The Avid Record Collector #4: Are These Five LPs Among The Rarest And Most Valuable Records In The World?

NOT TOO LONG AGO, webmasters on the internet were frantically looking for people with the ability to write anything. But instead of being called writers, these people were often referred to as “content providers.” The relentless growth of the blogosphere to the more than 600,000,000 blogs on the world wide web today has only increased the need for, well, content.

Many of the articles on the internet do read like they were created by writers whose only goal seemed to be to fill up space. Many of these articles indicate an author who knows next to nothing about their topic. These content providers do a bit of research, assume some sort of knowledge, and then, Dunning-Kruger-like, spew their “facts” and assumptions onto the internet.

The hobby of collecting records has certainly seen its share of this kind of misinformation. I usually notice problems with the “facts” in many articles by so-called experts and quickly move on to something else. But a friend sent me an email with a link to an article on Yahoo News about record collectors thinking I’d be pleased to see the hobby getting some attention on that platform.

After reading the article, I decided it would make a good topic for me to look into. The Yahoo article is titled “Do You Collect Vinyl Records? Here Are Five Albums That Our Expert Says Are Among The Most Rare And Valuable.” It is a short piece dated October 12, 2021, that fails to credit either the writer or the “expert.”

Instead of publishing this article on my Rather Rare Records blog, I decided to offer it to Rick at Sixties Music Secrets. It is a break from the general idea of my column here generally reminiscing about The Era of Cut-Out Albums, but I hope it will prove interesting to SMS readers.

Something special about vinyl records

The entire text of the article consists of two-dozen words: “If you’re a vinyl aficionado, you’ll want to check if you have any of these sought-after albums in your own collection.” The article also includes a 49-second video that lists the five “rare and valuable” albums noted in the article’s title. Here is the text captions from the video:

“There’s something undeniably special about vinyl records. There are a number of older vinyls that now sell for staggering prices. Here are a few of the most valuable records out there.

The first pressing ever created of The White Album by the Beatles was sold in 2015 for $790,000.

A rare test pressing of Elvis Presley’s first ever recording was sold by Jack White for $300,000.

The only copy of Wu-Tang Clan’s Once Upon a Time in Shaolin was sold for $2,000,000 in 2015.

The original pressings of Madonna’s Like a Prayer album go for around $100 on eBay quite regularly.

Copies of the Dave Matthews Band’s Before These Crowded Streets go for around $500 on eBay.”

That’s it! That’s the entire “article.”

Five LPs among the most valuable records

Before I address the records listed in the Yahoo News article, here are a couple of observations:

1. The title states that the article is for vinyl collectors and about “five albums” (hence my using the term “five LPs” in my article’s title). But the video states that it is about “a few of the most valuable records.” That is, the list of records in the video is not exclusively of albums. (Perhaps whoever wrote the article’s title didn’t watch the article’s video.)
2. Both the article and the video state that the records being addressed are vinyl records.
3. The use of the term “vinyls” to mean “records” usually indicates that the person using that term wasn’t born yet when records were the dominant format for recorded music.

Please note that the title of this article (“Five LPs That Are Among The Rarest And Most Valuable Records In The World”) is basically a rewording of the title of the Yahoo article (“Do You Collect Vinyl Records? Here Are Five Albums That Our Expert Says Are Among The Most Rare And Valuable”).

Now, onto the five valuable vinyl records.

Artist: The Beatles
Title: The Beatles
Format: LP album
Recorded: 1968
Released: 1968

“The first pressing ever created of The White Album by the Beatles was sold in 2015 for $790,000.”

First, this statement makes it sound like there is only one copy in the “first pressing” of a record. As records are mass-produced, the term “first pressing” usually refers to the total number of records manufactured in the initial run of a record. The first pressing of a record by even an only modestly successful artist was often in the hundreds of thousands.

Second, there is no such thing as a Beatles album titled “The White Album.” The record referred to in the Yahoo article is The Beatles, a two-record set released in November 1968. THE BEATLES album was issued in a gatefold jacket with plain white covers. From its stark appearance, the album was affectionately dubbed “the white album” by fans the world over.

