A Misadventure in Jazz Collecting, Part 3
Debby and I spoke again on the phone and it was another one of those hour-long conversations. She would tell me about the records in her $250 and $350 piles, the Woody Hermans and Charlie Barnets mixed in with the occasional original Riversides, Prestiges and Blue Notes. Then she would pick up a pile of records and start reading titles and telling me what they were worth.
I’d try to explain that the Goldmine price guide was inaccurate, but she would just move on to the next record. Normally, I tell people who really want to know the value to look at completed listings on eBay or to look at Popsike, but I was hesitant to do that with her. That’s all she would need – seeing a $7,500 price tag for Hank Mobley Blue Note 1568, she’d be starting a $7,000 pile and who knows what would end up there.
She was still going through the records and I was trying to get her to calm down about the value, but there was really no stopping her. Over the next few days the emails kept flooding in with the latest pictures of records she had discovered and realized/believed were of value.
May 21, 2018. Email from Debby to Al. Subject: Found this today
Maroon label. Still working on collection
May 24. Email from Debby to Al. Subject: Another find today
There are still some records in back of room we still need to get to but have to move things around . . . piles are getting huge. Sent an earlier pic this week hope u got?
May 28, 2018. Email from Debby to Al. Subject: A few more today
All originals but also finding many in the 350 range lots of originals here found 10” of C Parker on dual 207 original Thelonius Monk original 10” bl note but writing on cover…jazz classics bl note 10”. Hope things are well…
May 28, 2018. Email from Debby to Al. Subject: He has original Dbls of some
Found that he has many doubles or original records too here’s a few I found today also.
May 29, 2018. Email from Al to Debby. Subject: Re: He has original Dbls of some
Great. Do you feel like you are at the point where we can talk about possible next steps, and I can put together a more comprehensive list of the rare records in the collection, so I can get a better sense of their potential value? — Al
May 29, 2018. Email from Debby to Al. Subject: Re: He has original Dbls of some
Believe it or not, I still have two more full cases to go through and hard to get at before we can move some furniture out of there. It’s a tedious job those records :)!!
Def next steps if you like but still many to go through. I never realized because I really didn’t pay attention to all of this way back when but never realized he had a pretty good collection here! I think there are still many more rares in there for you…many contemporary labels lately also.
I have the most rare ones in a pile by themselves I have the $300-350 in a pile…some piles are $50-250 and one pile just $250 alone piles of japanese labels along with foreign records and records are all pretty much in terrific shape…some covers have writing on them but not that many, hard to believe sellers would do that! some are so old that they have prices of $2.50 on them or less! I have piles of records that are $25-50.
Just trying to let you know what we have here thinking you will be like a lot of it!
Debby
May 29, 2018. Email from Debby to Al. Subject: Just found this
Deep groove Lexington label
Note to readers: Look carefully. Sonny Rollins, Blue Note 1558, Lexington label? I think not. But let’s move on.
May 30, 2018. Email from Debby to Al. Subject: Sonny Rollins
White label blue writing pretty mint condition too
May 30, 2018. Email from Debby to Al. Subject: Piles of records
This is what I’ve done so far . . . piles r getting too big!! Still more to do(:(:
At this point I’m still soul searching, spending a lot of time talking with my consiglieres Dan and The Lovely Mrs. JC. As I’m getting more pictures and details about the records, Dan is urging me to reach out to Debby by phone again, but I am hesitant because I’m still not sure if I want to pursue the collection or, if I do, why. There are more records in the collection that I don’t have, including the Bird 10-inch on Dial, but I’m not hearing Shades of Redd or Cliff Jordan on Blue Note or anything of that ilk.
If I were a dealer, it would be different. So I was thinking about whether to bring in a dealer as a partner, or perhaps to reach out to the Jazz Collector community to see if anyone would be interested, but I was also aware that Debby was still sitting there, going through each and every record and putting it in a pile influenced by the old Goldmine price guide, which, based on her comments, seems to think that 10-inch Woody Herman and Benny Goodman records are somehow worth hundreds of dollars each.
