Comments on: Mobley Blue Note 1568: Looking For A Record?

By: Kish

Kish — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 19:16:35 +0000

I had the great pleasure of buying some LPs from Leon in the early 80’s when he lived in Hollywood. The very large collection was in his garage or an added on room I think. He delt almost exclusively through little very detailed type written auction catalogs. The auction process escapes me now ( I never participated in the auctions), but considering that this was all pre-internet, it was primitive. I gathered that his clients were primarily Japanese. The prices were probably high for the time, but that was because would only sell at a “Buy it now” kind of price, at least as high as he would expect to get at the conclusion of the auction. Leon really did have multiple copies of rare LPs in mint unplayed condition, typically a couple of inches worth of shelf width of what seemed like everything. I never did ask him how he ever amassed that much rare material. Leon was always a kind and friendly man and I will always remember my visits as fondly.

By: Mattyman

Mattyman — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 08:51:45 +0000

Love to read anecdotes like this! 😉

By: jazzdealer

jazzdealer — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 08:17:29 +0000

i never met leon personally, but i talked to him via telephone many many times, especially when i had a question about bluenote
lp’s. he ws well know by almost anyone into jazz lps living in calif, as well as the other dealers like tom burns, jack brown, and i;m sure fred cohen knew him as well.
let me tell u he knew his stuff and once told me he was offered the chance to

write a book about jazz collecting. i will also tell you he was a shrewd businessman back in his day, he would sale his records very very high (even for average jazz lp’s that where not considered rare.i remember calling him and asking him how much would he sle me three sounds 1st bluenote 1600 lp for, he told me $ 400 bucks, this was in like in 1994 .

i don’t believe the story of letting a person flip thru and grabbing the best records, i think that is just a little story the seller added to pump up the interest of his auctions., i could see if this was a relative of leon and he inherited the records- but a best friend… no way… may leon left a will of some sort to this guy

By: Mattyman

Mattyman — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 21:28:54 +0000

Question of course is, Don-Lucky, that I have only heard and read about Leon Levitt here on Jazzcollector. I don’t know enough about the man to put that seller to the test. Whatever he answers me, I can’t fact check it. After what I’ve read about Leon Levitt here on Jazzcollector, I think that he was a pretty tough guy (read Ceedee’s comment for instance) and it’s that simple fact that makes it so hard to believe for me that he would just allow a friend to flip through his rarest or rare and just grab the best and most mint pressing from his collection. Why would Levitt, the rough man (no disrespect), all of a sudden just give away a holy grail?

By: ceedee

ceedee — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 10:43:33 +0000

First off,I see that the Mobley went for $5,600! Not bad-with the other Blue Notes(4 or 5 total),the seller grossed around 13k. Not too shabby a gig,possibly done from the comfort of one’s home computer.
Re:Leavitt-my memories are none too pleasant,although I acknowledge that I was a “newbie” to the trading lps “biz” at the time(mid-1970’s)and LL simply took advantage of my ignorance. As any shark would. That kind of mindset is part of what enabled him to collect those multiple copies of rare jazz lps,accumulated from numerous such dealings from across the US. He got into the biz when Japanese collectors were becoming less content to merely own locally pressed copies-they desired the ORIGINAL. Leon,along with a handful of others,fufilled those wants-and made quite a living in doing so. The good news(for me),is that decades later this much wiser collector can sell off a few dozen or so of my own lps and finance the purchase of a new,improved speaker system. Which I might have never imagined without(getting burned by)the late Leon Leavitt.

By: don-lucky

don-lucky — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 13:35:10 +0000

Hey Mattyman, I think that would certainly be an excellent question to pose to the seller directly when you have a moment… If he is who he claims to be, I am sure he would love to share some stories with us on this one, and perhaps the whereabouts of the rest of the collection.

By: Mattyman

Mattyman — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 08:27:47 +0000

One thing I’d like to ask the older cats here: that seller of the Hank Mobley 1568 and other great Blue Notes apparently was allowed to flip through the legendary Leon Levitt’s collection and grab the best of the best. Quote on 1568: “I went through 14 copies of this record at Leon’s warehouse and this is the best of the best.” I have only heard of Leon Levitt here on Jazzcollector and from what I’ve read, he was pretty strict with bidders that didn’t bid enough. One thing though: could it really be that he’d allow even his best friend to flip through his records to “just” grab the best copy, just like that? And last question: if he had 14 copies of 1568 and if he let that best friend grab the best copy, it leaves 13 other 1568s. Whatever happened to Leon Levitt’s collection after he passed? Just curious; I’m sure the older cats here can tell an anecdote or two, just like they have done before 😉

By: dottorjazz

dottorjazz — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 12:55:05 +0000

I agree, in one case I’ve seen two P, one beside the other

By: Mike

Mike — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 00:14:42 +0000

Still a very sweet collection. Mine is similar but with a few more audiophile reissues(which I do enjoy but think I am in the minority). Add on CDs to that a bunch of cds. Great thing about Blue Note is that the music is good to great for near all of the catalog. I love many Prestiges, Riversides, Verve, etc but I’ve never had as high of an opinion of a whole catalog as Blue Note.
I personally have never seen a DG no “P” from Blue Note but I imagine it could happen if the “P” didn’t press in well. I was looking at an Andrew Hill of mine were the “p” on one side is there but very weak compared to the other side which is far more pronounced.

By: London Calling

London Calling — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 18:23:35 +0000

Problem with recalling numbers from memory without Fact Checking!
Don’t wish to overclaim, so for the record:-

Around 140 Blue Note “originals”, consisting of about 100 Blue Note (pre-1966)1st or 2nd press originals with “P”, 40 where 1st press was by Liberty (mainly no’s 4250 or higher or LT series not previously issued, and a few Japan-only releases.

On the Reissue side, a 135 Blue Note titles only as reissues, sourced from Liberty, UA, King and Toshiba. That sadly includes around 15 Look-a-Like Blue Notes with everything correct for an original except no “P” where one is expected.

This offers a pretty good cross-section of pressing qualities.