I have been away from my blog now for about a week as
I got suck on Ebay. I only just looked in to Ebay for a minute
to check on some records but ended up being glued to my
computer for more than eight hours a day checking the
jazz LPs. Prices are going mad. Really mad. Mad with a
capitol M.
I have been collecting records now for almost fifty years
but every so often I find myself in need of money and having
to sell all my records. I've had some really rare stuff such as
Mellow Candle's "Swaddeling Songs" and albums like that.
But every so often I just need to sell them. I never sell for a
profit as I have never been into collecting to make money.
I sold my last collection about a year ago for next to nothing
and swore that I would not buy another LP but a few months
ago I started collecting yet again.
I have alway liked jazz so when I went on to Ebay this time I
went straight to the British Jazz section......but the prices ....my
God the prices...!!!. I don't have a lot of money but I love records
and spend a fortune buying them. I'm not shy about paying out
hand cash for good stuff......I've paid a few hundred pounds for
albums such as Red Dirt's "Red Dirt" ( a great lp ) and mega rarities
like that and given a choice of buying food or a good record I would
usualy buy the record but this time out even I was suprised at some
of the prices being paid for records. And British Jazz is just now the
'hot one' with prices for good rare albums going for massive sums.
And people are paying up to ten times the catalogue price for
good British Jazz. Unfortunately most 'collectors' now only buy
because an album is scarce and hence valuable. The actual merit
of the music has nothing to do with what they buy.
One of my personal favourites when it comes to jazz guitar is a man
called Louis Stewart. He's Irish and over the years I have bought
all his albums...in fact I've bought them several times over the
years. His first one was called "Louis the First" and ever since I first
bought it thirty years ago I have considered it to be a really great
piece of jazz. It used to sell for as little as £5 and was never 'rated'
by the so called jazz experts and collectors and because of that
it was never 'worth' anything. But tonight on Ebay a copy sold for
over £80. There were other albums that went for around £400
which were listed at as little as £50. But people are not buying
because they love the records or the music they are just buying
because British Jazz is now rocketing in price. It's all very depressing.
But that won't stop me buying. I will be back on Ebay tomorrow
night bidding on stuff that I really cannot afford. A few nights ago
I managed to buy a couple of Charlie Mingus LP's on the old HMV
label and can't wait for them to arrive and I also bought a copy of
Miles Davis "Some Day my Prince will come" which I already have
but it so good I just had to get another.