Mercury Records | jazzcollector.com

. . . And In Jazz Vinyl on eBay . . .

Al — Mon, 09 Sep 2013 14:44:06 +0000

OK, I’m starting to feel guilty over my minuscule posting production over the past few weeks. I vow to do better and, again, I will post every day this week. Stay tuned. In the meantime, I will just catch up with some items I was watching last week and then move on to some new items.

This seller has had a bunch of items recently with high prices. Many of the prices seem to be unrealistic, despite the seller’s nom d’eBay, but sometimes the items sell, such as: Cannonball Adderley Quintet in Chicago, Mercury 60134. This was a stereo pressing that looked to be a first stereo pressing with the deep grooves and black labels. It was listed in M- condition for both the record and the cover. This one has sold for collectible prices a few times in the past, but it has always been relatively common and available, even on eBay. So the inflated prices seem to be an aberration, such as this one that sold for $149.99.

Just as that price seemed to be inflated, this one seemed to be less than expected:

Fred Jackson, Hootin’ N Tootin’, Blue Note 4094. This looked to be an original mono pressing with the New York USA address and the Van Gelder and ears in the deadwax. The record was listed in VG+ condition and the cover was Ex. There was only one bidder and the record wound up selling for $139.99. Given what some of the New York USA Blue Notes have been selling for recently, I would have expected more interest, and more bidding, for this one.

Mal Waldron, Left Alone, Bethlehem 6045. This was an original pressing that was listed in M- condition for the vinyl and VG+ for the cover. The top bid was $865.55.

Sonny Rollins Volume 2, Blue Note 1558. This was an original New York 23 pressing that was listed in M- condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. It sold for $825.99.

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Sing a Song of 78s

Al — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 16:32:37 +0000

One of our readers has been in a 78-RPM frame of mind recently and has sent me a couple of interesting 78 auctions on eBay, specifically boxed sets. Here’s the latest: Billie Holiday Sings, Mercury C-118. We all recognize this cover from the 10-inch LP of the same title and packaging with the iconic David Stone Martin illustration, but this is a boxed set that includes four 78s. Everything seems to be in about VG+ condition. This is definitely a cool item, particularly if you are into 78s. The price is already more than $200 and the auction closes later today. I do have an issue purchasing 78s on eBay, however, and it has to do with shipping. I’ve purchased 78s on eBay and I’ve sold 78s on eBay and shipping these fragile items in the mail is a challenge. I’ve sent some that I though were packaged perfectly, using recommended packaging material from the industry leader, yet they still broke in the mail. For an item like this, I’d be a little nervous. By the way, I play my 78s on a portable Califone record player, the type they used to use in public schools. The 78s sound really good on them, they are convenient and you can easily buy one for less than $100 on eBay. We haven’t asked this in a while, but are their 78s collectors out there, and how do you handle purchasing/playing your records? Also, what do you collect, and why?

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Into the $1,000 Bin, Including Rare Autographs

Al — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 22:14:27 +0000

We’ve been away, now we are back, and we see that we’ve missed some pretty heavy-duty sales on eBay for some pretty heavy-duty dollars.Let’s catch up.

I think we predicted these two would sell for more than $2,000 and they did: Hank Mobley Quintet, Blue Note 1550. This was an original pressing in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $2,350. From the same seller was Kenny Dorham, Quiet Kenny, New Jazz 8225. This was also in M- condition for the record and the cover. The price: $2,075.

How about this one? Cannonball Adderley Quintet in Chicago, Mercury 60134. This was an original stereo pressing and it’s the one that features John Coltrane. What does it normally sell for, maybe $30? This one, however, offered by Euclid Records, happened to have been autographed by both Cannonball and Coltrane. What does that make it worth? How about $1,037. Don Lucky, where were you on this one? I know many of you are blase about autographs and actually prefer records that don’t have autographs, but to me, having a record signed by two of my heroes, that’s just priceless. Well, perhaps not priceless, but $1,037 seems a reasonable price.

