Vinyl records have made a serious come back within recent years. With this rise in popularity, the demand for certain records are sky-high, making them cost a pretty penny. Some records go for hundreds while others go for thousands of dollars. Here are 10 examples of rare and expensive vinyl records.
David Bowie’s album Diamond Dogs was released in 1974 by RCA Records. The record is Bowie’s 8th studio album and his version of the book 1984 by George Orwell. The records original art was pretty controversial for the time due to it having a dog genitalia on it.
RCA decided to withdraw the album and release a censored version to the public. A few RCA employees decided to keep the original album art instead of throwing them out making this version of the album very rare. The album is a must-own for both Bowie and record collectors and sells anywhere from $2,500- $7,500. The re-releases are not nearly this expensive so if you just want to listen to the album get a re-release.
Led Zeppelin’s self-titled first album was one of the best selling albums upon its release in 1969. It hit number 10 on the US Billboard chart and 6 in the UK. What people don’t know is there is a rare version of the album that has a variation of the cover art. The rare version has Led Zeppelin in blue lettering on the top left of the album instead of red like the common version. This rare blue lettering cover art version has sold for $5,000- $7,500. Just like David Bowie’s Diamond Dog, the only difference between the rare and common albums is the art so if you just want to hear the music, just get the common version.
This album is one of the rarest albums in the country music genre. The legendary country guitar player Chet Atkins decided to record an album with his brother back in 1958. The album was released in 1959 but was pulled from stores shortly after for unknown reasons. Many people thought the album was lost forever until a few copies were found years later. It is now a holy grail for country western record collectors. In 2012 a copy of the record was sold for $8,100 on eBay! My brother Sings was re-released in 2015 so if you want a original copy make sure its legit.
This is another example of a common record with a very rare original press. The first 300 presses of The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan had 4 songs, “Rocks and Gravel,” “Let Me Die in My Footsteps,” “Gamblin’ Willie’s Dead Man’s Hand,” and “Talkin’ John Birtch Blues,” were not on the other releases. Other newer songs were supposed to replace these on the album originally but there was a mix up while pressing it. This rare version of Bob Dylan’s second album has sold for more than 30,000 dollars! Again, if you are wanting to collect this rare record make sure it is an original copy. The re-release sells for under 50 bucks.
The Sex Pistols are known for being a pretty rowdy group. The band was originally signed by A&M Records but was dropped from the label six days later due to there nihilistic behavior. The only problem was A&M records already pressed over 20,000 copies of their single “God Save the Queen.” The record company decided to destroy all the copies and pretend nothing ever happened. The 7” was said to be lost but 9 copies of it have surfaced. These rare 7” pressings can now go for up to $8,600. It is unknown how many copies are still around so if you happen to come across one at a decent price make sure to pick it up. That being said you have a better chance of winning the lottery than finding this album, unfortunately.
This might be one of the most well-known rare records out there. Beatles fans are some of the most loyal fans a band could have, making the more rare Beatles memorabilia some of the most expensive items on the market. The original cover for the 1966 Beatles album Yesterday and Today featured the band members in a photo with raw meat and fake baby body parts making it very controversial. It was said that the cover was The Beatles’ way of protesting the Vietnam war.
750,000 copies were made with this “butcher” cover but were quickly recalled after its release due to the backlash of the cover art. It was re-released with a more family-friendly cover shortly after the recall and reached number 1 on the Billboard charts. A loose copy of Yesterday and Today can sell for more than $15,000 while a sealed copy of this album sold for $125,000!
If you haven’t noticed by now, there are quite a few albums with controversial cover art on this list. Just like Bowie and The Beatles, the iconic Rollin’ Stones also dealt with controversial artwork. The single “Street Fighting Man” (with No Expectations being on the B-side) used a picture of police brutality as its cover art. This was very controversial due to all the riots and cases of police brutality that occurred during its 1968 release. The record label refused to release the single unless the cover art was changed.
They eventually changed the cover art and the record company decided to throw out all the old album sleeves. Only a handful of the original sleeves are still in existence. The auction company Bonhams have said there are only 10 to 18 copies left in the world. The last one sold for $17,000. That’s a lot of money just for a record sleeve!
The Black Album by Prince has an interesting history behind it. The record was planned to be Prince’s follow up to Sign O’ the Times” in 1987 but was never released because Prince said the album was too evil even though there were already 500,000 copies already pressed and ready to ship out. Prince made them destroy all the copies of the album but a small amount was already shipped off to DJs and radio stations.
These promotional copies do not have Prince’s name or a title on the cover at all. It is just a straight black cover with a parental advisory sticker on it. The record was finally released in 1994 but does not hold the price of the original. A small number of the original album have surfaced over the years making it a very valuable item for collectors. The original press of The Black Album is worth around $27,500 and is another holy grail for record collectors.
The single “My Happiness” (“That’s When Your Heartache Begins” is the b-side) was the first song Elvis Presley ever released, Making it almost priceless to collectors. It was recorded in 1953 when Elvis was only 18 years old. Elvis ended up giving the single to his friend Ed Leek who kept it for 60 years. After Ed’s death, his daughter put the singe up for auction.
There is only 1 known copy of it on record. In 2015 the single was sold for $300,000 to the famous musician Jack White. The good news is Jack White bought the single in order to re-release it to the public. In 2015 the Jack White re-released a limited-edition of the single on record store day.
The White Album is one of the most famous and best selling Beatles records of all time but there is one version of it that is worth more than your house and car combined. This version was press number No. 0000001 and was given to the drummer of the Beatles Ringo Starr. Ringo took excellent care of the record and decided to put it up for auction in 2015. The album sold for an insane price of $750,000! Other early presses have popped up in recent years but have not sold for as much money as the first-ever press.
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