Record Temptation, Then and Now

I had my eye on this one and someone also mentioned it in a comment on the previous post: Bill Evans, New Jazz Conceptions, Riverside 223. This was an original white label pressing with the original photo cover. The record was listed in M- condition and the cover was VG++, although perhaps VG+ may have been more accurate given the tape/tape residue on the back cover. Nevertheless, you rarely see the front cover this clean, and it’s such a gorgeous cover, you wonder what they were thinking at Riverside when they changed it. Anyway, this particular copy sold for $3,629, with the buyer and other bidders no doubt entranced by the clean picture of the cover. A quick click to Popsike tells us that this is by far the highest price ever paid for this record.

I have a clear memory of when I purchased my copy of this record with this cover, probably 25 or 30 years ago. It was a the Mr. Cheapo’s store in Mineola on Long Island and they were a good store at the time because they lived up to their reputation of being cheap. You could always get a bargain, and even collectible records were priced in the $10 to $20 range. I saw this on display behind the counter with no price tag on it. I had never seen this cover before and, frankly, didn’t even know it existed. I had a copy of the record with the second cover and was quite content with it.

I asked the guy behind the counter (not the owner Stu but one of the employees) about the record and he told me that the cover was extremely rare and that Japanese collectors would pay a small fortune just for the cover. I asked him if I could look at it. He handed it to me. The cover was in decent shape and the record was less so, probably in VG condition. But it did have the white label and, of course, I was intrigued. How much, I asked. A hundred and fifty, he said. Now, I had never seen a jazz record at Mr. Cheapo’s for $150, and I’m sure they had never sold one for that amount. And, at the time, I had probably never paid more than $50 for any record. But, now I had this one in my hands and I wasn’t about to let it go. How about a hundred, I replied. At which point he picked up the phone, called the owner in one of the other stores and, voila, for a hundred bucks it was mine. I still have it.

It’s been a while since I’ve bought records on eBay but I can tell you this next batch is really, really tempting and it’s from our friends at the Jazz Record Center a few subway stops away from my apartment: Blue Note 12-Inch 78s, #1-48. Seriously, this is every one of the first Blue Note recordings in their original format from the founding of the label in 1939 through 1945. For the most part they are described to be in E to N- condition. I mean, talk about owning a piece of history. To me, this is priceless, but perhaps I’m alone in that feeling. Well, not completely alone. There is only one bidder for these records at $500 and eBay tells me there are 35 watchers. Hmmm. I’ll be doing another post with some of the other records from this auction, but right now I only have eyes for this. Hmmm. Do I smell a bid in the air? I don’t even have to worry about shipping, which is usually a big concern with 78s. Hmmm.