What is the highest price ever paid in the U.S. for a single music
record -- either LP, 45, or 78? This can be through auction or private
sale (as far as publicly known). I know that price guides list some
very expensive items, upwards of $25,000 or more, but these are just
conjectures. What is the actual price paid? And I'm talking about
vinyl records, not memorabilia like autographs or albums. Thanks !  --
Stephen

Howdy Stephen,

Greatly appreciate you accepting this as an Answer.  Was fun, because
it allowed me to catch up on one my passions.  Who would have imagine
that a pressed slab of vinyl would be worth over $30,000?

Good Rockin' Tonight (GRT) calls themselves "Home of the World's Rarest
Records" and they might be right on that boast.
http://www.goodrockintonight.com/

"View past Good Rockin' Tonight Auctions where most of the world's rarest
records have been sold."

They certainly sell records for (forgive me) "record" prices.
http://www.goodrockintonight.com/lingo.chtml?universeid=397&letter=G

"World?s leading rare record auction firm. Holds four rare record auctions
a year, with a multi-page catalog. GRT recently set a price record for a
confirmed $17,820 sale of an Elvis Presley Sun 45."

They sold a copy of the "Holy Grail" of records for $38,500 in 1999.
http://goodrockintonight.com/articles/article_view.chtml?universeid=397&artid=1224

"The world's most valuable and coveted Rock & Roll record, a First State
stereo, Mint still-sealed Beatles 'Yesterday...And Today' LP with the
ultra-rare Butcher cover, sold for an unprecedented $38,500 at the
Good Rockin' Tonight (GRT) August 4-5, 1999 'Ultra Rarities' auction."

At the same sale was this:

"The Rhythm & Blues portion of the auction saw an all-time record as well.
The zenith of R&B album collecting, "Billy Ward & His Dominoes" 10" LP in
phenomenal NM condition, brought in a world-record $24,200 ..."

So, this latter record was the most paid for a (nonfreakish) record in the
US that I have found.  That must have been an incredible night!

For more on that auction, go to:
http://www.goodrockintonight.com/auctions/previous_auctions.chtml

Once there, click on the link marked:
"7121 ... Good Rockin Tonight ... 08/05/99"

You can sort the resulting list by prices high to low by clicking on "FINAL
BID w/ BUYER'S FEE" link twice.  Prices!  Pictures!

You will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to read the original of the
following.  If you do not have it, you can dowload it from Adobe.
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

This just in; the highest price for a record sold in France, but again, a bit
of a freak.
http://members.aol.com/clctrmania/cm-jarre.pdf

"The night before, [Jean-Michel] Jarre destroyed all the master
tapes and backup materials involved in the creation of Musique
Pour Supermarche, bringing to the auction only the album and
the master plates.

Eventually the gavel came down, with the album selling for over
69,000 francs (equivalent at that time to $10,000 US), purchased
by an anonymous bidder."

If you need any clarification, feel free to ask.


Search Strategy

Google search on: elvis presley 45 auction "record price"
://www.google.com/search?q=elvis+presley+45+auction+%22record+price%22

The above search lead me to an article on the "Butcher" auction, which then
lead me to a site I already knew about, namely Good Rockin' Tonight.  A search
there produced the information on the "Butcher" as well as the "Billy Ward &
His Dominoes" LP sale.

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher

The best I could find is the following:
http://www.recordcollectorsguild.org/sealed_lp.html

"A copy of The Beatles' Yesterday and Today album with the "butcher"
cover and still sealed in its original packaging sold for $38,500 in
a recent auction conducted by Good Rockin' Tonight. That's the most
ever paid for a record at auction."

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher

braitnan -- 

This sale was not in the U.S. and was for less that denco-ga's find,
but it is interesting nonetheless:

"Recently (1999) a copy of Frank Wilson's 'Do I Love You?' an
extremely rare and coveted disc which was pressed (made) in the
mid-1960's but never released to the public was bought by a Scottish
collector for £15 000, the most ever paid for a seven-inch single
anywhere in the world, even though because of it's dancefloor
popularity (within British Soul culture at least) it has been reissued
on a newer labels or CDs several times since its original
(non)introduction."
Jahsonic: Rare
http://www.jahsonic.com/Rare.html

markj-ga

Thanks, guys, for both these comments. I knew about the Frank Wilson
record, and the Butcher Cover is always going for big bucks. I hadn't
been able to find the source of that sale information, however. I
don't think Good Rockin' Tonight still exists. I guess Butcher Covers
are kind of the hyped "holy grail" of rare rock, so maybe I should ask
what the SECOND highest selling U.S. record has been. :)

Howdy braitman-ga,

GRT (Good Rockin' Tonight) is still around.
http://www.goodrockintonight.com/

They are still selling records for "record" prices.
http://www.goodrockintonight.com/lingo.chtml?universeid=397&letter=G

"World?s leading rare record auction firm. Holds four rare record auctions
a year, with a multi-page catalog. GRT recently set a price record for
a confirmed $17,820 sale of an Elvis Presley Sun 45."

Here is the source on the Beatles "Butcher" sale.
http://goodrockintonight.com/articles/article_view.chtml?universeid=397&artid=1224

"The world's most valuable and coveted Rock & Roll record, a First State
stereo, Mint still-sealed Beatles 'Yesterday...And Today' LP with the
ultra-rare Butcher cover, sold for an unprecedented $38,500 at the
Good Rockin'
Tonight (GRT) August 4-5, 1999 'Ultra Rarities' auction."

At the same sale was this:

"The Rhythm & Blues portion of the auction saw an all-time record as well.
The zenith of R&B album collecting, "Billy Ward & His Dominoes" 10" LP in
phenomenal NM condition, brought in a world-record $24,200 ..."

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher

Thank you, denco-ga. This is very helpful. I was doing research for
the UK Record Collector magazine. You must be a collector yourself.
What's your field of interest? Mine is too wide for my own good. I've
been entering my collection into a Filemaker Pro database; so far, up
to 24,232 entries. And I've only started entering the albums. It's a
life...  -- Stephen

Howdy braitman-ga,

I suspect that markj-ga is much more of a collector than myself.  I used to
be "into" 50's and 60's music, mostly 45s, but some LPs as well.  The pride
of my (now limited) collection is an autographed Ravi Shankar LP and a good
copy of the UK release of "Over Under Sideways Down" by The Yardbirds.  The
latter is not all that rare, but it was the first LP I ever collected.

The first 45 I ever collected was "Five O'Clock World" by The Vogues, but
(not that rare either) I have a good copy of "Rock Around The Clock" by Bill
Haley and the Comets that I collected not much later.  Considering I was 12
at the time, not a bad start!

The following Answer that markj-ga and I worked on might hold some appeal to
you.  I'd be interested in any comments you might have on it.

"Stereophonic 45rpm records in UK Charts"
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=248178

As for your current question, I had been thinking along the lines that one
of the Elvis Presley Sun recordings, or an early R&B recording by someone
such as Robert Johnson, would be a top seller.

I have been looking for what I thought I had read about, specifically one of
the original "one offs" that Elvis made at Sun for his mother right before he
signed up with them, but I have not had any luck.

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher

braitman,

If you are as impressed by denco's helpful comments as I am, you might
want to consider asking denco to repost his remarks as the official
answer to your question so that he can receive payment for his
services.

~pinkfreud, Google Answers Researcher

So, Denco, how about it? You can post your replies as an Answer and
Google will pay ya! Thanks. -- Stephen

Thanks for the 5 star rating Stephen!

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher