What’s it Worth to You: Kind of Blue Signed by Miles, Trane and Paul Chambers?
Perusing eBay this morning and came upon this very interesting, and very expensive, item: Miles Davis, Kind of Blue, Columbia 1355. This is described as a limited edition pressing of Kind of Blue, with the back blank. The seller says this was issued for record executives and promoters, which seems possible, although I’ve never seen one before, and I’ve been looking for 45 years. The thing with this one is that the back isn’t exactly blank — it’s been signed by Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Paul Chambers, with a “Best Wishes” thrown in by Trane. It looks pretty authentic, although I’m not an expert on autographs. It is listed in VG++ condition for the record and the cover looks pretty nice, although not actually graded. The seller says it came from her husband’s collection and original priced it at $25,000. It is now up for auction with a start price of about $5,000 and a buy-it-now price of $12,500. Who among us wouldn’t want to own this one? But at what price?
Dizzy Reece, Star Bright, Blue Note 4023. This is an original West 63rd Street pressing that is listed in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It also has a stamp on the back: “Property of Donald Byrd.” Does that enhance the value for anyone, or detract from it? For me it would enhance my interest in owning it, although as a seller I would never grade the cover M- with a former owner’s stamp on it, regardless of his degree of fame. But that’s just me. The auction closes later today and the price is only in the $110 range.
the rest of the record being in nice condition, that byrd stamp definitely enhances the value for me. an even stronger connection to golden music!
This is a weird disclaimer on the KOB auction:
“WE ARE ABOUT TO LOSE OUR “TOP SELLER” STATUS BECAUSE WE WILL NOT COMPLY WITH THE LATEST ROUNDS OF EBAY REGULATIONS. THEY HAVE ORDERED TOP SELLERS TO UPLOAD 90% OF U.S DELIVERY CONFIRMATION TRACKING INFORMATION, AND WE WILL NOT. WE DO NOT UPLOAD TRACKING OR MARK AS SHIPPED.”
Why on earth would they not want to upload a tracking number or mark as shipped?
The cover of the Dizzy looks stellar, and a stamp of that nature on the back slick doesn’t detract from the overall grade one bit for me. M- is the right grading. And as this was owned once by Donald Byrd, makes this really interesting as well.
Regarding the Miles LP, I think this price is absolutely nuts. I would rather keep my original 1st pressing in M- condition any day of the week. Don’t like the blank back, I think the back slick should have the liner notes on this one. But if a 1st pressing of a particular record should have a blank back, like for example a Bird on Dial, of course, that’s the way to go.
Aaron – I’m with you – I find the entire listing form for that seller to be incomprehensible and off-putting.
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The Byrd stamp is super awesome. That ENHANCES the value for me.
The auction on that KOB is beyond idiotic.
Among my autographs, I have two lps signed by Miles and others, a table card from the Bohemian Caverns niteclub in Washington DC signed by John Coltrane and Alice Coltrane, and a contract for a two week engagement in Detroit signed by Charlie Parker. Also apiece of paper Charles Mingus signed for me when I was a teenager and a Jazz Discography book from the 30’s with about 50 signatures among them Lester Young and Jimmy Blanton.
As I go about getting rid of all my lps, these autographs will remain. To me, they are a connection to the artist.
Looks like those autographs was written by the same hand
My favorite autograph that I own is on a copy of Sonny Meets Hawk!, which was issued in 1963. On the back, Sonny signed it in black marker as follows:
“12/13/63
To my friend at ‘A+P’ with Holiday wishes to you + yours
Sincerely
Sonny R.”
BTW: A + P was (is?) a supermarket chain in the U.S.
Coltrane signature looks legit, Miles is a little different than some of the ones I have seen, but believable. Not sure about PC.
i guess what they mean is they don’t upload tracking for everything they sell but you can request it. but i would want that for this.
that blank back is wild- it does kind of add to the authenticity of it i guess
Has anybody seen these auctions?
Low feedback, none of the pictures match.. something seems a little off to me.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hank-Mobley-Blue-Note-BLP-1568-Mono-Original-Press-New-York-23-Variant-/161739237862?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item25a868e9e6
what is wrong with the pictures? Everything seems O.K., but for the non-negotiable price. One cannot blame the guy for trying.
Couple of other heavy hitters he’s selling with traditional auctions this week
Going through my husband (who is now in a nursing center) Jazz records, I came across Kind of blue, Miles Davies. KLP893. What could I sell it for.