The album referred to here is a UK pressing and the front cover of each jacket did have two things on it:

• “The Beatles” is embossed in white letters midway down the cover.
• There is a number stamped in black ink in the lower right corner.

Each of the initial UK pressings of THE BEATLES was sequentially numbered with a “№” prefix (an abbreviation for “number”). As there were seven digits in the number, theoretically, there could have been 9,999,999 numbered copies, but there weren’t. I conferred with Beatles expert—and, yes, as an expert, he is the real thing—Frank Daniels and he stated, “The highest number in the original UK series that I know of is № 0624601.” [1]

So, Apple Records chose to make an enormous limited and numbered edition of the Beatles album.Effectively, each numbered copy was a one-of-a-kind item. Theoretically, each was of equal value although the majority of collectors of limited, numbered editions believe that the earlier the number, the more desirable the item. And what could be more valuable than the number one copy? [2]

And that is the record addressed in the Yahoo article—a mono copy of THE BEATLES (Apple PMC-7067/7068) stamped “№ 0000001.” This was supposed to be one of the first four numbers off the
production line. These four copies of the album were presented to the four Beatles in November 1968. The first copy was given to Ringo Starr, although I don’t know why. [3]

In 2015, THE BEATLES № 0000001 was offered at the Julien’s Live auction of items from Ringo’s estate. The album was listed with an estimated value of approximately $50,000 but sold for $790,000, the highest price ever paid for a vinyl record! [4]

Neal’s Rant: For most record collectors, the records we pursue are first pressings that were released commercially and theoretically available to the record-buying public. THE BEATLES № 0000001 is effectively a “limited edition” of one copy that was not released comm

Artist: Elvis Presley
Title: My Happiness / That’s When Your Heartaches Begin
Format: 78 rpm acetate single
Recorded: June -August 1953
Released: unreleased

“A rare test pressing of Elvis Presley’s first ever recording was sold by Jack White for $300,000.”

First, the record referred to in the Yahoo News article features Elvis performing two songs, My
Happiness and That’s When Your Heartaches Begin. The songs were recorded in June or July of 1953,
at the Memphis Recording Service when the singer was 18 years old. Elvis paid $3.98 to record the
songs and have one copy of a 10-inch, 78 rpm record manufactured on the spot.

Second, the record is not a test pressing—it is an aluminum acetate with a shellac-based coating.
Third, the record is not merely “rare” but is a one-of-a-kind item—it is unique.

Fourth, Jack White did not sell the record for $300,000—he bought it for $300,000 at a Graceland
auction.

Fifth, the writer spelled all the words in this sentence correctly.

The Memphis Recording Service (“A complete service to fill every recording need”) was part of the
Sun Records studio and office. It allowed local musicians to cut a record for their own use at a price
that almost any one of them could afford. While Presley reputedly made the record as a gift for his
mother, it served as an indirect stepping stone to his eventual meeting with and “discovery” by Sam
Phillips (or Sun employee Marion Keisker, depending on whose memory you trust) in 1954.

Whatever reason Elvis had for making the record, he never gave it to Gladys. Instead, he gave the
record to his friend Ed Leek, who kept the record’s existence a secret until after Presley’s death in 1977.
In 2015, Leek’s estate consigned the record to Graceland for auction and it sold for $240,000 to an
undisclosed buyer who later identified himself as recording artist Jack White. [5]

Neal’s Rant: For most record collectors, the records we pursue are first pressings that were released
commercially and theoretically available to the record-buying public. The acetate of My Happiness /
That’s When Your Heartaches Begin is effectively a one-of-a-kind record that was not released
commercially. Few if any of us will ever see this record, let alone have an option to buy and own it.

Artist: Wu-Tang Clan
Title: Once Upon A Time In Shaolin
Format: CD album
Recorded: 2007-2013
Released: unreleased

“The only copy of Wu-Tang Clan’s Once Upon A Time In Shaolin was sold for $2,000,000 in 2015.”