This one has really gone up in value since we’ve been doing the Jazz Collector site: Helen Merrill, Emarcy 36006. This was an original pressing that looked to be in about VG++ condition for the record and the cover, which, of course, had the blue writing on the back. This copy sold for $1,325. Another copy of the same record, in similar VG++ condition, sold at around the same time for $1,225.

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Jazz Vinyl Countdown: Max Roach, Dorham, Mobley

Al — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:58:33 +0000

I was poring through my records the other day and stopped for a moment on this one: Max Roach Four Plays Charlie Parker, Mercury SR 80019. I’ve had this record for a while and haven’t listened to it in years, but it struck me as such: It features two of the great stalwarts of the Blue Note catalogue — Hank Mobley and Kenny Dorham — both in their primes; it has a great cover and a great concept. Yet, it is not really high on any list of collectible records and, in fact, we have never once even tagged it in the Jazz Collector Price Guide, which means we haven’t really seen it sell for a collectible price in the past seven years. And it struck me: What if this record, with this personnel, in this era — 1958 or so — had been issued on Blue Note? What would it be worth? Why is there such a profound difference between the value of a record like this, on the Mercury label, and a record with similar personnel in the same era from the Blue Note era? I think these are rhetorical questions, but I’m happy

to hear theories and/or explanations. One possible explanation could be the absence of Mr. Van Gelder. I have the record on the turntable now and there is definitely a difference in sound between this and the Blue Notes — although, to be fair, my pressing is a stereo copy, which means it is probably a second press and was probably not recorded originally in stereo. It’s an interesting record. Mobley is on half the tracks and George Coleman is on the other half. There is no piano, which gives the musicians more room, but it also makes it more caustic, at least to these ears. Dorham does particularly well in this environment, but he was always excellent, right? In any case, in the process of deciding records to keep versus records to sell this one . . . . will be kept. Of course.

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Price Updates: Lights Out, Zoot, Kenny Drew

Al — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:56:15 +0000

Here are some of the items we’ve been watching on eBay:

Jackie McLean, Lights Out, Prestige 7035. This was an original New York pressing with the deep groove and heavy vinyl. The record was listed in M- condition and the cover was VG+. It did not have a flat edge, according to an answer to a questioner, but I’m not sure that doesn’t mean it wasn’t original. Anyway, the price was $639.49.

Phil Woods, Warm Woods, Epic 3436. This was an original pressing and it was listed in M- condition for both the vinyl and the cover. The price was $495.

Zoot Sims, Zoot, Riverside 228. This was an original white label pressing and it was listed in VG++ condition for the vinyl and VG+ for the cover. The price was $413.

Here are a few we were watching the other day:

The Astaire Story. This was the boxed set on Mercury that was almost-but-not-quite complete. It had a start price of $899 and wound up not getting any bids. I still have my nice original complete set if anyone is interested. . . Kenny Drew, This Is New, Riverside 236. This was an original white label pressing. The record was M- and the cover was VG++. The price was $152.50, right in the previous price range for this record. It’s one of those that’s like a Blue Note but not a Blue Note so it doesn’t fetch Blue Note prices. Finally, this is one that did not reach its reserve price: George Wallington, Jazz For the Carriage Trade, Prestige 7032. The vinyl was in VG++ condition and the cover was VG+. The top bid was $211.10 but there was no sale.

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Collectibles Anyone? Astaire, Kenny Drew Riverside

Al — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:38:13 +0000

There are quite a few interesting items on eBay now. Here are a couple:

Fred Astaire, The Astaire Story, Mercury 1001 1004. Most of you are probably familiar with this set, produced by Norman Granz in the early 1950s. There were 1,384 copies produced, all autographed by Astaire, and the set came with four LPs, a booklet with exclusive photos and a set of drawings by David Stone Martin. The music is all jazz even though Astaire was not a “jazz singer,” and the sidemen include many of the greats within the Granz stable, such as Oscar Peterson, Flip Phillips, Ray Brown, Barney Kessel, Charlie Shavers. Anyway, it is quite a nice set and used to regularly sell in the $2,000 range. Our top price in the Jazz Collector Price Guide is

$2,025. Anyway, I noticed this one sitting out there on eBay with a start price of $899 and I’ve been watching it. I also noticed that one of the drawings seems to be missing, so that would definitely impact the price, not having the complete set. I do have a nice copy of this set — complete — and would consider selling it for the right price, which would be in the aforementioned $2,000 range. If anyone is interested, just send me an emal, al@jazzcollector.com.

