Black Gold: Collecting Vinyl Records

by Marty Weil

 

The first vinyl record I ever bought was Paul McCartney & Wings’ Greatest Hits. Not surprisingly, that album has not become a highly prized collectible like some other records associated with McCartney such as The Beatles’ Yesterday and Today on Capitol (U.S. album in ‘butcher’ sleeve, 1966), which has sold at auction for thousands of dollars.

 

The Wings album notwithstanding, my record collection did grow to include a few standouts, including some rare Bruce Springsteen 45s, but like many others of my generation, I sold my entire lot of vinyl records—for a pittance—when I began purchasing new music on Compact Disc (CD) in the mid-90s.

 

Record collecting pre-dates the liquidation of my vinyl collection by many decades. In fact, record collecting has been around for nearly as long as vinyl records have been produced. However, the modern era of record collecting began with the arrival of the American folk-music boom of the late 1950s. At that time, there was a huge demand for archival materials and record collectors searched for old discs, especially early blues and jazz records, which were also known as “race records.”

 

Record collections aren’t limited to race records, however. In fact, later generations of record collectors have found their passion in obscure 45s, doo-wop, and LPs. Since the CD emerged as the media of choice for recorded music, vinyl record collecting has become a pastime for millions of music fans, and the hobby has seen resurgence in recent years as vinyl records have become scarcer. For some collectors, the Holy Grail of mid-century vinyl records is Bob Dylan’s The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. The 1963 pressing of that album has four songs that were deleted from subsequent pressings. The album has been known to sell for more than $35,000 (stereo) and $16,000 (mono) when offered in excellent condition.

 

In 1970, the record collecting hobby was enhanced when publications such as Goldmine and the Record Collector appeared in the U.S. and the U.K. respectively. At the same time, price guides began to appear on the market, which codified prices for rare items. Not surprisingly, the grading of records, based on condition, also became more standardized with the publication of price guides.

 

By the 1980s, common vinyl specimens like my Wings’ Greatest Hits record were relatively worthless due to the existence of millions of copies in circulation. My Wings Greatest Hits example helps illustrate the stratification in the hobby—between cheap records that sold millions of copies and valuable rare specimens—that persists to this day.

 

Like all areas of collecting, it takes knowledge of the finer points in order to become a successful record collector. For those interested in learning more about the hobby, there are a number of worthwhile books on the record collecting, including Vinyl, Records and Covers by Artists by Guy Schraenen; The Music Lover's Guide to Record Collecting by Dave Thompson; and Rare Records: Wax Trash and Vinyl Treasures by Tom Hibbert.

 

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