Tracking Autographs: Duke, Miles, Sonny, Trane . . .
It was interesting watching the recent auctions of autographed vinyl and ephemera from the Jazz Record Center. With autographed items there’s always going to be a question of authenticity but there’s no reason to believe these items weren’t genuine. There are autographs and then there are autographs — I remember a couple of years ago there was an auction of a letter from Bill Evans to John Coltrane that sold for $38,000. There was nothing in this grouping that came close to matching that in either uniqueness or value, but there was some nice prices nonetheless, including:
John Coltrane and Milt Jackson, Bags and Trane, Atlantic 1368. This one, which me mentioned the other day, was signed by Coltrane, Jackson and Hank Jones. It sold for $758. Others: Miles Davis, Early Miles, Prestige 7168. This record is an early reissue, with a yellow label. This also has autographs By Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins. It sold for $377. 89. This is not a record we track often in the Jazz Collector Price Guide because it is not an original but, suffice to say, it would not normally sell for that amount sans autographs. One more: Duke Ellington, Such Sweet Thunder, Columbia 1033. This was an original pressing signed by Ellington. It sold for $191.38. Under normal circumstances, no autograph, this is really like a $10 or $20 record.
is a Miles Davis autograph a rare thing?.. i was thinkin’ that he didn’t look to me like a guy who liked to sign autographs?? maybe i’m wrong?
Hi Maarten, all I can tell you from years of collecting Miles autographs is that they aren’t as rare as one would think. It’s just that people tend to hang onto them like gold so you don’t see to many of them come up for auction. (Similar to some of the more popular Blue Notes ie: Original pressings of Blue Trane or Cool Struttin’ LP’s etc)
As you noted, I have also heard that Miles didn’t always like to sign, but he still signed never the less… The earlier autographs were usually his full name and he seemed to like red ball-point pens. The later examples I have come across were often just signed “Miles” but there are a lot of forgeries out there never the less… The one in Fred’s auction looks pretty good though. For my money, it has to be signed on an original LP, and preferably on the front cover for display purposes. Unfortunately signed front covers are harder to find as the ink doesn’t always take and can easily smudge off.
(Note: To all the other autograph hounds out there… Even Sharpie markers can rub off or fade on glossy laminated LP covers… I found that pre-finishing the area you hope to get signed in advance with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser or that black carbon ultra super fine sandpaper gives the sharpie something to absorb into without damaging the laminated LP Cover other than just reducing the gloss finish in that area a little… But this is a small price to pay if you want your autograph to last. That and make sure when you frame it that you use a UV rated glass with spacers or matting to create air space between the glass and the face of the LP… but I digress !)
Surprisingly that signed copy of Bags & Trane really didn’t fetch as much as I would have expected. As for the Duke, his autograph is relatively common and generally not hard to acquire at a reasonable price, so it really comes down to what he signed and where. Most of the LP’s I’ve seen or bought with ‘the Dukes’ autograph have always been signed on the back side of the LP cover in the centre just like the one in the JRC auction above…
As I’ve said before, at the end of the day, you never really know for certain unless you were there to get it signed in person unfortunately. Makes me question my obsession with collecting autographed LP’s once in awhile… But for the most part, next to the music itself, an autograph on an original pressing can be the icing on the proverbial cake !