Elmore James 78 Meteor 5000 V+ Condition I Believe/I Held My Baby Last Night

$

24

Greetings everyone! Thanks for stopping by another of my record auctions! I appreciate that you made the time in your busy schedule to check out the goods! I’ve been doing this on ebay for the past 8 years of so, and it’s always fun to have folks show up and see what’s available…though it’s more fun to get what I have sold, and into your hands! Your business is always appreciated, and that’s not just lip service! So let’s see what I’ve got for you folks this time!

NOTE!-All records I list on ebay are all play-graded so I can give an accurate description, or at least let you know that yes, I have listened to them. All 78s are played on my late 1960s GE Wildcat portable record player. This table has a good history of being able to play 78s in rough shape, but in doing so-my results might be a bit better than those who use turntables that are of higher quality, so, in other words-your mileage may vary.

This time up, I have a 1952 10” 78rpm release on the Meteor Records label, label #5000, by Elmore James. This is the single of “I Believe” b/w “I Held My Baby Last Night”. When this surfaced as I was doing my picking for the week, I was ready to kick myself, as I had purchased this as part of a collection a few years ago, and had planned on listing it much sooner. Oh well, I suppose good things come to those who wait-or at least I hope so. Folks, this is blues, blues, and more blues. Honestly, there’s not a dang thing original about the beat nor rhythm on these tunes, as pretty much all blues artists have used the same before, as well as since. But dang, this is some neato electric blues, at least on the guitar. James’ singing is pretty straightforward, though he doesn’t have a great voice, for this style, he’s right on the money and his vocals are still real good-hauntingly good! “I Believe” has a bit faster tempo of the two songs, and with the electric guitar (sounds like he’s using a bottleneck or perhaps slide), mixing with the rhythm guitar, bass, drums, and the sax in the background, this has enough energy that listening to it might leave you a little exhausted when it’s done. James gets to wail a bit on this, but not too much as the speed of the tune really won’t allow for that much, and all in all, a swifter paced blues song isn’t a bad thing. However, when the disc is flipped to “I Held My Baby Last Night”, the pace slows down considerably, as this is more a slow-drag blues tune, with more of that fantastic guitar that will imprint into your DNA if you’re not careful. The rhythm guitar again works like the table-setter, and this time, the sax is more prominent, and not just in the background, though the sax player sounds like he’s a bit worn out, perhaps to having to play on the previous side! Elmore does get to some righteous wailing on this tune, as this is more traditional in feel, if not sound. Altogether, if you’re into early electric blues, this might be up your alley. The playing surface does have wear, storage/play wear, needle marks, scuffs, and yes, some scratches as well. Both sides did play through for me without any interference for the needle, and there was crackling while playing, but not enough to come close to drowning out the music or vocals (I don’t think that’s possible when Elmore’s wailing!). But after giving this a couple of spins (l couldn’t just let it go, playing it once!), I still think this is good enough to get my less than average grading of V+, though the “looks matter” people may think otherwise. That’s my grading though, and my grading is considered non-standard. If you are considering placing a bid, please read the paragraph that follows this one, as it will show you the gradings and their respective descriptions. It won’t take long to read, please do. The labels have wear as well, chipping and creasing adjacent to the center hole, storage wear, scratches and dings. However, the text is still clear enough to read with minimal problems. If you need more pictures or description, I can and will be happy to provide. If you have any comments or questions, please send them to me, and I will reply as soon as possible.

My Grading is as follows: M (Mint)-ONLY for Still Factory Sealed Records ONLY! No 45 nor 78 will ever get this grading. E+, minimal wear, perhaps only needs cleaning. E, a few light marks, maybe some minor background crackle and/or hiss. E-, light marks, crackling (nothing major), scuffs, etc.. Not great, but still quite playable. V+, More marks, scuffs, needle marks, scratches-but nothing that would make the needle skip. Will have background noise that even with a cleaning will still be around. V. Worn. Scuffs, scratches, can be noisy, but still (probably) won’t cause the needle to skip nor get stuck. V-, Noisy? You bet! Worn? Oh yeah. Playable? Sure, but don’t expect it to sound all peachy keen. P. Bleah! Playable perhaps, but do so at your own risk. Don’t trash a new needle on it. Only used on records considered rare enough for “fill in” purposes to a collector-or to those who do digital restoration. 

