Soul Sisters, Smithvilles and Other Vinyl Rarities

Since I haven’t been posting as frequently as I used to, I find I have a backlog in my watchlist of items I meant to write about, but haven’t had a chance. So let’s go back a few weeks and see what we missed, starting with Horace Silver, Serenade to a Soul Sister, Blue Note 4277. This was an original Liberty Mono pressing and was part of the recent Jazz Record Center auction. I honestly never realized any copy of this record was viewed as highly collectible until I read the JRC’s description of it as “the rare Van Gelder-stamped mono pressing.” Apparently these mono pressings were never sold to the public. I often find I learn something new whenever JRC has an auction. This copy was in M- condition for the record and the cover. The final price was $464. Guess I’ll have to settle for my nice stereo pressing.

This one made it into the $4,000 bin despite a seller with a feedback rating of 97.4%: Tommy Flanagan Overseas, Prestige 7134. This copy was listed in M- condition for both the record and the cover and wound up selling for $4,100. The same 97.4% seller sold this: Louis Smith, Smithville, Blue Note 1594. This was an original promo copy with the West 63rd Street labels. The record was listed in Ex condition and the cover was VG+. The final price was about $2,620. I don’t mean to disparage the seller in any way, as I know there can be language barriers when dealing in jazz records across cultures and continents. I just felt it was worth pointing out, given the high prices buyers were willing to pay for these very rare, very collectible records.

Top dollar for a Blue Note stereo pressing: Dexter Gordon, A Swingin’ Affair, Blue Note 84133. This was a stereo New York USA pressing that looked to be in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The final price was $455.

Jackie McLean, Lights Out, Esquire 32-041. This was an original British pressing that was graded in Ex condition for both the record and the cover. The final price was $443.04. Discerning readers may recall that I developed a fascination for these Esquire Prestige issues a few years ago and, in that state of delirium, I recall buying a copy of this record four about $75, so perhaps I wasn’t delirious at all.