative on their grading). Shame – though in all honesty I would’ve flipped it for sure. What an amazing record though, glad to have a nice King pressing.
Why is True Blue so rare?
True Blue is the only Tina Brooks session as a leader that was issued at the golden era. He did other sessions as a leader and plays on various titles. I don’t think it is so rare. It was never reissued, anyway. But the most important is : it s Blue Note, so everything that was issued on Blue Note is cult. Period…
Well, I would consider it rare, I’ve never seen an original in the flesh myself in the 15 years I’ve been collecting jazz vinyl. I think you glossed over an important point, this title was never reissued by Blue Note, Liberty or United Artists, it was the Japanese issue in the ’70s where it first reappeared. If you want the RVG mastering it’s the original or nothing, unlike most Blue Note titles.
The Hank Mobley sold for $1200. The trick to seeing the final price on an accepted Buy It Now is to click the small “Print” button which is just above the ebay item number. It’ll take you to a page where the final price is listed.
It’s also really, really good.