Another Rare Bird, This Time For the $2,000 Bin
When we were updating the $1,000 bin yesterday, we came upon this quite rare collectible: Charlie Parker, The Bird Blows The Blues, Dial LP 1. The seller lists this as the “first 12-inch LP ever” and having been issued in 1948. We have heard before that this was the first 12-inch long-playing record, which we’ve never been able to confirm, but we think the original issue was in 1949. It was issued without a cover. The seller here claims there were only 50 copies originally issued, which, of course, sounds like one of those claims aimed at making the record seem rarer than it actually is, which is quite rare. This copy was listed in “VG to VG+” condition and sold for $2,250.
This also gives me another chance to remind you all that we are still running our contest to give away a free copy of
Charlie Parker Memorial, Savoy 12000. This is an original 12-inch LP with the red label and deep groove. It features Bird in a variety of settings, with Miles Davis, Bud Powell, Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, Duke Jordan, Curley Russell and others. It’s a mix of Bird’s Savoy material, from his earliest dates with Tiny Grimes, to his tenor sessions with Miles, to classics such as Steeplechase and Barbados. To be eligible to win the record, all you have to do is comment here or anywhere on the Jazz Collector site before the contest ends, which will be September 7, less than two weeks from now.
i found this on the internet, written by a guy who sold a copy of this record for 3350 dollars (only VG)
he wrote;
Firstly, on offer is “CHARLIE PARKER: THE BIRD BLOWS THE BLUES: DIAL LP-1”, this the first long playing jazz record ever released (in the spring of 1949), which was pressed in a run of probably less than fifty, only available by mail order directly from the company AND only for a period of about three weeks, when it then became Dial LP-901!!
After Columbia introduced the 33 rpm long playing jazz record in late 1948, Ross Russell of Dial Records, because of repeated requests to issue alternate takes of sides by Charlie Parker, thought about issuing these requested titles on a long playing record. This plan finally came to fruition in the spring of 1949 with the introduction of Dial LP-1. This record was unusual for two reasons. Not only was it the first long playing jazz album introduced, it was a 12” LP and not the expected 10” record. Up to that time 12” LP releases were reserved for serious classical music, with the 10” format used for more commercial and popular sides by Columbia. Russell bucked the trend and decided to make this first release, with the B-side consisting of alternate master takes, a 12” release.
The June 3, 1949 issue of Downbeat carried an ad for Dial LP-1, with the record reviewed in the July 29th issue. I’ve included scans of these in the listing. As stated in the ad, the record was made available only as a ‘Limited Mail Order Edition’ from Dial Records for $5.00 including tax and shipping. It was sent in a plain jacket. Dial LP-1 was available only for a very short period of time as mail order sales were extremely slow, and by the summer of 1949 Russell was planning to introduce a series of CONTEMPORARY CLASSICS of 20th century classical music, where the first release in that series was given the designation Dial LP-1!
Because of poor mail order sales and the reassignment of Dial LP-1 to a Contemporary Classics release, the Charlie Parker Dial LP-1 release was reassigned the number Dial LP-901, and was subsequently distributed and sold in retail outlets. It is difficult to determine how many copies of LP-1 were pressed, but since this was a trial release of sorts to test the LP market, I don’t think it would be more than 100 copies and probably more like 50 copies. I personally know of eight or nine copies extant.
This record was listed in the second edition of “Goldmine’s Price Guide To Collectible Jazz Albums 1949-1969” by Neal Umphred, published in 1994, with a value of $3,000-$6,000. (I’ve scanned this listing below the Downbeat ad and review). But interestingly it was NOT listed in the 3rd edition of the Goldmine Guide by Tim Neely. I contacted Tim and ask him why the omission of Dial LP-1 and he frankly stated that he had never seen a copy of Dial LP-1 or heard of anyone who had a copy, thus his decision to remove it from the guide. The only other valuation of this LP I have ever seen was in the March 1999 issue of JAZZIZ magazine, where it was valued at $8,000 to $10,000. Again I’ve scanned this article citation from Jazziz magazine.
Fantastic, Maarten! You’re not looking for my job, are you? 🙂
to make it even more complete;
the verry record mentioned in the 2000 dollar article,
was sold on 16-12-2008 for 2850 dollars
somebody is taking a loss here..
(http://www.popsike.com/php/detaildatar.php?itemnr=360115124901)
How do I enter this contest? Just like this? Really? Sweet, consider me entered!
Great to see this on Bird’s birthday. Long live Charles Christopher Parker Jnr.
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I thought that the red and yellow label was the first Dial Label , but now I see that they had issued 78’s with the all yellow label .