As I’m soul searching, pondering and putting off calling her, a week passes and finally she reaches out with another email:
June 7, 2018: Email from Debby to Al. Subject: Re: He has original Dbls of some
Mng Al,Was just wondering if you were still interested in this collection? If not its ok…there is a fellow I had contacted from Chicago that want’s to see it, have about ten more piles of records to go through. Found a record that was pretty good its an original Sonny Rollins on Prestige label …Sax Colossus with yellow label.Hope things are going well…..Debby
Hmm. A fellow in Chicago that wants to see the collection. A new twist. It was time to reach out to Debby again.
June 7, 2018: Email from Al to Debby. Subject: Re: He has original Dbls of some
Hi, Debby. I’m still interested. I was waiting to give you a chance to go through all of the records, but if you are ready to talk in more detail, I’m ready too. I’m around today and tomorrow so I can give you a call. – Al
June 7, 2018. Email from Debby to Al. Subject: Re: He has original Dbls of some
Hi Al,The fellow from Chicago called about four times he owns a record store there…but in reality I would rather have a person who lives and breathes jazz to own this collection. Remember how hub used to look and look for the artists he really liked and even bought some to give them a try.I will go through all of it then we will chat but if you wanted to chat before then its ok…lots going on with our pup and getting things moved around in here…record collection taking over life and place :)!! Have about ten big piles yet…couldn’t believe he had quite a few duplicates of original records. Have a great day! Debby
It was now time, finally, for the next call with Debby, soul-searching be damned.
When is the next installment, cant’ wait.
If nothing else, Al, you’ve beautifully painted a picture of this “Debby” that has all of us annoyed as F* by her.
japhy – so true!
Al , if you have a chance check out the movie The Sting for how to proceed . Keep on telling her everything she wants to hear and when the meeting finally takes place have each pocket with a bankroll in it of different amounts. Be prepared to cry and rejoice at the same time. Them that gots….( you know the rest) Pop click and hiss, Art
The Goldmine Price Guide may be an advantage for you, as the Blue Notes and Prestiges are valued at 1994 prices, about 1/10 of what they are going for now.
As a Caroline, I never trusted ‘Debbys’ (or ‘Debbies’, for that matter). They are conniving sinister creatures that have an abnormal love of money. x c
Does not take a genius who the guy from Chicago who owns the record store is, something is fishy with her emails, she prefers to do business with someone who breathes jazz and is local, yet she contacted the guy in Chicago on her own
Think about how the records where cared for, stored, condition, right off the bat the records are on top of each other in piles( not good causes warping among other things)
this is getting good… (popcorn emoji)
I hope this isn’t a story where Al wakes up from a dream in the end. 🙂
Seriously, I had a seller act this way (at least based on Al’s description up until now), and I walked away to preserve my sanity. There are some nutty people in this world.
Indeed. There are many vintage LPs valued by Goldmine in low mid 3 figure range that are now 4 figure titles. However there are almost as many that have gone down in value….Woody Herman and Glenn Miller would be the tip of that melting iceberg. One would be making a bet that there were more of the former, and less of the later in the collection. Debbie probably thought mention of the Chi Dealer would be a subtle hint of a potential bidding war, but dealers most buy at a discount leaving room for a fair collector to make a fair offer.
If she were really savy, she would have contracted with someone who would put them on Ebay for her.
I’d love to go through that collection and just play everything.
Hi Al — did you ever consider offering Debby to pick and choose a few titles and pay her reasonably for them? As in, pick the 5 records you want most, offer what you feel is reasonable, enter some kind of written agreement over email, send her a payment and agree to a premium on top of that if condition is outstanding or better than expected upon arrival. Could be a good way to eliminate the headache, and get a few gems off your want list without having to unlock a large line of credit and having to deal with reselling a lot of records.