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Country Blues => Weenie Campbell Main Forum => Topic started by: jpeters609 on September 19, 2013, 12:45:05 PM
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Tommy Johnson's Paramount recordings are some of the finest pre-war blues we'll ever hear, but because of their rarity (and poor condition) we've only heard them through a hail of surface noise. His pairing of "Alcohol and Jake Blues" and "Ridin' Horse" is, in my opinion, his best record -- and one of the best blues recordings ever. The songs are essentially re-makes of his "Canned Heat Blues" and "Maggie Campbell" recorded two years earlier for Victor, but these Paramount versions are looser, livelier (and perhaps more inebriated) affairs.
Until now, only one copy was known to exist: a beat-up version in the possession of, I believe, Pete Whelan. (In fact, the "Ridin' Horse" side is so battered that on my Tommy Johnson comp, the song is cut off before it reaches its end.) But now, on Ebay, a copy has appeared that is in about as good of condition as you can ever hope to see. Check the link for pics and bids (astronomical):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/300969625287?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/300969625287?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649)
It's probably a foregone conclusion that John Tefteller will outbid all. Let's hope it appears soon on a release available to us folks. This one deserves to be heard.
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Thanks for the post, Jeff. I hope that the rest of us non-bidders will have a chance to hear it someday.
Six days to go and already it's over 10K--but the postage is only $4.00! I'm sure that both of those numbers will change, along with the delivery method.
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Oh wow, I hope John gets this, we'll hear it in 2015 on his calendar CD!
I like the songs too jpeters but Tommy's best record? No way! :)
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I like the songs too jpeters but Tommy's best record? No way! :)
Yes, I may have been overly effusive in my praise! (I'd be willing to listen to arguments in favor of his "Lonesome Home Blues #2" from the Paramount sessions.) But, from a purely subjective, gut-feeling kind of way, this "Alcohol and Jake Blues"/"Ridin' Horse" has always been a favorite of mine.
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Tommy's playing on RIDIN' HORSE is pretty fantastic for sure!
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$14,430 so far with 3 days 18 hours to go. See the comments at the bottom of the Ebay page, the seller was going to let it go for 4K until people commented, phew, close shave there.
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A clean copy of this record would be most welcome, so I'm cheering for Tefteller or someone who will make it available, not one of those standard evil degenerate collector types. :P
Also tantalizing: The seller says, "I HAVE 1000'S OF RECORDS 78,45, &33s TWO BIG STORAGE LOCKERS"
Could more goodies be lurking? Other items listed include some records I would like (in my dreams).
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A record like this bringing an extraordinary sum would be a good thing. I've always thought that, while these records are certainly VERY scarce, their rarity has actually been somewhat exaggerated by the fact that very, very few people have actually looked for them. We read about people like Bussard and Wardlow, who say they have only seen one copy of such-and-such record, but their experience is of course narrow and by necessity limited. There are vast numbers of junk shops, basements, and personal collections that have never been searched. There may be records like this stacked up in collections or in grandparents' basements, and the people who have them are either clueless about the value or unaware that they even have them (or both). It's telling that this seller, who apparently is a collector with storage lockers full of records, was unaware of the high value of this record (as he was willing to sell it for $4,000.) It's possible that someone will think it's worthwhile to dig through the stacks and find even more, once they see the value of this Ebay auction.
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I would bet good money Tefteller has contacted this guy already and wants to see that amazing horde for himself.
Now at $15,700 with 3 days to go.
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It will be interesting to see how this one ends. Looks like it will be over Wednesday, 11:15 a.m. EDT. Checking the bidding with the auto bids and their dates, it looks like j***e got in with a pretty high max on the 18th and has been using Bay's proxy feature to automatically surpass all other bids by the minimum amount. If someone with deep pockets really wants this one, they may just wait on the sidelines and jump in with 10 seconds to go with their max, hoping that the other bidders won't have time to manually raise theirs, if in fact his or her's is higher.
I agree that finds such as this may be a good thing if the result is that other rare records are recovered, but it depends on word getting around to those who may actually have the good stuff.
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I would bet good money Tefteller has contacted this guy already and wants to see that amazing horde for himself.
Now at $15,700 with 3 days to go.
I hope this guy really does have an "amazing horde"...the fact that he pulled this one out to sell says the guy has at least *some* knowledge, though conversely, the fact that he almost got talked into trying to sell it to that first fast-talker for $4K suggests his knowledge at least before this auction was limited.
At minimum, please have a near-mint Patton "Heart Like Railroad Steel" for us. It's too much to dream of a missing Willie Brown...
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You folks do know that a 'horde' should be a 'hoard?'
I would guess that the seller had little idea of the desirability of the T Johnson record and picked it to sell for other reasons. And now is pleasantly surprised.
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It was meant to be ambiguous, horde as in a teeming multitude, but sounding like the same word meaning a secured collection. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
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You folks do know that a 'horde' should be a 'hoard?'
