Original Blue Notes? $1.57 Each? I’m a Dreamer, Aren’t We All?
Back on eBay. This seller has a lot of nice records closing today, including: Paul Chambers, Whims of Chambers, Blue Note 1534. This is a West 63rd Street second pressing that looks to be in VG++ condition for the record and probably VG+ for the cover. The bidding is in the $465 range, fairly steep for a non-first pressing. One of the things that caught my eye was the shrink wrap still on the cover. A first pressing wouldn’t have had the shrink, but what struck me was the sticker on the shrink, which said “SPECIAL PRICE $1.57.” Imagine being able to buy this for $1.57. On further examination, the seller has a bunch of other original pressings with the same SPECIAL PRICE $1.57 sticker, including Dexter Gordon. A Swingin’ Affair, Blue Note 4133; Duke Pearson, Wahoo!, Blue Note 4191; and Donald Byrd, A New Perspective, Blue Note 4124, among others. I have a dream where I go back in time and walk into a record store and all of these records are sitting there at $1.57, sealed, and I buy them all, every last one.
Here’s catching up on some other items we’ve been watching, starting with Steve Lacy, Soprano Sax, Prestige 7125. When we wrote about this one, the were no bids with a start price of $100. It ended up selling for $562, and I can’t help feeling that our post at Jazz Collector may have had something to do with the flurry of bidding, especially after Clifford, Rudolf and others sang its praises here.
Art Pepper, Gettin’ Together, Contemporary 3573. This was an original pressing in VG++ condition for the record and the cover. We spotted it at $125 and it sold for $203.50.
Finally, there was Sonny Rollins, The Sound of Sonny, Riverside 241. This was an original white label pressing in VG+ condition for the record and VG for the cover. It sold for $182.50. Nobody answered my original question. With Sonny Clark on piano and Newk as the leader, how much would this record have sold for if the label were Blue Note instead of Riverside. $600? $1,000? I think that would be more of the range.
The Dex, Pearson and Byrd you mention — and others from that batch of $1.57 Blue Notes up for auction — were NY Liberty monos. The couple ear originals that were also up perhaps gave the impression all were originals from the same collection.
That Speak No Evil winner might feel his heart sink when he studies the deadwax and finds nothing.
PD, Yes maybe – or maybe not! The prices of 2nd or even later pressings are soaring.
PD, well, I said I’m a dreamer. I guess I dreamed that they mostly original pressings. 🙂
Still, I also agree with Shaft that it may not make a difference.
i don’t ever have an answer to what certain records would sell for if they were on blue note. i’m just glad they aren’t.
I bought a record off this seller. Some of the records he sold went for absolutely ridiculous prices. Makes me wonder if people do their due diligence? Or just super rich and put down huge bids. The craziest I saw was a Mono copy of Art Blakey Mosaic BLP 4090, which was a NY label liberty (seller did not mention Ear, the inner was a 27 years inner and the record came out in ’62) go for around $600-700. It was in M- but still, insane.
*correction $400 for above, but still
Yeah, I saw this seller’s auction and was initially interested in several of the records but experience has taught me caution so I sent the seller some questions and when I got the answers I decided not to enter the fray. You’ve got to learn to read what’s not mentioned in the listings as carefully as what is mentioned.
The seller recordjungle is one of the foremost Record stores in the LA area. a major hitter!!! He finds some of the craziest records!
Well, I remember buying lots o’ lps with $1.97 price stickers and such, close outs/cutouts, back in the 60’s, 70’s and it was never the pedigree of the label, etchings, address, etc. It was the artist/music that made me buy them. I suppose now the looking is at monetary intrinsic value. To me, good music is good music, no matter the pressing. Though I should clarify this by saying I no longer have many records and listening is via computer mostly.
Here in the UK,after the abolition of retail price maintenance in1972,there were fantastic bargains to be had as wholesalers cleared their dead stock at crazy prices.Woolworth especially had huge sales of Bluenote,Transatlantic(UK Prestige) and many other US and UK labels at 25 pence(about 20 cents!)
My parameters for purchase were the same as yours lenni and I still own,and enjoy,most of my many acquisitions to this day.
Back in the early to mid 60s they were discontinuing mono records. They were sold as cut-outs priced @ $1.98. I remember all the Prestige and Riverside albums were offered @ one large shop (owned by Folkways owner Moses Asch) on 6th Ave and (I think) 46th St. My friend and I would travel there from Queens almost every week-end. Unfortunately we could only afford one album at a time. It was great fun. We always asked the staff their opinions and came away with a treasure every time. I still daydream about those days. I believe they were probably blue trident Prestiges and non-deep groove Riversides 2nd editions. What a gyp. Ha Ha
My cheap record buying time and place was the US 80’s 90’s. I often wish i could go back to buy more records, but without internet info and estimated values I’d be lost. Anybody have good stories of navigating the collectors market in the 60’s or 70’s?
$1.97 in 1966 was still about $15 so they weren’t THAT cheap…
I missed out – starting to buy seriously around 2010. So no classic jazz bargains for me.
“recordjungle” knows what is what. This seller generally notes the presence of the “EAR” in the title of a listing. If EAR is not mentioned, then it probably is not present. NY label not withstanding. As others point out, note what is written and what is not. Also view a seller’s other listings to gain insight into their knowledge base and listing habits.
I recall in the late 60s, there was a store in Chicago called Rose Records. They had cut out records upstairs that they sold for $1.88. I certainly bought some of these, but just the stuff I was into at the time. Never did I have the foresight of purchasing lps on choice labels to resell 50 years later! If I could only go back in time for a day, I’d pick up a bunch of these a maybe a box of Topps baseball cards as well.