What's All This Then

Why should I care what this guy has to say?

The correct answer is that you shouldn’t. We’re all entitled to our opinions. Develop your own. I try to be sane and rational, but that may change with the level of caffeine intake. I’m just telling my stories in the hopes they may amuse and/or inform others. And... I Confess... I'm showing off my bitchen collection a bit.


Tuesday, March 20, 2018

A Rare Jefferson Airplane Find

The other day I was thumbing through the bins at a nearby used record emporium when I came across this:

Jefferson Airplane - Jefferson Airplane Takes Off  (RCA 1966)

I took a big chance.   I had this title on a 70's reissue.   Why spend $12.99?   I will spin a yarn below this picture.



A brief history of this record.   The first run of 15,000 copies included Runnin' Round This World which contained a thinly veiled LSD reference.   This was dropped from subsequent pressings.   But this wasn't the end.   Two other songs with risque (for 1966) lyrics remained.   These were altered for the third and most common pressing.  Keep in mind this was not a massively popular record just yet.  The pressing runs were small.

So I see this one was mono.  This tipped me off that it was early.  I didn't think I had any way of knowing which pressing it was unless I played it and heard 'that sway as you lay under me' instead of 'that sway as you lay here beside me' 



Some quick internet searches before I got home revealed that I could tell by the etchings on the run our groove.   I had a rare one!   The second pressing.  TPRM-0171.



So what does all this mean?    It means what I paid $12.99 for is valued at $1,000 in the Goldmine Guide to American Records.    One sold recently on eBay for $1,200. 

Had it been the first pressing, the value would be closer to $5,000.

I won't mention the store where this was purchased.  I don't want to embarrass them. They're good guys.  I want them to continue their current pricing strategies.  By the way, if the price sticker is any indication, It had been sitting in their bins unsold for five months.





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