George G

That's nothing..... How about 'I'm dying from cancer and it would mean so much if I could hold this record (that features my long dead brother singing) one more time before I die'..... Or..."this was my group (or I played bass on this record)....my only copy was lost when my house and all my possesions burned down in a forest fire and I would really like to replace it so I can have one of my memories back" Or..."I want to buy this for my father who was in the group and surprize him for Christmas, as he has not seen the record in 40 years....I've been unemployed and don't have the money to buy him a nice present"

Additional copies of Beer, Denise, and G5 have changed hands in the past couple years. Beer for much more than the eBay sale (it was in better shape as well). I knew a guy who had the Greg Barr 45. I remember hearing it in his record room. I dunno what happened to it, that was 25 years ago.

And booted (or more accurately, 'counterfeited') a couple times.

Sold for under $30K. The first sale at $100K was to a fake bidder and it was relisted. The first sale results were apparently newsworthy enough to make onto a top of the hour network radio newscast!

I also think the Quarrymen acetate is irrevelant to any discussion - 1) It's an acetate 2) Only one made (don't know that it's true but you have trust the surviving Q-mens statements) 3) It will probably never be sold on an open market, even when Macca passes it will go somewhere. In order for a record to have value, it has to be sold in a documentable transaction. So what are the biggest sales for soul records? Frank Wilson - $38K Jr. McCants - $15K J.D. Bryant - $10K and $9+K Magnetics (bonnie) $8K ???????

FWIW the D.A. Hunt 45 was found/sold in the past 12-18 months. A lot of these are the same oldies that have been flogged for years.

Discuss, eh? OK then - A bunch of Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame/Hard Rock Cafe wankers mixed with some genuine legendary rarities. I'm sure we all would like to find the Sgt Pepper cover in the local junk shop but other than some "I must have EVERYTHING" wealthy Beatles collector, who cares? I understand the value of LP cover variants but in terms of collectable records, the value is in owning an original pressing of a record for which a comparable issue can never be found. That's why blues 78s are some of the heaviest hitters. There is no master tape or second pressing. The sound of an original 78 played on proper equipment is unique. So for original issue 45s. No MP3 or CD comp sounds quite the same, even if taken from an original. There are several US garage 45s that have sold (or would sell) for over 3000 quid - Denise, Beer, Psychotrons, Vikings, Keggs, Graveyard Five, etc. There are also many private pressed psych/heavy rock LPs (from US, UK) that also exceed 3000 BTW the Daniel Augusta Hunt bought for $10K was trashed - and the first discovered copy in the market, the most valuable Sun 45 by far.

Thanks for all your help here. George

Thanks again for the continued flow of information. Mr Prophonics, could you give the deadwax details? (I have the record in you avatar BTW) The 'short intro' version is posted on Youtube, I have not listed to the ending vs the Refosoul clip to see if it's more like that or the copy Mr. P has. George

I'm not sure if the topic here is skimming or polishing, they seem to be two different things. I don't think there is some secret polishing machine that you can buy on the black market. I'm guessing that it's more like a manual effort. Polishing of records in the US goes back to the 1960s and the original wave of vocal group and rockabilly collecting. There were a couple well known US dealers (in the northeast) doing this consistently. One of them had his surname incorparated into a perjorative statement about record condition ("that record was ......-ized"). In the 1980s a Michigan based dealer who primarily sold garage records brought the process into the next generation of collecting (said collector also revived the fake acetate scene). I'm sure there were plenty more. Now that record collecting in the US has moved into the realm of the Entitlement Generation, it's back on the upswing. I rarely get polished records, OTOH most of my eBay buys are from dealers who I know don't do it because they are too lazy to bother cleaning the records, let alone polish them, or scroungers.

Thanks a lot for all the info....I would appreciate it if you come across the info and can make a definitive ID for the different pressings. It is odd that a record this rare would have a couple different edits, but that's all part of the fun, eh? Anyone ever go to the Clark brothers record store? I know someone who did so I need to ask them if they remember anything about it. Thanks George

I have a yellow label issue Ruby Sherry on Take 6 - It looks legit except the outer edge has an odd trim to it, like a little extra ridge around the outside. It was found in the US. Has this ever been booted? I am looking to get rid of it so I want to confirm its real. The dead wax markings are GT-01Re T-6-1o02-A R-1036 (the Feminine side) In the T-6-1o02A the 'o' looks like it was scratched in after it was marked 102 TIA George

Man, I junked this one years ago for 50 cents and sold it for $600-$700 about 10 years ago. It was a nice playing VG IIRC. Doubt I'll ever see one again.

I have a Bell sleeve signed by the four (at the time) O'Jays. Bought off eBay as 'writing on sleeve'. I also have a Big Jay Bush 'Dynamite' (on Red Bug) with contact and booking info written on the sleeve - found junking in Ohio years ago - George

I don't think there's any question about her correct name....Of all the Toledo peformers that made a soul record, she seems to had the most staying power. yeah, I agree the long intro is better. The short one sounds like it comes in the middle of a beat and is jarring. The rest of the song seems to be the same. https://www.ramonacollins.com/bio.html - george

Today I learned about the long and short intro versions of Ramona Collins - Youve Been Cheating on Clarks (I know her name is mispelled Romona on the label) What is the story behind these? Can you ID them by looking at the labels and what would be the distingushing info? Is there a big difference in rarity? I'm guessing the price on this is around $2000 or 1200-1300 quid? TIA George

I'm guessing this will top out about $500.....from the sound clip it's good enough to play out. The seller had a copy in about the same vinyl grade with an undamaged label and got $900+ for it IIRC. I suppose if you wanted to DJ it and didn't really care about the record as a collection item and just a utility to use, it's fine. How important is the label if you only want the record to play and are not interested in having a 'collection copy'? Kinda like the Frankie Beverly "Because..." on Fairmount on eBay about 10 months ago. It had a severly damaged label (by hand, not water) and sold for $1000, or probably 40% of the value for a copy with a nice label in the same vinyl condition.

I've never bought from the seller but have looked at several of his records for sale and from the pics his 'vg+' records are trashed. I remember an ABC promo Natural Four "I thought...." was graded 'vg+' if not better and the label was heavily scuffed and the record looked it had no 'gloss'. No way I would touch anything without hearing it. Besides, I get the impression he would be a pain to deal with if you had a complaint.

Thanks for the help everyone. I'm somewhat interested in getting the record, I had seen one on ebay with a vague description and that piqued my interest. Thanks George

I've seen this record discussed a few times going back 6 years...but I didn't see a definitive answer to the question of the ratio of copies that are on center compared to the off center ones.....If someone's looking to buy, It is worth waiting to buy an on center copy or should someone just go for the off center one and make some special adapter as the on center ones are really scarce? Are all the off center copies equally bad (I had an off center copy in my posession for a day but it was pretty bad....)? TIA George

Thanks for the suggestion, I need to dig this out and play it. BTW this Dayton Ohio crew are the same as the Little Woo Woo "Harlem Shuffle" on Heat. I dunno yet why that record has an out of state address, as the publishing is from Dayton

There's a copy in the sales section for offers, just posted today.....

A friend sold this for $2700ish on ebay earlier this year in about the same shape (clean but not mint). This record has been selling in the $2500+ area seemingly forever. That's what I sold my first copy for more than 10 years ago!

Uhhh, I think this sale is 7 years old.....

I've had a Tee Vee label record outta Los Angeles by Morry Williams and the Kids (I think that's the name or something close). Group sound c. 1960