[78-L] what makes a record valuable? was Ameri-Briticisms

[J. E. Knox]

Greetings from FixitLand!

Joe Salerno wrote:

> Very good question! And a new thread I believe.
>
> A Berliner. Black Patti. An Amos 'n Andy transcription on Marsh or
> Brunswick. An item known to survive in only a handful of copies. Or a
> unique item. An unknown instantaneous record made live or from  
> radio by
> an artist who made no or few recordings, or of a tune not recorded
> commercially. A test pressing not previously known to exist of an
> alternate take or tune not otherwise recorded by someone who made few
> recordings (I'm thinking of that test pressing that Kurt found of  
> Robert
> Johnson, or some unissued takes of Horowitz of selections not  
> otherwise
> represented in his discography). A 20" Pathe.
>
> Something along those lines.
>
> What would you consider valuable, Joe?

Can't argue with any of those examples. About the only thing even  
remotely close to those that I've found in a garage sale (or estate  
sale or basement sale or wothaveya) is a shellac Brunswick test  
pressing, matrices B 14444-A "Pagliaccio Rag" (so-labeled)/B 14445-A  
"Onyx Club Revue," purchased for all of ten cents. It's listed in  
Rust-ADBD under Victor Young (12 December 1933), and was issued (at  
78 rpm) in 1984 on the Lucky label. On a par with the likes of a  
Berliner, Black Patti, etc.? Not hardly. Got a copy of Gennett 5133  
in a funky old book-and-record store for two bits, but that's not a  
garage/estate/etc. sale. I did get quite a few goodies from the store  
owner's basement, though...again, nothing like a Robert Johnson  
record or the like.

Take care,


Joe
--
"The ideal of calm exists in a sitting cat."--Jules Reynard