Here’s another one that, surprisingly, has no bids: Kenny Drew, This is New, Riverside 236. This is an original white label pressing and the vinyl is in M- condition. The cover has a few flaws and looks to be at least VG+. The start price is around $150. We’d expect someone to grab it at that price, but you never know — that’s about the price range at which we’ve tracked the record in the past.

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Jazz Collector’s Essential Cannonball Adderley

Al — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:13:08 +0000

Blipp asks on an earlier post if we can make any recommendations on Cannonball Adderley’s earlier material, in particular the Mercury records. We can certainly do that, and we’re sure others in the audience will be happy to weigh in as well. First, we will give our own Jazz Collector version of our top five Cannonball LPs altogether. Blipp has been listening mostly to the Capitol stuff, he says, and we don’t think any of those records is going to make our list. Here goes:
1. Cannonball Adderley, Know What I Mean with Bill Evans, Riverside 433. Evans and Adderley obviously had a great rapport from their days with Miles and the addition of Percy Heath and Connie Kay made for a more lyrical setting that suited both Evans and Adderley quite well. And, as one might expect, within that lyrical setting they both swing like crazy.
2. Cannonball Adderley Quintet in San Francisco, Recorded at the Jazz Workshop, Riverside 311. The ground-breaking early quintet with Bobby Timmons and the great tracks of “This Here” (with Cannonball’s engaging introduction) and “Hi-Fly,” plus a very swinging “Spontaneous Combustion.” This LP captured the energy of the group

and the excitement and really launched them into great prominence.

3. The Cannonball Adderley Quinet at the Lighthouse, Riverside 344. This one was recorded a year after the San Francisco LP and the group is in top form, with Vic Feldman taking over the piano from Bobby Timmons and doing a great job, particularly on the opening “Sack o’ Woe.”

4. Cannonball Adderley Quintet in Chicago, Mercury 20449. Actually, we could still choose a couple more of the Riverside’s particularly Them Dirty Blues, which basically captured the energy of the live band in a studio recording, but we will diversify instead. To answer Blipp’s question, of the Mercury’s the ones we would recommend first would be En Route, Cannonball’s Sharpshooters and this one. The biggest difference among the three is the presence of John Coltrane on this, plus the Miles rhythm section of Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb.

5. Cannonball Adderley, Somethin’ Else, Blue Note 1595. This is really a Miles date, but an interesting one without the usual tenor player and with a mishmash rhythm section of Hank Jones, Sam Jones and Art Blakey. But it works quite well, doesn’t it? “Autumn Leaves” is a classic and Cannon does a great version of “Dancing in the Dark” as a ballad. Also, the Blue Note packaging and recording by Rudy Van Gelder are quite nice as well.

So what do you think? What would you put on your list?

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Some 10-Inchers For the Price Guide

Al — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 14:29:35 +0000

There was a lot of discussion on Jazz Collector last week about 10-inch LPs and we said we’d keep track of some for the price guide. To be honest, based on these prices, we’re not sure if demand is diminished. We do know that prices tend to be inconsistent week to week, so it’s best to keep track over time, which is why we do the Jazz Collector Price Guide, which, so far, has been tracking prices over a five-year period. Anyway, here’s an update on some 10-inch LPs, all of which will go into the Price Guide later this week:

Elmo Hope, New Faces, New Sounds, Blue Note 5029. This was an original pressing in M- condition, both record and cover. It sold for $620.

Jon Eardley in Hollywood, New Jazz 1105. This was also in M- condition. It sold for $232.44.

Zoot Sims, Zoot in Hollywood, New Jazz 1102. The record was in VG+ condition and the cover was VG. The price was $204.50.

Illinois Jacquet, Collates, Mercury 112. The record and cover were M-. The price was $125.

Gil Melle, Impressions of Color, Blue Note 5063. The record was VG++ and the cover was VG+. The price was $89.80.

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