First, this is easily the most interesting selection of the Yahoo News expert. Wu-Tang Clan’s album ONCE UPON A TIME IN SHAOLIN is what I call a manufactured collectible: The group had
one copy of the album manufactured as a two-disc CD; no vinyl copies were manufactured. The CD was auctioned off and never made available to the music-loving/record-buying public in any form. A legal agreement with the purchaser stipulated that the album cannot be commercially exploited (that is, made available to the music-loving/record-buying public) for 88 years! That is, it was manufactured not as the mass-produced item that records and CDs were supposed to be, but as a one-of-a-kind “instant collectible.”

This sounds like the Clan wanted the album compared to a work of fine art. It also sounds like an over-the-top publicity gimmick. The winning bid for the one-of-a-kind ONCE UPON A TIME IN SHAOLIN was $2,000,000. But the winning bidder was as big a story as the amount of the winning bid. Martin Shkreli was a hedge fund manager who became infamous for buying a drug being used by cancer and AIDs patients and raising the price of a single pill from $13.50 to $750!

Three years later, Shkreli was convicted for securities fraud and a federal court seized his assets, including the Wu-Tang Clan album. In July 2021, the US government sold it to an undisclosed buyer for an undisclosed amount.

That’s the nutshell version of the story. For the whole shebang, read Cyrus Bozorgmehr’s book-length take on the affair, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin: The Untold Story of the Wu-Tang Clan’s Million Dollar Secret Album, the Devaluation of Music, and America’s New Public Enemy No. 1. [6] As I said, this was easily the most interesting selection here.

Neal’s Rant: For most record collectors, the records we pursue are first pressings that were released commercially and theoretically available to the record-buying public. ONCE UPON A TIME IN SHAOLIN is intentionally a limited edition of one copy that was not released commercially. Few if any of us will ever see this record, let alone have an option to buy and own it.

Artist: Madonna
Title: Like A Prayer
Format: LP album
Recorded: 1988-1989
Released: 1989

“The original pressings of Madonna’s Like A Prayer album go for around $100 on eBay regularly.”

As all five of the records listed in the article are manufactured in the US, I assume the article is
referring to the US pressing of Madonna’s LIKE A PRAYER. Oddly, of the five listings, this is the one I
understand the least. As this was a #1 album that sold millions of copies relatively recently—and 1989
is “recent” in the hobby/business of buying and selling records—it should be the most accurate info
from the Yahoo expert.

Apparently, all of the jackets of the commercial, stock copies for LIKE A PRAYER (Sire 1-25844) were
scented with patchouli oil. Each album included an insert titled “The Facts About AIDS.” They are
easily found on the internet in NM condition for $15-30. Warners (WEA) had their LPs manufactured
at two places at this time, Specialty Records Corporation (SRC) in Pennsylvania and Allied Records
Company (ARC) in California.

The SRC pressings are the most common and sell for $20-30 in NM condition. I only found three recent sales for the ARC record: $23.27, $62.23, and $89.89. Commercial copies designated for promotional use have a “Not For Sale” stamp on the front or back cover and sell for $20-40. A promo copy graded NM sold for $79.99 while another promo copy that was still in factory-sealed shrinkwrap sold for $95. Both were ARC pressings and both sold in October 2021.

There are also five pressings of this album from BMG Direct Marketing, Inc., for sale through their record club. Each has two catalog numbers: the Sire number (1-25844) along with the BMG club number (R-101029). They are easily found on the internet in NM condition for $20-40. There is also one pressing for the Columbia House record club but it had only one catalog number (W1-25844). It sells in the $40-60 range.

So, unless I am missing something, the Yahoo statement for this album should read, “Most original pressings of Madonna’s Like a Prayer album go for around $30 on eBay regularly; a few go for more.”

Neal’s Rant: For most record collectors, the records we pursue are first pressings that were released
commercially and theoretically available to the record-buying public. The vinyl LP album of LIKE A
PRAYER is a first pressing and should be on every Madonna collectors must-own list. Fortunately, it
is readily available for sale on the internet and can probably be found at many used record stores or at
your local record convention or swap meet at a reasonable price.

Artist: Dave Matthews Band
Title: Before These Crowded Streets
Format: LP album
Recorded: 1997-1998
Released: 1998

“Copies of the Dave Matthews Band’s Before These Crowded Streets go for around $500 on eBay.”

This is probably the least interesting listing in the Yahoo article. It’s certainly the listing that requires
the fewest words from me! The vinyl pressing of the Dave Matthews Band BEFORE THESE
CROWDED STREETS (RCA 07863 67660-1) does indeed sell for hundreds of dollars.

It was issued in 1998 and reputedly only 5,000 copies were manufactured on vinyl because it was The
CD Era. While 5,000 copies may not seem “rare” to many readers, this album also sold more than
4,000,000 copies as a CD in the US.

There are quite a few LPs from the ’90s by collectible artists that are skyrocketing in value because relatively few copies were made. The best known is Nirvana’s NEVERMIND, which is now a thousand-dollar record. But this Matthews album will probably find its way into the four-figure price range in the next few years.

Neal’s Rant: For most record collectors, the records we pursue are first pressings that were released
commercially and theoretically available to the record-buying public. The vinyl LP album of BEFORE
THESE CROWDED STREETS is a first pressing and should be on every Dave Matthews Band
collectors must-own list. Unfortunately, it is not an easy record to find. While you may find it for sale
on the internet occasionally, it is not an item that you will see show up at many used record stores or at
your local record convention or swap meet.

So, the title of the Yahoo article implies that it is for vinyl collectors. It claims to list five albums that
are among the “most rare and valuable”—one assumes it means the rarest and most valuable vinyl
records. Does the article do these things? Not really.

Why?

• One of the records is not an album.
• Two of the records are not vinyl.
• Two of the records are neither rare nor particularly valuable.

The concoction of facts with incorrect statements, the misunderstanding of terms common in either the
record industry or the record collecting hobby/business, and the clumsy writing make the Yahoo article
sound like it was written not by one expert but by a group of moonlighting Wikipedia “experts.”

And that’s a wrap.

FOOTNOTES:

1 I asked Beatles expert Frank Daniels about the numbering of the UK pressings of THE BEATLES
and he responded, “The intent seems to have been to allocate numbers 0000001-0300000 to mono
albums and 0300001-0600000 to stereo. The highest number in the original UK series that I know of is
0624601.” That implies that if the earliest number that a UK stereo copy could have is 0300001, then
THE BEATLES № 0300001 was effectively the equivalent of the UK mono copy numbered 0000001.

2 According to Frank Daniels’s “White Album Pressings” on his Friktech site (which addresses the US
pressings of the album in baffling detail), there were twelve copies of the US album numbered 0000001
given to the four Beatles, to their friends, and to Capitol Records officials. Copies numbered 0000002
through 0000025 were also given to friends of the group and to Capitol employees.

3 Hypothetically, there could be a person who collects limited, numbered editions of art and books
and willingly pays a premium for copies with a specific number that has a special meaning to him. For
example, his birthday might be December 12 and he collects those items numbered 1212. In such a
case, THE BEATLES № 0001212 might have far more value to him than the copy numbered 0000001.

4 To put the value of this first numbered edition in perspective as a valuable artifact, the mono copy of
THE BEATLES № 0000009 sold at auction on eBay a few months earlier for only $10,166. Stereo
copies of this album are not valued anywhere near as much as mono copies.

5 The disk sold for $240,000 but with the commission to the auction house and other fees, the final
“purchase price” was approximately $300,000. Jack White released a vinyl edition of My Happiness /
That’s When Your Heartaches Begin on his own Third Man Records in time for Record Store Day on
April 18, 2015. The Record Store Day version was a limited edition (of course) and a faithful facsimile
of the original 10-inch, 78 rpm disc, including the damaged paper labels. Third Man also released a 7-
inch, 45 rpm edition that featured restored versions of the two songs (Sun TMR-307).

6 Netflix has scheduled a movie with the working title Once Upon a Time in Shaolin that is supposed to tell the true story about the album with the same name.