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IMPORTANT NOTE FOR NON-U.S. BUYERS!!!!
All items I sell will be sent with postage printed up from eBay. This way, the prices are automatically listed for customs purposes and cannot be altered. Yes, this does mean that the customs people will know the value, but since I get a bit of a price break on postage, I can keep the prices low for you-the buyer.  I will not "mark item as a gift", just so you can evade import rules.  The people at my post office know me, and they will check overseas packages for inspection.  I hope you will understand my position about this, my apologies if you are not able to comply.

Also, international bidders, the price listed for postage on my listings are for domestic mailing.  I wish I could send overseas for that price, but reality speaks different.  I place a fair price on all international postage.  Watch for the invoice if you win.

ALSO-I need to let international bidders know of a certain problem that doesn't always happen, but will arise from time to time.  All International mail sent from this region has to go through the U.S. Postal Service sorting center in Sandston Virginia, by our local airport.  This sorting center has been named the least efficient sorting center in the entire U.S. Postal Service.  They prove this from time to time by mis-routing packages.  If this happens-and I will monitor the delivery-usually it will add at least an extra week for it to arrive.  If there are any problems, please contact me first, and I will do what I must to make sure you are satisfied with the order.
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All items that are sent to a U.S. address will have delivery confirmation (at my cost) attached, as I have found that it helps...a lot!....to ensure that packages are truly en route to the customer.  This is for both of our sakes.  I will be using USPS "Media Mail" as my primary shipping method, however, if needed, and for an extra charge, I can ship with "Priority Mail", and if i can get away with it for the price, I really like 1st Class, but that's weight-dependent.

Oh yes, if you are the winning bidder, and you are in the Commonwealth of Virginia, I'm afraid you are going to have to fork over the 5.3% Virginia State Sales Tax.

Paypal is my preferred method of payment, if you need another way, please contact me before bidding.  Or, if you have any other questions about this listing, or any of my listings, please feel free to contact me.  I will answer any & all questions as quickly and concisely as possible.

Also, I do have other listings available as well, and if you would be interested in more than one item, I have no problem with holding onto wins in case you would like to combine wins to save some money instead of multiple p&h costs.

Ebay has mandated that I include a "handling time" something I had thought was already included.  I usually get records mailed out the day after payment arrives.  But I will let you know that if any listing that is paid for after Friday mornings will have to wait until the following Monday, since I do the majority of packing at work-I have my packing stuff there.  Plus-I won't hound you for payment. As long as people stay in touch, and let me know the interest is still there, don't rush on my account. I don't mind waiting a bit and usually won't send any kind of reminders until after a week-at least-has gone by.  In this economy, the last thing anyone needs is for a seller to come off like a bill collector.  I'll work with you!

Folks, I have lots of records for sale/auction here on ebay, but I also have another outlet that I use as well, where items I haven’t listed elsewhere, and occasionally things that have been listed (but not anymore) here as well. I work for a record store as you may already know, and my boss has been putting out one of the largest, if not the oldest record auction in the Mid-Atlantic area. If you look online for RecordSmith auctions in Richmond, VA, you can easily find the site. If not, or if you’d like any information, you can always contact me through the ebay message system, and I will be glad to get that information for you. Hey, I love my boss, and love working there. So I don’t mind doing some “shilling” for him, and I’m certain he (and I!) would enjoy your participation and business!

I hope that there's someone out there who might like to make this part of your own collection, since that's what I'm here for!  I do appreciate that you did click on my listing and had a chance to check out the goods, thanks again for stopping by!