Taking A Chance on Junk Vinyl
I will let you in on one of my dirty little collecting secrets. Sometimes I will take a flyer and bid on a box or collection of records on eBay from a seller who may not know what he’s doing. The goal is to find one or two gems. I do this for a few reasons: 1. I’m a gambler at heart, so I’m always one to take risks. 2. The first time I ever did this I bought a box of records for about $60 and, when they arrived, they were loaded with original Verves and Prestiges that I estimated to be worth at least $3,000. So I was a bit hooked. 3. The cost of shipping these boxes overseas is often prohibitive so, generally, the competition for these items is not so steep, just U.S. buyers. Which brings me to my most recent purchase, shown in the picture. It was clear when I looked at the picture that just about every record here was virtually worthless. Except for one. Can you identify it? Look at the
bottom of the picture all the way to the right. Recognize the record? I did. I recognized it as this: This Time the Drum’s On Me by Stan Levey, Bethlehem 37. I also recognized that this record features some really, really rare Dexter Gordon from the mid-1950s. The price of the box of 25 records was $15. Shipping was about $15, so the total was $30. Was it worth the risk? I thought so. Here’s why: An original pressing of This Time The Drum’s on Me has sold for more than $125 on the Jazz Collector Price Guide. Plus, my copy could have used an upgraded cover. This risk was that the record in this box was not an original, or was in poor condition. I took a shot. The box arrived yesterday. The Stan Levey record? It is an original. I have it on the turntable now. It sounds great, at least a VG+, perhaps better. And the cover is at least VG++, a definite improvement over the one in my collection. A good investment for $30? I think so. And the bonus is there was also a nice Ruby Braff United Artists LP featuring Barry Galbraith and Bob Brookmeyer that will either end up on eBay or on a shelf somewhere in my collection. So I am quite pleased with myself as I listen to Dexter wailing on Tune Up while I watch the snow continue to pour from the sky on yet another cold blustery day in New York.
I once bought a box set from a french seller- the price was not cheap 600§ but inside I found :Paul Chambers Sextet on 47west label,Art Blakey Big beat NY label,Freddie Hubbard Goin’ up NY label, a Blue Mitchell original on Riverside,Ronnie Scott on Tempo label Ep,Eric Dolphy Outward Bound on French label Bel Air with a different cover and great sound and some more interesting things(some original Colmbia by Miles,Monk etc.) -of course there were many reissues and anthology of no interest to the collector but I think It was a good move to buy the lot.
Nice gamble there. The bottom right Stan Levey did stand out to me but I couldn’t see the cover too well from the picture. By process of elimination though, I knew it to be the needle in the haystack. Though common as mud, The Getz/Gilberto record is a favorite of mine that I break out on the right occasion.
Sorry this is off the subject. I have been sorting through Riverside labels trying to find some easy way to distinguish between pressings. I started with the 1100 series stereos looking for differences. I found that all of the large labels had RI in the dead wax & Inc on the label after Bill Grauer Productions. So concluding that the small black labels were the originals I lined these up with the mono versions using Michel’s info on Riverside labels. 1129-1183 coincides with 12-291 – 12-329 almost in a straight run of small labels. The large blue labels begin appearing again at 330 with Inc after Bill Grauer Productions on the label save for 331-333 & 339. Now 282-285 & 289-290 were not released in stereo versions. I have 284 with a small blue label but it has RI in the dead wax. If anyone has one of these with large blue labels & no inc on the label could you let me know? By the way great find on the Levey.
I did the same thing a few months back. for about 180 i got a bergenfield soul trane, a ny grant green, feelin the spirit, a ny bags groove, blakeys at the jazz corner of the world vol 2 orig label, dont recall right now (all my records are at new house im moving into), inventions and dimensions liberty press, oh yeah by mingus, 2 monk on riverside, a few other keepers i cant recall, and bout 30 junk records like pete fountain, julie christie mel torme. first thing i did was sell soul trane for $190 on ebay. i swear they were all crystal clear nm. the covers were at least vg+. i hate telling this outloud but nobody else would apperiate the excitment i got. I beamed for days. goes to show theres still some great fnds out there
i got this lot on ebay by the way
Michael — do you have all the Riversides? Sounds like quite an undertaking.
I am getting there, Al. Just knowing that the Inc. on the label coming after 12-330 in 1960 has made it easier to tell which are later pressings on ebay. Riverside is a nice label to collect, it does not draw the attention of Blue Notes. The only problem is their reissues are hard to tell from the originals.
Back to the topic at hand:Sometimes you CAN find gold in “them thar hills”,but my experience has been that people that have both,say,Don Ho and Sonny Rollins in their LP lot often haven’t taken care of either(and may have less appreciation of the second than the first). On the other hand,someone introduced to Miles in an attempt to wean them off of Al Hirt just MIGHT have that minty copy of Relaxin’ you’ve been looking for! It really is a pig in a poke,isn’t it?
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