Jimmy Hart - Tea House Sugar Baby 45 Blue Rock Unreleased Stock Copy Find

$

888

Incredible, historic find!  Stock copy of Jimmy Hart's Blue Rock 45 thought to not to exist on that label. A Blue Rock acetate is known and the tracks were later issued on Mercury but the emergence of an actual Blue Rock pressing has caught the soul 45 collecting world by surprise. This copy was recently acquired from the family of a pressing plant employee and is in near mint condition (played once by me, and maybe otherwise unplayed) and is housed in a standard Blue Rock company sleeve which has some minor crinkling and bends but is otherwise quite decent.

Based on info from soul 45 experts it is likely to be a "test press", albeit in full store-ready stock form, run by RPC in Richmond, Indiana prior to a planned commercial run. However, no such full run occurred. According to those in the know, protocol for some contract pressings at the time was to run 6 copies with full retail-ready labels and provide four to the label, with the plant keeping two file copies (also happened for promo copies sometimes).  The timing of this planned release (fall 1965) coincides with the parent company putting Blue Rock on hold until its return in 1968. There is a recent thread on Soul Source from which this information was gleaned and I profusely thank those folks and another new soul connection who helped educate me on this subject.
Note that on the Mercury release, the key side is "Tea House In China Town" while on this Blue Rock pressing, it is listed as "Tea House", but the tracks are identical.  The stamped dead wax on the Blue Rock copy shows the Mercury #'s of YW1-36600/36601.  
This is one of only two copies known, only now seeing the light of day after decades hidden in a box. Here is a unique opportunity to own a significant soul relic that's a highly regarded mid 60's soul performance--and is a tough pull even in its Mercury form.  
Please, no offers to end auction early or inquiries about the other copy at this time.  Thank you.
Shipping will be (free) priority mail in US and priority mail (charged at cost) international with full insurance/customs declaration.  If you win the auction and are outside the US, please wait for an updated invoice reflecting actual shipping expenses rather than paying based on the auto invoice.
About me:  I am a formerly regular and still reputable eBay seller--see feedback--who now devotes most of his time to a vinyl record shop in Indianapolis (Irvington Vinyl) and sells very little online.  I've been a record dealer since the late 1970's.  Bid with confidence.