Blue Note First Pressings -- Estate Sale Jackpot!

Recently I got an email about an online auction for an estate sale near me. I took a look at the accompanying photos and noted that there were five or six lots of LPs up for bid, with about 20 LPs in each lot. The photos were not great, but most of the titles seemed to be easy-listening stuff and movie soundtracks. However, in one lot I could make out Someday My Prince Will Come, and Porgy and Bess by Miles Davis. There were a few other jazz titles mixed in with some other lots, and in one photo I saw a couple of Ahmad Jamal albums along with a June Christy and a Julie London. I'm a big Ahmad Jamal fan, so I took a closer look to see what else was included. In addition to the Jamal albums, I saw what looked like copies of The Jazz Messengers At The Cafe Bohemia, Volume 1 and 2. Hold the phone. Those are extremely collectible Blue Note LPs, potentially worth a small fortune depending on the pressing and condition. 

Could they be original 1956 pressings? I went back through all the auction photos and studied the albums carefully. I made a list and looked at the pressing dates online. From what I could see, every single album from the estate was released between 1955 and 1962. Well, that was promising, though of course it was impossible to tell the condition of any of the albums. But even if the Blue Notes turned out to be a little beat up, or 1960 re-pressings, they would still be well worth having. Since the minimum bid for any of the lots was only $2, I figured there was nothing to lose and punched in my bid.

A couple of days later, as the end of the auction neared, I logged onto the site to see how my bid was doing. Still $2. As the clock ticked down, all of a sudden the high bid popped up to $6, beating my original $5 maximum bid. Luckily for me (and unlike eBay for example), this auction site had a feature to extend the bid time if a bid was entered near the deadline. So I put in a maximum $25 bid and waited. Once again, just before the deadline, I got outbid. Dang. Clearly someone else had spotted the two Blue Notes. The bidding went back and forth a few times, each of us adding $5, until I finally got tired of messing around and upped my maximum bid to $125. I figured that even if the Blue Notes were re-pressings or weren't in great shape, by adding in the Ahmad Jamals, the Julie London and a few others, it would still be a reasonable price for the entire lot. Luckily for me, the other bidder gave up at $100, and I got the albums for $105. 

I had to wait another couple of days until the items were available for pick up. After driving over and claiming my bag of albums - 22 in all - I took them back to the car. I couldn't resist taking a quick peak at the Blue Notes. They were in old, poly outer sleeves that were pretty grimy. However, the jackets themselves looked to be in good shape. I gingerly took the Volume 1 disk out of the jacket (there was no dust sleeve) and started running through the list of things to look for in a Blue Note first pressing: Framed front cover? Check. Flat edge on the vinyl? Check. Hand-etched RVG (Rudy Van Gelder) and a Plastylite "P" stamp in the run out on both sides? Check. 767 Lexington Ave. address on both sides of the label? Check. Deep groove on both sides? Check. New York 21 address on the back of the jacket? Check. The same for Volume 2. My heart skipped a beat and I carefully put the albums back in their jackets. I put the bag of records in two more bags, wrapped my down jacket around that, buckled the seat belt around everything, and headed home. 

I'll save you any further suspence. When I got back, I went straight to the LondonJazzCollector site to check his incredibly detailed and well-researched post called the "Complete Guide to the Blue Note Labels." After verifying everything twice, I am happy to report that I am the proud owner of first pressings of Blue Note BLP 1507 and BLP 1508. The vinyl on my copies cleaned up beautifully, leaving a great gloss with only some light scuffs and hairlines. The jackets are clean and sharp, with no splits or shelf wear, and only a trace of edge wear at the bottom corners. After playing them through, I grade them at VG++/VG+ and VG+/VG+. Both sound spectacular. I didn't notice it the first time I inspected the covers, but have since found that on the back at the top left of both jackets is what I assume is the original sales price, written in very small numbers with a pencil: 4.98. Checking online auction sites and Discogs, I estimate that these copies today are probably worth upwards of $500 each. Not bad for a $105 investment. And that's not even counting the Ahmad Jamals! 

Here is the run out info from the two albums. BLP 1507, original 1956 mono release:

Side 1: BN-LP-1507-A RVG [Plastylite "P" stamp]
Side 2: BN-LP-1507-B RVG [Plastylite "P" stamp]

BLP 1508, original 1956 mono release:

Side 1: BN-LP-1508-A RVG [Plastylite "P" stamp]
Side 2: BN-LP-1508-B RVG [Plastylite "P" stamp] 

As you can see from the photos, the labels look almost brand new.

I have had quite a bit of luck finding good deals at estate sales in the past, including a stack of about 35 minty jazz LPs from the 1950s and early 1960s (Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Cannonball Adderley, Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, Gerry Mulligan, etc.) that I found a couple of years ago for $2 each. However, I'm afraid it may be quite a while before I run across anything to match finding two original Blue Note pressings.

Enjoy the music!