The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I never expected to see one in a million years. A "Blind Lemon Jefferson" 78 on Paramount. On a family trip after Covid and looking at record stores again. No, I will not tell you where I found it or how much I paid. I was not cheap,, the dealer was a respected record guy. Other side is " High water blues"
30 years to see one in person..chill
ColoradoPhonograf

Congratulations on a great find!

(There's 2 on eBay right now.)

I have a Blind Lemon Jefferson on a Paramount 78. However it’s not in the best condition.

It would depend on where you're searching. I think Lemon was Paramount's best selling blues artist in the 1920's. He actually moved a fair number of records. Ma Rainey may come in behind him in popularity in Paramount sales.

Much rarer Paramounts seem those by Blind Blake... Tim Gracyk's "Victrola & 78 Journal" had a long interesting article on Blind Blake. That was my first knowledge about those Holy Grails of collectors... Now available online (as I believe all the interesting contents of that magnific magazine) at his website:
https://www.gracyk.com/blake1.shtml
As also is another article about rare race records featuring Paramounts: https://www.gracyk.com/race78s.shtml

*swoons*
I’ve found blues records locally, but it seems to be a once every couple years thing for me since 2008.

Finding a Charley Patton record would be something.

(Double-click the video above or click this link to go to the video on YouTube.)

The only Paramount 12000 series record that I've found in the wild is a record by the Paramount Jubilee Singers.It was in excellent condition. I have others, including a Ma Rainey that I won on Ebay several years ago. edisonplayer.

The Charley Patton tune I posted is kind of a cheat since it was recorded for Vocalion and not Paramount. He was on Paramount though. There was one of Patton's Paramounts in a Nauck's auction several Naucktions back, a V- copy (Nauck's defines V- as "wiped out" in their grading system) with a 750.00 minimum bid. No Pattons show up on completed / sold e-Bay auctions, though they may have in the distant past. Hard to find and even less in playable condition considering how cheaply made Paramounts wore on the old "Victrolas".

Blind Lemon Jefferson's Paramounts seem to run more around the 50.00 to 150.00 minimum bid range in a Naucktion and turn up fairly regularly. Blind Blake records turn up at Naucktions too. Several BLJ records show up in completed e-Bay in the lower 100.00's, though one got 750.00

Venerable Music has a couple of "G" graded BLJ's for around 50.00 minimum bid.

That, translated into Spain, would mean finding rare flamenco records from the teens and early twenties... Some are very very rare... Carlos Martin Ballester collects these, and old cylinders too, and used to run an auction similar to Nauck, but these days he seems to run only set prices lists in his website, but I find his records very expensive, though. He also sells on eBay, and standard Spanish 78s in good condition are priced near the 50 euros mark!