CRESTS -debut 1960 LP on Coed -Sings All BIggies VG++

$

330

THIS VINTAGE, COLLECTIBLE ALBUM IS PART OF A LARGE & FABULOUS PRIVATE COLLECTION CONTAINING MANY RARE RECORDS IN REMARKABLY FINE CONDITION. I WILL BE OFFERING 100s AND 100s OF THESE CAREFULLY PRESERVED LP's OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS. MANY WILL BE UP FOR AUCTION BUT A MAJORITY WILL BE FIRST LISTED IN MY STORES WITH A 'BEST OFFER' OPTION. PLEASE BOOKMARK MY SELLER NAME - IBUYVINYL - AND CONTINUE TO WATCH FOR MY eBAY STORE LISTINGS AND AUCTIONS AS I WILL ADDING ALBUMS EACH WEEK. GOOD LUCK & HAPPY HUNTING!

The Crests- "Sing All Biggies" in mono on Coed LPC-901. Their debut album and the first long-play on Coed. An excellent alblum - contains 3 of Crests' early hits (16 Candles, Six Nights a Week and The Angels Listened In) + 9 covers of past hits such as Earth Angel, Party Doll, Silhouettes, Good Golly Miss Molly, more. Their cover of My Special Angel puts Bobby Helms' hit version to shame. And Good Golly... is a great take on Little Richard's rave up, instead of piano, you get rockabilly-styled guitar and background vocals. Really cool. See photo below for list of all 12 tracks.

Record Grade: VG++, full gloss, light hairlines and surface marks on both sides

Cover Grade: Mint-

Labels: Yellow and black

About the Artist: Usually I copy and paste an article of the artist or album from All Music Guide in this space, giving credit where credit is due to the author - but AMG has surprisingly little to say either about The Crests or Johnny Maestro. So I'm going to write my own little piece here which also gives me the opportunity to open up my feelings about a couple of things, one dealing with a snub to the Crests, the other about the shape of things in our urban areas today (as compared to yesterday).

The Crests were formed in New York's lower East Side by four youngsters circa 1956: an Italian-American, Johnny Maestro; an hispanic, Harold Torres; and two blacks, Tom Gough and Jay Carter. Scroll down for a second and take a look at their photo on the back cover. By all means, form an impression of their appearance. Then please come back up to read this.

The Crests were unique in a couple of ways. While a small percentage, there were still a number of integrated groups in the 50's (the Del-Vikings come to mind but there were others) but perhaps the original Crests were the only group to feature teenagers of three different racial groups. In 1957, they cut a pair of obscure singles for the Joyce label (Sweetest One, No One to Love), then signed with Coed in 1958. Their first single, Pretty Little Angel, went nowhere but their next release, 16 Candles, was their break-through song and catapulted The Crests into stardom. In 1959, trade polls voted them the "Most Promising New Vocal Group of 1959". They ruled the airways from 1958 through 1960 with hits such as Six Nights a Week, Flower of Love, The Angels Listened In, A Year Ago Tonight, Step by Step, Trouble in Paradise, Journey of Love, Isn't it Amazing and their cover of In the Still of the Night. But by early 1961, The Crests' candle burned out just about a quickly as it was lit (and they had but one, not Sixteen). They released a few more 45's on labels such as Selma and Cameo but the hits stopped coming. Another group with a new style took over their place on the charts - The Four Seasons. Still The Crests, musically, were in a class of their own, far superior to the semi-novelty sounds of Frankie Valli and company. I check periodically to see who's been indcucted in the Rock Hall (and who hasn't been) & was surprised when The Crests were not one of the inductees. They not only were great but had a unique sound, a distinct blend that was both respectful to classic vocal group harmony and innovative at the same time. Although their songs were not carbon copies of one another, you could always hear one of their songs for the first time and know that it was The Crests. In my opinion, their induction into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame is overdue.

