Watching Some Tempting 1500 Series Blue Notes
Here’s a Blue Note you don’t see too often on eBay and now there are two for sale at the same time. This one will sell: Sabu, Palo Congo, Blue Note 1561. This is an original pressing in VG+ condition for the vinyl and VG for the cover. The auction ends tomorrow and the bidding is now in the $150 range with four bids. This one may not sell at all: Sabu, Palo Congo, Blue Note 1561. This one is an original pressing in near mint condition for both the record and the cover. There are more than two days left on the auction and no bidding yet. The start price is $999.99.
Blue Note 1561 would fill a gap in my personal collection and so would this: Kenny Burrell, Blue Note 1543. This is an original Lexington Avenue pressing — the last of the Lexingtons — and it is listed in VG+ condition for the record and VG for the cover. This is one of the Burrell’s with an Andy Warhol cover. The price is currently at about $200 with a day and a half or so to go. Hmmm. Tempting.But then again, it’s always tempting to try to fill in the gaps, isn’t it?
Here’s another temptation:
Hank Mobley and Lee Morgan, Peckin’ Time, Blue Note 1574. This one is listed in VG condition for both the record and the cover. The current price is about $110 with two days to go. The thing with these original Blue Notes is that many that look to be in VG condition, actually play brilliantly. So it’s a gamble. Perhaps one worth taking? We’ll see how the bidding goes.
I know once upon a time these were “just records,” and people routinely put their names on them, etc. But writing on the front of the Warhol cover? Ouch!
I’m not typically a Warhol kind of guy, but his Blue Note covers are awesome, and this one is right up there with the Grant Green “Matador” cover.
Did anyone else happen to catch the label error on that first copy of Sabu, Palo Congo, Blue Note 1561 that Al mentioned above ? It actually has two side 1’s ! Hard to say if this will help or hinder the value on this one though… After all, a misprinted stamp or currency error can fetch top dollar given the right collector, but it will be interesting to see if that will happen with LP’s. As in all things, human error does occur from time to time in the production process… Must have been labeled on a Friday afternoon or a Monday morning I guess… (Personally, the only error I have come across is on my copy of Lee Morgan’s Sidewinder BN 4157, which has multiple labels pressed onto a single side !)
The Hank Mobley sure is tempting, but then again so is so many others on Funkyou’s site right now.
I often wonder where Funkyou gets his stuff, I’ve bought from him many times and have never been disappointed. He always seems to get the primo records.. Makes me think that St Louis is like a jazz record paradise or something.
Funkyou is a young guy, probably around 25 or so. He does mass mailers across the states and does house calls all over the country. The guy is probably one of the best record hunters in the world. It’s crazy some of the stuff he’s able to get. And his listings just come one after another. It’s like an endless supply.
…Funkyou autions are always interesting, especially with all the volume. From past experience, you really have to read between the lines on the individual postings though, especially the ones with only a single photo. I’ve often purchased from Funkyou auctions in the past, but there are a lot of second pressings in there for the unsuspecting collector. Unfortunately, unless you ask the right questions well in advance, you will only find out about that second pressing cover address paired with a first pressing record upon its arrivial… The “tell” on many of those ones is that he often puts less effort into the postings of second pressings, and usually shows just one photo with limited details about cover addresses etc. Then again, when you are posting that much volume at once, it is certainly understandable to focus on the more collectable LP’s. That being said, you can still pick up some great LP’s for very reasonable prices if you do your homework.
It seems he lists a lot of pieces at VG- or less. Could someone who has purchased one of those records in lesser shape comment on the grading? Were there any skips? How bad was the noise? Thanks.
@ Bill: I have never purchased anything from Funkyou, but just won ‘Donald Byrd Free Form’ earlier (listed as VG). So I will post condition when I receive it. I’m not real crazy about how he grades, G+ VG- , not sure what’s the difference there? With a 100% feedback I’ll take my chances. Picked it up at a decent price.
From what I’ve seen so far most stuff he rates VG-‘ others would rate as VG+.. so he’s pretty conservative. I’ve never gotten anything from him that skipped or had any problems sonically. By no means are they near mint anal collector copies, but they fill out a collection nicely.
@ Don-Lucky: I only noticed the ‘side 1 label on both sides’ after you mentioned it. Not that I was bidding on that Sabu, but this once again underlines the importance of thoroughly reading the item descriptions. 😉
I have purchased from him before. OK, but not great. Also trades under eBay name funkyousounds (quite a few negative votes in there)… I get the impression he has changed his grading to avoid criticism.