THE ONLY 5 COPIES EVER MADE? / ELVIS PRESLEY 78 SUN TEST PRESSING / MY HAPPINESS

$

4,995

WE WILL ANSWER THE OBVIOUS QUESTIONS RELATING TO THESE TEST PRESSINGS BELOW. FEEL FREE TO MESSAGE US WITH ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE.

ORIGIN:  What are the these records and who had them made?  

This is a lot of 5 test pressings. One has a blank label on both sides, but the other 4 have Elvis' name and the song titles typed on reversed Prisonaires labels, just like the original acetate. These test pressings are are truly "one of a kind" and to the best of our knowledge, have never been offered for sale. They are from the same Florida estate as Elvis Presley's original first acetate, My Happiness, which Jack White purchased earlier this year for a reported $300,000, including fees. As with Elvis's first acetate record, Ed Leek was the owner of these test pressings. The handwritten letter in the third picture is from the late Shelby Singleton, who was President, Chairman and CEO of Sun Entertainment Corporation and is written to Ed Leek regarding an agreement they had to make these test pressings. Their purpose for making these five test pressings in 1993 was not explained in the letter and our research did not reveal their plan. Since it is handwritten and a little hard to read, I will included its contents here. 11/20/93   Ed Leek -   Enclosed is a test pressing after the tape was cleaned up -  We got a winner if it don't get screw up by the Calif group - Hope your trip was good -  Best Shelby

AUTHENTICITY:

These 5 test pressings were part of the estate of Ed & Sue Leek and were given to a friend of Sue's family after Sue passed away in 2014. We will be happy to provide documentation of that gift if the buyer would like it. The 5 test pressings, along with the letters and additional Sun labels were in the box that is seen in the last picture. In our research of these records, we contacted Alan Stoker, who is the Curator for the Country Music Hall Of Fame, to see if he made these test pressings, since he was the one who worked with Jack White of Third Man Records to make 500 copies of the original acetate this year for Record Store Day. Mr. Stoker was not a part of making these pressings, as his response to my email indicates. "Interesting find you have. For the original first transfer (in 1989), I didn’t create anything other than the analog tape transfer from the acetate. I would not have been involved in the audio clean up or the creation of metal parts for the production of pressings. If they are test pressings, Shelby went to some expense in creating metal pressing parts, only to never release it on vinyl. And this was from 1993! Very confusing. They are test pressings and not lacquers, correct? Like you, I’m pretty sure that this was not released on vinyl prior to Third Man records release this year. I don’t know anymore about it."  Mr. Stoker goes on to explain how these test pressings (and they are vinyl, not lacquer) were made. "My tape would have been cleaned up, using the technology of the time, probably analog outboard equipment. A master tape would probably have been made of that..likely a digital one, but it could have been an analog tape. Everything was made from the analog tape that I made (in 1989). But of course, I made that from the acetate disc." 

SOUND CLIPS:  

Both sound clips are from the test pressing with blank labels. You can hear the light pops and crackles that were in the original 78 acetate recordings.

LABELS:  

The Sun labels are not original Prisonaires labels, but were apparently made for these test pressings. They are all in excellent condition.

CONDITION:  

The vinyl looks as though they were probably never played. We saw one scuff on the one with the blank label. There is, what appears to be a coffee stain on the cover letter, as well as some handwriting on the back of that letter. 

QUESTIONS:  

Please contact us with any questions you may have BEFORE PLACING A BID.

Domestic / U.S.A. Shipping (Contiguous 48 states)

USPS Media Mail

·         FREE shipping for all contents included in this listing.

International Shipping:

We welcome International bidders, but due to the value of this item, we will not be able to ship it outside the U.S (48 contiguous states) due to the high cost of international insurance. This means that if you are outside the U.S., you will need to have this item shipped to a U.S. mailing address.

DELIVERY:  

We will be happy to deliver all contents included in the listing for the actual cost of delivery. Please message us for a quote to your address.

PACKING:

We will package and ship all listing contents in a safe manner to ensure that they arrive in the condition described.  

HANDLING:

          Package will ship within 2 business days of payment receipt.

WE CURRENTLY HAVE NO PLANS TO RELIST THESE ONE OF A KIND RECORDS SHOULD THEY NOT SELL ON AUGUST 20, 2015.