Back when The Crests were just starting out (and for at least 5 years before them), the majority of teens growing up in the cities (New York, Philly, Chicago, L.A., Houston, Detroit, St. Louis, etc.) were fighting a different kind of battle: The battle of the (vocal) groups. Their idols were the vocal groups that preceded them. Their battlegrounds were street corners, basements, alleyways, school auditoriums and theatres. Their dress took on 100's of different styles, looks, even costumes (as long as they looked sharp), and not limited to red or blue or black or baggy pants with the waistline a foot below where it belongs. Their group names were the names of birds or cars or just cool sounding monikers like the Del-somethings or the something-Tones or the Four or Five-somethings. Their turf was their neighborhood or their borough or their side of the city and they were fighting for respect, pride, the perfect sound and a recording contract or maybe just a chance to cut one single 45. Most of their songs dealt with love and relationships and paid homage to girls (or boys if it was a girl group). Each and every song on "Sing All Biggies" is about love, a girl or related to that. Today, things have really changed in the cities. The stakes are much higher for the kids. Drugs, not recording contracts and hit records, are the means to the end. Hip hop and rap more often than not, plays into the hands of this sub-culture (well, it's so prevalent, maybe it's not even a sub-culture anymore). And so many of those who are into gangs and turf wars have been or will be gunned down; including the rappers themselves. Very few if any of the vocal group artists of the 50's ever lost their life to the barrel of a gun. Yes, there was poverty back then and drugs too but in so many ways, the simpler times were better times, wouldn't you say?

Many of the albums which are being offered are nearly impossible to find in any condition and many of these albums could possibly be the finest examples that survive today. The collection was carefully assembled over a long period with attention to quality and detail. The opportunity to acquire these excellent do wop, R&B, rock 'n' roll, blues and soul albums might not arise again for many years if ever.

MY GRADING SYSTEMS: I’ve been told that I grade conservatively. My NM (near mint) is my highest grade for opened records (which would also include unplayed records). It’s a 9 or 10 on a 1-10 scale. M- would be equivalent to an 8; VG++ to a 7; VG+ to a 6; VG to a 5; VG- to a 4; G to a 3; F to a 2 and P to a 1. The same scale applies when I grade covers (jackets). Significant defects are specifically noted and taken into consideration in the grade.

GRADING DESCRIPTIONS

• GRADING Grading is based on the following criteria
• Sealed = store stock new
• Near Mint = like new or near new with only one or two small insignificant defects, a 9 or better on a 1-10 scale
• Mint- = extremely nice. Would be Near Mint, except for a couple of light hairlines or scuffs, which do not affect play
• VG++ = still a very nice record with all or nearly all of its original gloss but may have a few more light, surface marks, hairlines, needle tracks or the like which should not materially effect play
• VG+ = a nice, but used record that may have a series of light scuffs or scratches. It probably plays with a few pops, but has no serious problems.
• VG = a well-used record that still should sound OK when played, but may have moderate surface noise, pops, etc.
• VG- = a very well-worn record that plays through without skipping, but will do until a better copy comes along.
• Good = not actually good at all but probably will play through but with much in the way of surface noise, pops, crackles, etc. Still, will have no cracks, chips or the like
• Fair = you’re getting this record just to own but not to play
• Poor = the sky’s the limit, generally I will discard a record this bad (and sell the cover, jacket or sleeve alone) unless the label holds some particular interest

  VISUAL GRADING: All records are visually graded only unless I state that they are play-graded. Some major labels were pressed on better quality vinyl and will sound better than a record which visually appears the same on "budget" labels which were pressed on lower quality vinyl. Recording techniques also varied. The sound on live albums may be far inferior to studio recordings. There may also be defects in the pressing which are invisible. The point is that an album on a high quality label that was visually graded VG+ may sound better than an album on a budget label that was visually graded Mint- or even Near Mint. Please refer to my return policy, below. But please don’t be shocked if a record visually graded Near Mint doesn’t sound state of the art. If I base my grade on a PLAY GRADE, I will state this specifically in my grading section.

