One for the $3,000 Bin (And A Few More)
So how did some of those jazz vinyl auctions we were watching pan out? Thought you would never ask.
Hank Mobley, Blue Note 1568. This was an original pressing of one of the rarest and most valuable of all jazz records and it was sold by the most reputable of all jazz sellers, the Jazz Record Center in New York. The record was in M- condition and the cover looked like VG++. We’ve seen this record sell for more than $5,000 in the past on the Jazz Collector Price Guide. Not this time. This one sold for a mere $3,362.
Presenting Ernie Henry, Riverside 222. This was also from the Jazz Record Center and it was an original white label pressing that looked to be in quite lovely condition, M- for both the record and the cover. This one sold for $510. Great cover, isn’t it? Perfection, really, with the great picture and his eyes closed and the scripted typeface with the finger pointing to Ernie. Love it. Great record too.
This seller had a few interesting records from the Prestige New Jazz label, including:
The Music of Ahmed Abdul-Malik, New Jazz 8266. This was an original deep groove pressing with the purple labels. It was listed in VG+ condition for both the record and cover and sold for $447, which seemed quite high to me. I have a Riverside record by Abdul-Malik with Johnny Griffin and I’ve had this record in the past but I have to admit I never listened to either. Perhaps I will change that later this weekend and put the Riverside on the turntable.
From the same seller was: Ken McIntyre, Looking Ahead with Eric Dolphy, New Jazz 8247. This was also an original pressing with the deep grooves and purple labels. It was also in VG+ condition. It sold for $122.50. Funny, I’d have expected the record with Dolphy to fetch a higher price than the Adbul-Malik record, but it wasn’t even close.
The Abdul-Malik is a nice record, but $447 ?
Blimey!!!
Thats amazing.
The 1568 copy sold for that because it was a second pressing. No NY23.
Fredrik, the NY23 is more desirable and more expensive but all the evidence I’ve ever seen and heard says that there was only one pressing(of somewhere between 500-1000). I’m not certain of this(as with other Blue Notes, I’m not sure we can ever be certain), but I always like to open the discussion. While I’ve heard this topic rehashed multiple times, I like to hear it often in case I learn something new.
What does everyone else think, would you be satisfied with NO NY23. I would.
Ok, here’s what Fred the seller replied to my question about wheter ot not it was a 2nd pressing he was selling:
Yes and no. As I point out several times in my book about Blue Note pressings, the use of the NY23 address was short-lived. In three of the last four records to show a NY23 address – i.e. 1568, 1575, and 1577 – the NY23 address does not appear on both sides. In what order the labels were applied at the pressing plant is a piece of information that we will never know. What we do know is that Blue Note had a history of randomness, where specific label vintages were of no
concern. Their only emphasis was on the labels showing the correct recording information. Admittedly, collectors will always look for the earliest details to determine what is original and what is not. This is not necessarily correct. The example I always give is 4059, which is supposed to be “original” with a deep groove on Side 2. However, I have had a “review copy” of 4059 with no deep groove. Most collectors would agree that a “review copy”, being the earliest issue of an LP, would define the characteristics of an “original”. But they will still pay more for the deep-groove on Side 2.
All this being said, 1568 will probably be considered a second pressing or (for me) a “hybrid” when no NY23 label is present.
Thanks Fredrik for posting that, it sheds more light on 1568.
I think what Fred and others have said is that with some of these ambiguous pressings we will never know. There is contradicting info out there, and the collecting community has drawn a consensus on what is a true first in some cases(1568 being NY23 on one side is a first). I’d be happy with no NY23 in my collection, but my thinking is “would I pay $3,000 + for what the consensus believes is a second pressing”? Probably not. It is a beauty though.
I would love to have the Ernie Henry on Riverside ! Anyway 510 is too much for me nowadays
This one is always worth retelling I think:
(Ref. JC post from Sept.2011)
“I got the following notes from our friend Larry Cohn on the subject of BN 1568 awhile back:
“What happened was that Cuscuna several decades ago told me that 600 copies of 1568 had been pressed in total, including test copies and review / promotion / audition copies. Unfortunately, there is no hard evidence substantiating the claim. What I do know is that it was pressed in a very low quantity, since it was dropped from the catalog rapidly, and not re-pressed. My stamper evidence plus “promotion copy” evidence convinced me that all copies were created equal, the labels be damned, so a copy with both labels 47 WEST 63rd NYC is as good as any other. However, the variation with a side 2 NY23 address on the label commands about 2-1/2 times more $ in the marketplace for whatever mystical reason. I think the going price is $2000 for the version with and $5000 for the other one, mint.”
(Thanks again for that Larry !)
…As far as Fred’s book is concerned, he generally had to take a stance one way or another on how to catalogue and define a first pressing, even if the label variations were all pressed in the same run. It only makes sense to list the one with the earlier address as a first pressing, but in this case both variations are “original first pressings” but the NY23 on side 2 label variation seems a little “more original” and is that much more desired by us collectors as they were still using up the older labels, as in so many other BN favorites.
Thanks Don-Lucky,
I remembered this post, but couldn’t easily find it.
2 yrs ago i purchaced 1568 on ebay and never received it, or money back. i later found in a search the same seller resold it for a hundred more dollars a week after i bought it. it was listed with a pic, no cover, just in a plain white disco sleeve. The seller was in Florida.
Chewy – how did your 1568 issue get resolved?