For The Record - Part 2

So, Did I really sell a $20,000 record for $500 ????? I must admit the thought of it really bugged me but in reality what kind of a fool would pay $20,000.00 for a 78 rpm record. Especially one entitled, "She May Be Yours But She Come To Me Sometime", with the flipside being, "We All Gotta Go Sometime". I can imagine a married man would have a hard time explaining a purchase like that to his wife.....

Joe Hill Louis was born in Raines, Tennesee in 1921. He ran away from home at the age of 14 and learned to play the harmonica or harp as it's called by blues musicians. In time he picked up more instruments and became a one man blues band sensation playing the streets of Memphis. It was there that he met the legendary founder of Sun Records, Sam Phillips, and was signed to the lable. In 1953 he recorded the record in which I'm referring to. During his career he went on to work with many musicians and under different names such as "The Be Bop Boy". As with a lot of blues icons their history is foggy in spots. Joe was on his way up until one day during 1957 he cut his hand, contracted tetnus, and died. He was 35.

Ok, Back to the $20,000 question. I had researched the record before and aside of a $200 value placed on it by a guide book author I had been unable to find much info on it. Well, that was over two years ago and things turn up. I hit the internet a bit further and started looking at closed auctions. I had to dig a bit but was kind of relieved by what I found. In 2008 one surfaced on Ebay and sold for a little less than $2,000. Earlier this year another one showed up at a high end auction and sold for $2,200. Now that's a little easier to deal with. In reality I can drop a zero and say I sold a $2,000 item for $500. Not quite as bad....

As for the dealer with the $20,000 price tag ????? In my opinion he's either crazy or doesn't really want to sell. Dealers can be like that. Some of them love thier stuff too much to ever part with it. The truth of the matter is that the vast overwhelming majority of records are not really worth anything but every now then a good one shows up. I just happened to have been a lucky owner of a good one for a little while.

If you ever run across some old records, mainly old blues or soul, drop me a line.