  COVERS: There are really too many possible defects regarding covers to be as specific in my definitions as I had been with my record grades. But please keep in mind these general grading guidelines:

  • I will give greater weight to the condition of the front cover than back cover when assigning an overall grade
  • No cover with a cut out hole or saw mark will be graded Near Mint even if it is still in factory shrink and there is no other wear
  • I will not reduce the grade of a cover for stickers which are glued to the jacket by the record company (eg. Contains the hit song Expressway to Your Heart); but will reduce the grade for stickers glued on the cover by stores, previous owners, etc.
  • If I write that a cover has a bb hole, I’m talking about a small cut out hole
  • A saw mark is a narrow cut in the perimeter of the cover, could be anywhere and vary in length from 1/2” to 2” at the most.
  • The overall grade takes into consideration any stated defects. For example, if I grade a cover VG+ and then state it has 6” top and bottom seam splits - I’ve already reduced the grade because of the seam splits. If the seams weren’t split, the cover would be graded higher such as VG++ or Mint-.

    Shipping Costs:

    The buyer pays for shipping. For one or two albums, the cost for priority mail in the United States is $6.50 ($7.50 if you live in zip codes beginning with '8' or '9'). For media rate postage within the U.S. the cost will be $4.00 for one or two albums. Double albums count as two.

    The cost for shipping a 7” record via 1st class is $3.25 and the cost for shipping a compact disc via 1st class is $3.50.

    Save money when I mail 2 or more records in the same package.

    Insurance is optional for purchases of $10.00 or more shipped within the U.S.but it is highly recommended for “high ticket” purchases. Insurance is available only on purchases of over $50.00. The cost for insurance is $2.20 for up to $100; $3.20 for up to $200 and $1.00 additional for each additional $100 of insurance. Rates are quoted in my winning bid notices.

    The shipping charges for box sets, multi-record sets and other items of non-standard size and weight will be quoted.

    International Shipments: Overseas customers are welcome to bid. Postage to the U.K., western Europe and Latin America is $13.00 for airmail and $6.50 for surface for one album. Canada is $6.00 airmail (no surface option). To all other countries, postage is $14.00 airmail and $7.00 surface. 7“ records are $5.50 airmail anywhere in the world. Save on shipping cost per record when I mail two or more records in one package.

    SHIPPING - "HIGH END PURCHASES" - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY -

    As I'll be listing and shipping many highly collectible and valuable albums in the coming months, standard shipping rates do not apply to expensive purchases. This is both for your benefit and mine. Here are the changes and additions:
    1. All shipments within the U.S. over $500 must be insured (under $500, insurance is still optional).
    2. All shipments of records totalling over $1,000 sent overseas will be mailed REGISTERED; while the postage costs will be substantially higher, this should ensure safe delivery of these valuable items
    3. All packages where the purchase exceeds $1,000 will be double boxed. This applies to both domestic and foreign shipments. Shipments within the U.S. may be sent either via priority mail or media rate - the choice is up to the buyer. All overseas shipments must be sent via airmail.
    4. The postage charges for these "high end" shipments will be the actual cost plus an approximate 20% mark-up to cover the cost of packing supplies and handling.

       Please check out my other eBay auctions

       . I’ve been listing all types of records - mostly LP’s - including 50’s and 60’s rock ‘n’ roll, country, folk jazz, blues, personalities, new wave and punk, surf, psych, spoken word, comedy, etc., etc....... I try to list unusual, unique or obscure records, not the ones that you see all the time. While a majority of my listings are albums, you’ll often find a nice selection of 45’s, EP’s or picture sleeves...and an occasional 78 or two.

       My return policy: I don’t get many returns but customers are important to me so I like to offer a relatively hassle-free return policy. However, in order to return the record or other item, you must notify me by e-mail of your intent shortly after your receipt of the record or other item and within a reasonable time after the auction’s close. Also, the item must be returned in its original condition , i.e. the way it was shipped when it left my hands. While a very high percentage of my records arrive safe and sound (I use professional mailers and a filler or two, more for 78’s), they occasionally are damaged in transit. If that happens, I won’t accept the return of the record or other item - that’s why you have the option of obtaining insurance.

       My Feedback Policy: I'll be glad to return positive feedback if you would be so kind to leave me same.

       Any other questions? About anything? Please e-mail me at ibuyvinyl@nc.rr.com .