Another Reason To Love Australian Style
Going To London? Don't Miss This Shop
The World of Rare Records: Lennon and McCartney's First Recording
When it comes to the rarest, most valuable record albums, there are a lot of dollar signs floating around. The real prices turn out to be a little more grounded, although the figures themselves are elusive.
For example, in 1999, news broke that Mark David Chapman's copy of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's album Double Fantasy, autographed by Lennon five hours before Chapman fatally shot him, had been sold. The album had been found in a flower planter outside the Dakota apartment building, Lennon and Ono's home on Manhattan's Upper West Side and the scene of the Beatle's 1980 murder. The record bears the forensically certified fingerprints of Chapman, and was even used as evidence in the case against him (Chapman plead guilty to second-degree murder). Price tag? $460,000.
Or was it? I spoke with Gary Zimet of Moments in Time, the New York memorabilia dealer who brokered the sale of the Chapman album. Zimet told me that the $460,000 figure released in 1999 was for publicity purposes, and said the record was actually sold for $150,000. News reports several years later of the album's sale for as much as $525,000 are also in error; Zimet said a deal was in place in 2003, but it fell through. He did note though that the album's owner remains willing to part with it for around $600,000 (beware, though -- upon the purchase in 1999, the owner received a number of death threats).
But so far, the Chapman record has fetched only $150,000 (pocket change, right?). This changes the equation, in light of an eBay auction in 2006.
An acetate labeled "The Velvet Underground, Mr-N-Dolph, 4-25-66," was purchased for 75 cents at a stoop sale in New York's Chelsea neighborhood in 2002. The disc was discovered to be the prototype of what would become the debut album from New York's widely influential Velvet Underground, managed by artist Andy Warhol. "Mr-N-Dolph" was Norman Dolph, a sales executive with Columbia Records who helped Warhol finance the band's April 1966 recording sessions at New York's Scepter Studios, from which the acetate's contents were culled.
Acetates are essentially lacquer drafts of a record, pressed in handfuls, which quickly become useless after repeated playing. At one point, there were probably several discs identical to the Chelsea find in the band members' possession. Circulating MP3s of the acetate are reputed to have come from Velvets drummer Maureen Tucker's copy.
The acetate differed from the band's first album, The Velvet Underground and Nico, in a few crucial ways. While some of the takes actually ended up on the album, albeit with different mixes (it's these sorts of anomalies that make certain records valuable in the first place), other tracks from the acetate were completely re-recorded on the final album.
When the dust settled on the eBay listing of the prized acetate (PDF link), the winning bid totaled $155,401, a few thousand more than was paid for Mark David Chapman's Double Fantasy. So then, the Norman Dolph acetate is the rarest record?
Nah, of course not -- the six-figure bids were just eBay bidders monkeying around. A second auction was held, and the acetate sold for only a sixth of the initial price, just $25,200. That's $125,000 less than the 1999 sale of the Chapman record, and for that matter less than other notable public record sales.
Still, at least one other record exists, more rare and mythical than both the Chapman record and the Velvets' Scepter sessions.
In 1981, John Duff Lowe planned to auction the lone 10-inch acetate made from 1958 recordings of his old high-school band, The Quarrymen. The disc's A-side was a cover of Buddy Holly's "That'll Be The Day"; the B-side, though, featured an original song, "In Spite Of All The Danger," penned by two of the band's guitarists, Paul McCartney and George Harrison (the third guitarist, John Lennon, had formed The Quarrymen a couple of years earlier with his best friend, Pete Shotton).
The acetate is the first theoretically-available recording of three-fourths of The Beatles, although a 1957 reel exists chronicling a Quarrymen performance prior to McCartney and Harrison's joining the group.
Lowe's auction plans were scuttled when McCartney's lawyers swooped in and negotiated the acetate's sale to Sir Macca for a quiet sum. McCartney had the recording cleaned up and pressed into a reissue run of 50 singles, which he gave to friends and family. These repressings have been valued at as much as $20,000 each; fortunately for Beatles fans, the recordings themselves kick off the band's six-disc Anthology series of outtakes and rarities, which was released in 1995.
As for the original 1958 acetate, it has been valued at £100,000 (in the neighborhood of $200,000). But, as The Independent has it, "in reality it is priceless. Its owner, Sir Paul McCartney, is never likely to sell it."
