Blind Willie Johnson 78 Columbia 14520-D V- Condition Low Opening Bid

$

36

Greetings everyone!  Thank you very much for stopping by another of my ebay record auctions!  I appreciate that you decided my listing header was interesting enough to click on, and I hope that you will like what you see and enjoy your stay as well.  Whether you are here to do some comparing of prices, gradings and policies (other sellers are welcome to do so-I'll sell to you too!), or if you are here to do some window shopping, or even if-gosharooties-you are here to place a bid, I am happy to have you here!  Hey, even if you're here for none of the above, as long as you're here, I must thank you as you did help advance my visitor counter, and I always enjoy the company!
This time up, I have a 1929 78 recording on the Columbia Records label, label # 14520-D (this is the "Viva-Tonal" label), by Blind Willie Johnson.  This 78 has the titles "God Moves On The Water" b/w "Take Your Burden To The Lord".  Well this past weekend, as I was doing some reorganizing of my living space/collection, I came across a stash of 78s that I had purchased some time ago.  A good portion of these are blues 78s, and I listed one last night-and sonuvagun, already has a bid!  I had planned on getting a few more listed this week, so I might as well see what kind of interest there might be.  One thing though-most of these 78s have seen better days.  I have given them a light cleaning-only to find even more wear.  But I have given them a spin to make sure they are still playable.  This was one that I got to earlier and yes, it does indeed play.  Plays rough-that's for sure, but it did play.  Normally I will give a single grade on my listings, but on these, I figure it's best to give as accurate a description as I can.  On this 78, "God Moves...." does play quite roughly, and there were a few skips.  That side gets my V-.  The "Take Your Burden..." side plays a bit better and you can hear the vocals.  But there's still plenty of background noise, so that side gets my V.  If you are looking for something you can play right out of the box, and think it will sound all nice and clean-please do not bid.  These are for people who are either looking to fill in spots in collections or perhaps are into digital restoration.  This will sound rough, make no mistake. My grading is considered non-standard, so if you are thinking of placing a bid, please read the paragraph that follows this one, as it has my gradings and their respective descriptions. It won't take long to read, please do.  This, as was the case with many of these 78s-did not have a sleeve on it when purchased, but I have placed one on it.  The label is in rough shape, especially on the "..Burden.." side, but the text is more readable on the "God Moves..." side.  If you need more pictures or description, I can and will be happy to provide.  If you have any questions or comments, please do send them to me, and you will receive a response!

In case anyone's wondering, here is my scale for grading.  M  Mint.  Reserved for still factory sealed.N- Near Mint, opened, no marks whatsoever.  E+, no marks other than a smudge that i'm too lazy to clean.  E, a light mark or 2, probably won't affect play. (why "probably"?  Because everyone claims their hearing is better than the next persons'.) E-, marks or wear that will cause a little audible affectation.  V+, wear that will cause some distortion of some type.  V, V-, P, well, you get the picture.

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IMPORTANT NOTE FOR NON-U.S. BIDDERS!!!!
All items I sell will be sent with a copy of the sale form, printed up from eBay.  I will not "mark item as a gift", just so you can evade import rules.  The people at my post office know me, and they will check overseas packages for inspection.  I hope you will understand my position about this, my apologies if you are not able to comply.

Also, international bidders, the price listed for postage on my listings are for domestic mailing.  I wish I could send overseas for that price, but reality speaks different.  I place a fair price on all international postage.  Watch for the invoice if you win.

ALSO-I need to let international bidders know of a certain problem that doesn't always happen, but will arise from time to time.  All International mail sent from this region has to go through the U.S. Postal Service sorting center in Sandston Virginia, by our local airport.  This sorting center has been named the least efficient sorting center in the entire U.S. Postal Service.  They prove this from time to time by mis-routing packages.  If this happens-and I will monitor the delivery-usually it will add at least an extra week for it to arrive.  If there are any problems, please contact me first, and I will do what I must to make sure you are satisfied with the order.
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All items that are sent to a U.S. address will have delivery confirmation (at my cost) attached, as I have found that it helps...a lot!....to ensure that packages are truly en route to the customer.  This is for both of our sakes.  I will be using USPS "Media Mail" as my primary shipping method, however, if needed, and for an extra charge, I can ship with "Priority Mail", and if i can get away with it for the price, I really like 1st Class, but that's weight-dependent.

Oh yes, if you are the winning bidder, and you are in the Commonwealth of Virginia, I'm afraid you are going to have to fork over the 5% Virginia State Sales Tax.

Paypal is my preferred method of payment, if you need another way, please contact me before bidding.  Or, if you have any other questions about this listing, or any of my listings, please feel free to contact me.  I will answer any & all questions as quickly and concisely as possible.

Also, I do have other listings available as well, and if you would be interested in more than one item, I have no problem with holding onto wins in case you would like to combine wins to save some money instead of multiple p&h costs.

Ebay has mandated that I include a "handling time" something I had thought was already included.  I usually get records mailed out the day after payment arrives.  But I will let you know that if any listing that is paid for after Friday mornings will have to wait until the following Monday, since I do the majority of packing at work-I have my packing stuff there.  Plus-I won't hound you for payment. As long as people stay in touch, and let me know the interest is still there, don't rush on my account. I don't mind waiting a bit and usually won't send any kind of reminders until after a week-at least-has gone by.  In this economy, the last thing anyone needs is for a seller to come off like a bill collector.  I'll work with you!

Okay, though it's still a little early in the evening, I had a long day at work today, but that doesn't mean I don't have a few more records for your perusal!  Trust me, I have plenty of them here in the collection I call my living area!  So don't worry, they'll be made available, if not all at one time. I do appreciate that you did take the time to check things out, thanks again for stopping by!
 

 LATE ADDITIONAL INFO!
I was asked a question about this listing not long after I got it posted.  The person who asked wished to remain private, and I respect their wishes, but they did bring up a valid point-they wanted to know about the "skipping" that I noted and what kind of turntable I used to listen to this.  The following is my reply:
I originally gave this (and the other 78s I am currently listing)a spin on my late 60's GE record player/changer.  I do not have a wind-up 78 player, since I really don't get 78s for collecting, but for re-sale.  But after receiving your inquiry, I brought this to work with me and gave it a spin on our Numark portable record player, which does have 78 capability. I decided to use it, since it is so light-any kind of mark will usually make the needle skip or jump a bit.
As it turns out, I counted 3 skips, 2 near the beginning and one near the end-and I might be wrong about this, it could just be the way the music sounds.  Of course, with the sound being rough as it is, that just might be my hearing.
There is plenty of hiss and crackle, but it does play...but does play rough.
I gave it a spin on both sides a short time ago, and I did not have to touch the needle at all, as the small skips (if they were skips), did not cause the needle to stick in any one spot, and if it jumped, it did not jump very far.