Parkway 78 RPM Baby Face Leroy Trio (Little Walter & Muddy Waters) 501 V+ RARE

$

202

Parkway 78 RPM Baby Face Leroy Trio (Little Walter & Muddy Waters) 501 V+ RARE.

This record never seems to show up - the very few times that it does - without some issues. What I am going to describe sounds far worse than it actually is. This is still a very pretty record with an overall very clean playing surface.

The issues:

this was found in the wild with around 100 other jukebox dealer records. This was stored very poorly with the weight of those other records stacked on top in a very hot room for decades. It however has no warp as can happen in those poor storage conditions.

On the A-side there is a shallow pressure indentation below the label. It is a slight curved line, the outline of something, possibly the edge of another 78 edge. This indentation has caused a very faint, tight hairline crack that extends from the label to about 3/5 of the way to the edge. It can be felt but the shellac is not separated. It does not go through to the b-side, though the line of where the crack is can be faintly seen on the b side (if that makes sense). I have played through it and it does sound with a light tick that is hard to hear except as it progresses to the end of the a-side. There is another faint pressure indentation to the left of the label. What caused this one I’m not sure. Both indentations are shallow. They make for ugly looking shellac in those areas but do not impact play.

On the B-side the A-side crack can be seen but it is not actually cracked all the way through. There is a faint juke box strip indentation on the b-side where the weight of all the records caused the outline of the strip stored in the sleeve to slightly indent into the shellac. It would not show in photos like the a-side pressure indentations do. It does not sound as it does on the a-side

The b-side shows some very light groove wear that is consistent with juke box play. It is not heavy at all. It plays with some surface noise but the music is still very loud and pronounced.

No significant scratching or scuffing on either side, aside from very light superficial handling surface scratches that can be noticed under the right light.

If you zoom in on the last 2 pictures you can see the crack and the indentations in high detail. You can also see how rich and pristine the grooves are and how the indentations have no impact on the actual playing surface. You can also see and anticipate for yourself how the hairline may impact play.

A truly rare record that despite its issues would be a great addition to any Chicago blues collection and at a price that will probably be significantly lower had this not been stored so poorly for so many years.

(Please note, no jukebox strip is included. Though it is clearly responsible for the b-side shallow indentation, I don’t know what happened to it)

This record will remain at auction regardless of the selling price. Please do not message me while the auction is ongoing asking if I will take x price.

Today (Sunday 2/26) I am listing dozens of very rare and high grade post war blues, r&b, rockabilly, and doowop. (John Brim, Goree Carter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Baby Face Leroy are some of the standouts.) All auctions end on Sunday 3/5. Please visit my other auctions!