God Bless eBay

[TonyCurrie]

My family will tell you - I've become an eBay junkie.

The postman is beginning to complain, too.

But I got a couple of interesting items today - one in the mail; one won and awaiting delivery.

The first is the album EARLY ALPERT.

Here in the UK, the first TJB albums were released by EMI on their Stateside label; subsequent releases came out on Pye International until A&M signed a distribution deal with Pye that allowed their material to appear on the A&M label in the UK.

Pye had a number of budget labels, but the cheapest of these was MARBLE ARCH, which used to sell for 10/6d. (About a dollar) The Marble Arch catalogue consisted of reissues of Pye albums with two tracks removed (thus 5 a side) and minimal (or often non-existent) sleeve notes.

All the albums had a distinctive sleeve design that complied with a house style.

EARLY ALPERT is unusual on a number of counts. Released in 1968, the material is taken from "THE LONELY BULL" and "VOLUME TWO" but the cover picture shows Herb (in colour) against a background of the other members of the Brass (in monochrome). (Take a look at http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4731446329&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWN:IT&rd=1) It has both the Marble Arch and A&M Logos on it. There are very extensive sleeve notes with detailed notes on the tracks themselves and a history of the TJB including references to these tracks having been made by session musicians.

The album itself has a Marble Arch catalogue number, but the label is the standard A&M one. The copy I acquired (for 99 pence!!!!) is almost unplayed and in beautiful condition...and it's in stereo, too. (Most Marble Arch was mono, only a few titles were also pressed in stereo with a yellow sticker on the sleeve containing the magic word STEREO!)

The second item - which hasn't arrived yet - is even more unusual. The album title is AMERIACHI, and it's an orange vinyl Chinese pressing. The sleeve is a gaudy blue frame with the "WNML" cover picture.

(See http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4733140423&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWN:IT&rd=1)

The seller says he picked it up in a Chinese flea market. I guess its a Chinese pirate copy, but I'm curious to see what's on it. I reckoned it was worth four quid!

 

[Mr Bill]

Tony,

I have four of those Chinese Ameriachi LPs. You'll be stunned when you see how the sleeves are made! I'd have to check when I got home but IIRC they are the first four TJB LPs (with a bonus 13th track on WC&OD of "The Third Man Theme"). All are on transparent colored vinyl. The sleeves are best described as what you'd get if you had a two-color xerox machine and made a 12x12 copy of both side of an LP sleeve and then covered it all with Saran Wrap and sealed all the edges with one of those crazy "Seal-A-Meal" gadgets. Interesting as a curiosity (and the quality isn't as bad as you'd expect). I'm not certain these atre bootlegs more than just poorly made licenced products from what was (or is) essentially a third world country...

--Mr Bill

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I remember sleeves like those in the 1970s. Always on import albums, usually England or Australia.

 

[TallPaulInKy]

The sleeves are best described as what you'd get if you had a two-color xerox machine and made a 12x12 copy of both side of an LP sleeve and then covered it all with Saran Wrap and sealed all the edges with one of those crazy "Seal-A-Meal" gadgets"

These are regular commerical releases, and that is the quality to be expected from Korea, China, etc. I saw lots of them when I was in the military during the early 70s. That was normal for them. I think they only expected the sleeve to be a selling point (like a 45 rpm picture sleeve) and then discarded soon after the album was purchased and brought home. We are so used to the high standards of the Japanses companies but Korea and China were not in the same league. The pressings are usually pretty good.

 

[bob knack]

Someone once told me that those colored vinyl things wear out very fast. I have a Basie record on Red that doesn't play well. So...you maybe better record it and listen to the tape or CD.

I almost bid on that thing. It looked interesting.

 

[jfiedler17]

Someone once told me that those colored vinyl things wear out very fast. I have a Basie record on Red that doesn't play well. So...you maybe better record it and listen to the tape or CD.

I've heard that myself, but I've never run into problems. I'm usually wary of buying colored vinyl, because oftentimes it's harder to judge the condition of them than you can from looking at a black-vinyl album, but the colored vinyl LPs or 45s I have sound fantastic and haven't worn out much, if at all. (But most of the colored-vinyl releases I own are 45s from the '80s, so I wouldn't know how problematic colored-vinyl releases from the '50s and '60s are.)
I've heard that picture discs wear out much more quickly than colored vinyl does.

Jeff F.

 

[bob knack]

Thanks for your views. Come to think of it, I don't see why they would wear out faster. I have a very old picture disc stored away, a 78 RPM, of Sonny Dunham & Orch. I can't remember the label. They were were strictly a picture disc label. It's just too pretty to fool with. I think I'll just frame it.

 

[TonyCurrie]

The Chinese album arrived yesterday - it turns out to be WC&OD with the bonus track described by Mr. Bill. Yes the sleeve is bizarre (and the primary colour printing makes the picture from WNML look very strange indeed!) but the pressing is fine and the sound quality excellent. The copy I bought has been well used but is still perfectly serviceable and I played it through twice last night while reading emails and doing other computer stuff.

A nice novelty item that proves Herb's arrangements are truly universal in their appeal.

 

[rmos]

I have a very old picture disc stored away, a 78 RPM, of Sonny Dunham & Orch. I can't remember the label. They were were strictly a picture disc label. It's just too pretty to fool with. I think I'll just frame it.

Sounds like a Vogue picture disc.