The cover is a mess, with the name of a previous owner etched in dark black ink right across the top. And the rest of the cover isn’t much better. The cover is listed in G+ condition. The record is listed in G+ condition with scuffs, scratches, crackles and pops. Sounds more like a cereal than a classic Blue Note. It is, by the way, a stereo pressing with the New York USA labels. So why is this record more interesting to me than the Juju pressing? The Juju pressing I can understand a $300 bid. Speak No Evil has a single bid at nearly $500. I would never accuse a seller of having phony shill bids without evidence, but I do have a hard time imagining who would want this record at nearly any price, and particularly at $500. What would you do with it? You can’t play it and you wouldn’t want to look at it.

May as well stick to Blue Notes today: Johnny Griffin, The Congregation, Blue Note 1580. This looked to be an original West 63^rd Street pressing. The record was listed in VG- condition with some noticeable flaws, according to the seller. The cover, with the Andy Warhol design, was listed as VG++. The final price was $695 and my expectation is that the buyer was more interested in the cover than the vinyl. Why not? The cover is quite cool and adds enormous value to the record in visual and financial terms.

J.R. Monterose, Blue Note 1536. This looked to be an original Lexington Avenue pressing listed in VG+ condition for the record and VG- for he cover. The final price was $1,365. The prolific seller, funkyousounds, has had some nice records for sale the past few weeks so it may be worthwhile to keep an eye out for their auctions, if you are in the market to buy records on eBay.