Ask “Mr. Music”
Jerry Osborne



FOR THE WEEK OF JANUARY 10, 2000

DEAR JERRY: I'm a bit of a novice in handling records but they're a natural sideline to books and I can frequently pick them up in the same places where I hunt for books.

I have several of your record price guides, along with other reference books, but haven't been able to find the answer to one question regarding singles sleeves.

While picture sleeves are frequently mentioned, I can't find anything regarding stock sleeves, with the logo matching the label. Even auction sites never seem to mention if a sleeve refers to a plain white sleeve or one with the label's logo.

What effect does a logo sleeve have on price?

Dealing, in part, in modern first editions, I'm highly cognizant of the part an original dust jacket plays in the valuation of books. Is there any similar correlation in records? I'd much appreciate it if you could shed some light on this issue.
—David G. MacLean, Americana Books, Decatur, Ind. (maclean@amerbook.com)

DEAR DAVID: Congratulations on posing a question that has never been asked of us before. Having the generic company sleeve that a record originally came in is a nice touch, though not yet one that collectors are willing to pay much of a premium to own.

Compared to dust jackets and the rare book marketplace, this may strike you as odd, but the two items differ and cannot be compared.

A custom made dust jacket always identifies and publicizes the book it houses. The same is true for custom made paper picture sleeves for singles, or cardboard covers for albums and extended plays. Picture sleeves are usually worth more than the disc itself, and LPs and EPs are often not marketable without their proper covers.

These are the items that would be the music equivalent of the dust jacket.

However, when it comes to generic company paper sleeves, their modest value is usually included in the price of the record. A $100 disc in the original generic sleeve would still be $100, not $101.


DEAR JERRY: I remember a song from the late '50s that I thought the title of is “There is Something on Your Mind.”

I also thought it is by Bobby “Blue” Bland, but I can find no mention of a song by that name in Bobby “Blue” Bland's list of recordings.

Some of the words are “There is something on your mind by the way you look at me.” It was a slow R&B type number. Any help on this would be appreciated.
—Larry Wagner, Tacoma, Wash. (larry500@msn.com)

DEAR LARRY: Right title, wrong Bobby.

“There is Something on Your Mind” (Fire 1022) is a two-part single, Part 2 of which went to No. 1 on the R& B charts in mid-1960, and it's by Bobby Marchan.

Part 1 is all singing, but the appeal of Part 2 is Marchan's gripping narrative wherein he describes an on again, off again urge to pull the trigger on his cheatin' woman. Just when he decides to forgive her, here comes another of her hanky-panky partners through the door — this one his best friend. He then explains:

“This really makes you blow your top! And you go right ahead and though it hurts you to your heart you shoot her.”

You'll find this track on “The Fire-Fury Record Story, Vol. 1” (Capricorn 42009), a 25-track CD that should be easily available.

IZ ZAT SO? Before going solo, Bobby Marchan was a Clown. Er, make that one of the singing members of Huey “Piano” Smith's backup group, the Clowns.






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