For example, in 1999, news broke that Mark David Chapman's copy of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's album Double Fantasy, autographed by Lennon five hours before Chapman fatally shot him, had been sold. The album had been found in a flower planter outside the Dakota apartment building, Lennon and Ono's home on Manhattan's Upper West Side and the scene of the Beatle's 1980 murder. The record bears the forensically certified fingerprints of Chapman, and was even used as evidence in the case against him (Chapman plead guilty to second-degree murder). Price tag? $460,000.Or was it? I spoke with Gary Zimet of Moments in Time, the New York memorabilia dealer who brokered the sale of the Chapman album. Zimet told me that the $460,000 figure released in 1999 was for publicity purposes, and said the record was actually sold for $150,000. News reports several years later of the album's sale for as much as $525,000 are also in error; Zimet said a deal was in place in 2003, but it fell through. He did note though that the album's owner remains willing to part with it for around $600,000 (beware, though -- upon the purchase in 1999, the owner received a number of death threats).
But so far, the Chapman record has fetched only $150,000 (pocket change, right?). This changes the equation, in light of an eBay auction in 2006.
An acetate labeled "The Velvet Underground, Mr-N-Dolph, 4-25-66," was purchased for 75 cents at a stoop sale in New York's Chelsea neighborhood in 2002. The disc was discovered to be the prototype of what would become the debut album from New York's widely influential Velvet Underground, managed by artist Andy Warhol. "Mr-N-Dolph" was Norman Dolph, a sales executive with Columbia Records who helped Warhol finance the band's April 1966 recording sessions at New York's Scepter Studios, from which the acetate's contents were culled.Acetates are essentially lacquer drafts of a record, pressed in handfuls, which quickly become useless after repeated playing. At one point, there were probably several discs identical to the Chelsea find in the band members' possession. Circulating MP3s of the acetate are reputed to have come from Velvets drummer Maureen Tucker's copy.
The acetate differed from the band's first album, The Velvet Underground and Nico, in a few crucial ways. While some of the takes actually ended up on the album, albeit with different mixes (it's these sorts of anomalies that make certain records valuable in the first place), other tracks from the acetate were completely re-recorded on the final album.
When the dust settled on the eBay listing of the prized acetate (PDF link), the winning bid totaled $155,401, a few thousand more than was paid for Mark David Chapman's Double Fantasy. So then, the Norman Dolph acetate is the rarest record?
Nah, of course not -- the six-figure bids were just eBay bidders monkeying around. A second auction was held, and the acetate sold for only a sixth of the initial price, just $25,200. That's $125,000 less than the 1999 sale of the Chapman record, and for that matter less than other notable public record sales.
Still, at least one other record exists, more rare and mythical than both the Chapman record and the Velvets' Scepter sessions.
In 1981, John Duff Lowe planned to auction the lone 10-inch acetate made from 1958 recordings of his old high-school band, The Quarrymen. The disc's A-side was a cover of Buddy Holly's "That'll Be The Day"; the B-side, though, featured an original song, "In Spite Of All The Danger," penned by two of the band's guitarists, Paul McCartney and George Harrison (the third guitarist, John Lennon, had formed The Quarrymen a couple of years earlier with his best friend, Pete Shotton).The acetate is the first theoretically-available recording of three-fourths of The Beatles, although a 1957 reel exists chronicling a Quarrymen performance prior to McCartney and Harrison's joining the group.
Lowe's auction plans were scuttled when McCartney's lawyers swooped in and negotiated the acetate's sale to Sir Macca for a quiet sum. McCartney had the recording cleaned up and pressed into a reissue run of 50 singles, which he gave to friends and family. These repressings have been valued at as much as $20,000 each; fortunately for Beatles fans, the recordings themselves kick off the band's six-disc Anthology series of outtakes and rarities, which was released in 1995.
As for the original 1958 acetate, it has been valued at £100,000 (in the neighborhood of $200,000). But, as The Independent has it, "in reality it is priceless. Its owner, Sir Paul McCartney, is never likely to sell it."
The Craziest Hidden Messages On $1, $20 Dollar Bills (PHOTOS)
The Richest Woman in the World: How Gina Rinehart Earns her Billions
Police Kill Naked Man Eating Another Man's Face: Report
'American Idol' Changes Record Contract Policy: Runner-Up No Longer Guaranteed Major Bucks
First Woman To Command A Warship In Royal Navy History
Pope's Butler Arrested In Embarrassing Scandal
America's 10 Highest-Paid CEOs of 2011 (and How They Earned It)
Preserve Your Budget by Freezing Foods -- Savings Experiment
After Suspicious Behavior, Judge Gives Order To Edwards Jurors
Samsung Galaxy S III review
Grieving Pit Bull Refused to Leave Dead Companion's Side
Celebs Who Are Secretly Geniuses
It's Legal To Shoot And Kill Animal Poachers, Indian State Orders
Country Star Yearbook Pics
SEEING IS BELIEVING: This Boston Terrier Has The World's Largest Dog Eyes
What Happened When Alex Kenjeev Paid His Student Loan in Cash
10 Easy Ways To Cut Your Life Short
WATCH: Stunning Quebec Protest Video Going Viral
Bristol Palin: I Made A Mistake
25 Of The Most Obvious Headlines Ever
Juror Flirting With John Edwards
PHOTOS: Happy Birthday, Pam!
Newport Beach Slaps Obama Campaign With A $35,000 Bill
PHOTOS: LA Has A Surprising Competitor For 'Worst Traffic'
These Are The Richest Women In The World
PHOTOS: Reese's Surprising Maternity Look
WATCH: Bill Maher Fights Birthers With 'Wifers'
19-Year-Old Man Secretly Lived At AOL Office For Months
7 Tips For Healthier Summer Feet
Obama's Pot-Smoking Detailed
Rodger Streitmatter: PHOTOS: 8 Legendary Same-Sex Couples
835-Pound Teen Cut Out Of House, Rolled Down Scaffolding To Get Outside
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
Randy Feb 8th 2008 5:20PM
I also remember cosell breaking in on Mon. nite It was the Patriots @ Miami, Pat's lose in overtime I think.there was some snow across the screen right after the announcement & my buddy said " There goes John's soul".
I also have the skynard album w/ the flames.
John-boy Feb 8th 2008 9:28AM
There will someday be someone as big as the Beatles...as artistic..as earth-changing...Forever is a really long time and to categorically say "there will never be another Beatles" is short-sighted at least and phenominally d-u-m-b in the long run.
PEaCE.
acw Mar 1st 2008 10:36AM
I t's been 40 years.
so far, noone has come anywhere close.
others immitate, The Beatles originate.
The Walrus Feb 8th 2008 9:32AM
The day that John Lennon was killed was a dark day for all mankind. To acknowledge his killer in any way or form is despicable...
mtu Feb 8th 2008 9:52AM
E J Korvettes, that is really bringing me back! I remeber buying my 8-track tape player there so I could listen to my 8-track tapes of the beatles in the car! And yes, John's remarks about their popularity was totally taken out of context, I believe he meant that the Beatles were well known even inplaces that Christianity had not reached.
John Feb 12th 2008 10:10PM
John Lennon was no different to any other person on earth. Please get a life all of you.
His music was nice--great even--but this borders on religion.
Many more people have died worse deaths that John Lennon.
geormrtn8 Feb 22nd 2008 11:19AM
surely you jest larry godden. or you're not very bright. you can't forget one negative remark that one beatle made and appologized for over fourty years ago yet you think that the world population times four or five generations are just going to loose recollection of the four of them and all of their brilliant achievements??? we remember composers from hundreds of years ago who never penned a lyric or recorded their own band. and you think we will all forget the countless positive messages the beatles have recorded? no, i just think that you are one of those few christians who have so much faith that you don't believe in forgiveness outside of your own house and that it's just wishfull thinking that the rest of us will join you in your personnal vendetta and refuse to forget that this wonderful human being put his foot in his mouth once,,,,,forty years ago. misery truly does seek company. get over it.
robert Feb 22nd 2008 1:28PM
it makes me sick to know that is why that double fantasy album is worth so much.
X-Boyscout Feb 22nd 2008 2:07PM
OMG:
Are you all a bunch of old hippys or what?? The man had a wonderful long and happy life, filled with drugs, sex, and rock and roll! Yes, it was cut short by a loon! But my-god people, look at all the people who die each and every day far younger with far less!!!! Have you no respect for those real heros that die for us who have so much less than a singer like him? Many of you sound like creepy monsters. . . Oh, and yes, I was old enough to remember when it happened! He had a good run. . . How about some of that love for those that didn't!?!?