Well, I *did*, before old age shot the Grammar Policeman in me.
;)
Before the GP in me died, however, I did notice that the seller's wife told him he had to "downsides" his record collection....
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I thought the wife meant there were downsides to having a teeming horde locked up in the basement ...
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Now look what you've done!
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I remember once misspelling 'grammar' with an 'e' on here, uncle bud immediately pounced, as well he should have...
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I remember once misspelling 'grammar' with an 'e' on here, uncle bud immediately pounced, as well he should have...
Orthography is so highly overrated--but if it keeps him off the streets...
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My friend owns and my son works in a record shop housed in what used to be an old grammar school many years ago, so the outfit is called "Grammar School Records". They frequently gets bills addressed to "Grammer School Records" which they still deal with. My contention is that they should return them stating that they do not accept invoices addressed to other companies...
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I thought the wife meant there were downsides to having a teeming horde locked up in the basement ...
Shouldn't that be "teaming"??? ;D
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Ummm.... No.
$16,800 with 20 hours on the clock. The suspense is starting to get to me.
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Kinda skeptical about his other finds though. Put up or shut up boy, open that locker and show us your hand. Come on.
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Sold for $37,100
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Seriously? Great to find a decent copy but that is surely way more than the niche audience for such things will ever cover by way of buying blues calendars etc!
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It played out pretty much the way I expected (someone previously not in the race jumped in right at the close, but the early bidder had already put in a high proxy max and snagged it), although I didn't think there would be a 20K bump in the final seconds. I wonder what the winning bidder's max was?--as well as the inside story-- It must be nice to have that kind of dough.
Here's the bid history:
http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=300969625287&showauto=true (http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=300969625287&showauto=true)
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.. that is surely way more than the niche audience for such things will ever cover by way of buying blues calendars etc!
Er, like WAY beyond ...
If that is a genuine bid and is duly handed over, I don't think covering costs comes at all into the buyers thinking.
Interesting that we all kind of assume that we will get a chance to hear this in the form of a CD issue -Tefteller Blues calendar or whatever.
Uncle Bud seems to contemplate the alternative when referring to "one of those standard evil degenerate collector types".
If you had just paid $37,100 (plus postage) for a single 78 record - what would you do ?
The CD resissue route would seem to offer neither fame nor fortune ...
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John Tefteller was the purchaser & says he will have it on the 2015 Blues images Calendar . . . he already had his worse-sounding copy on an earlier volume of the series.
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Excellent :)
But we all knew it beforehand, didn?t we? ;)
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John Tefteller was the purchaser & says he will have it on the 2015 Blues images Calendar . . .
Mind blowing !
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John Tefteller was the purchaser & says he will have it on the 2015 Blues images Calendar . .
Fantastic! If I save up for two years, I might just be able to buy it! :P
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John Tefteller has just announced his latest auction: largely consisting of rare to very rare pre-war and post-war records. His auctions rarely, if ever, have this quantity and density of premium records. I assume he's raising some capital for this latest purchase.
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Well this changes things a bit or should I say the game has changed. John said that if a Willie Brown came up in playable condition he would pay $25,000 for it. If I come across that lil gem I am surely going to auction it. If this one got $37,100 then the never heard before Willie Browns would surely fetch more. I wonder if John will up his asking price now?
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Uncle Bud seems to contemplate the alternative when referring to "one of those standard evil degenerate collector types".
Although every record collector I've met has been a fine upstanding type. I'm only going by what I've heard from them. ;)
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So if you were a odds maker where would you place the winning bid for one of the missing Willie Browns since this record went so high.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaica_ginger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaica_ginger)
I was curious as to what "alcohol & jake" might be and found the above link...best avoided...ah well!
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaica_ginger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaica_ginger)
I was curious as to what "alcohol & jake" might be and found the above link...best avoided...ah well!
Click on the Jake tag below and it should take you to previously long ago discussions on this topic. ;)
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I want to hear that Pigmeat Pete and Catjuice Charlie record that he's also selling.
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Here's an Interview of John Tetfeller about his last purchase :
http://www.fuse.tv/2013/10/why-i-paid-37100-for-one-record (http://www.fuse.tv/2013/10/why-i-paid-37100-for-one-record)
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This record by Sleepy John Estes is quite nicely priced as well:
Sleepy John Estes Victor 38582 E | eBay
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sleepy-John-Estes-Victor-38582-E-/331111065117?pt=Music_on_Vinyl&hash=item4d17c1e61d (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sleepy-John-Estes-Victor-38582-E-/331111065117?pt=Music_on_Vinyl&hash=item4d17c1e61d)
"Bombastium" seems to have many interesting 78 records for sale on eBay. Will be exciting to see what is coming up. (Read the description in the eBay entry).
These are now for sale:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.Xbombastium&_nkw=bombastium&_sacat=0&_from=R40 (http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.Xbombastium&_nkw=bombastium&_sacat=0&_from=R40)