Elton John's MCA LP's: worth getting them?

Hi all!

Recently, due to unforseen circumstances (having to do with someone having a stroke and going straight to the hospital), I ended up with the entire Elton John MCA LP collection.

These LP's have two peculiarities: one, they have a small notch in the upper right corner (a circle cut-out). The second one is, they are autographed and dedicated by Elton John. Apparently, the original owner had been involved in the past with him (yeah, it's what you are all thinking ), and Elton John gave him all the discs.

Thankfully, this person walked out of the hospital recently. Not so happily, he asked for his discs back (he claimed he would make copies of them and give them back to me). You know how this story ends, right? I never got the discs back.

I was wondering. Did I really have something valuable in my hands? And if I did, should I raid this guy's house, risking my physical integrity, Commando-style, and retrieve the discs? Maybe buy him the Elton John CD collection and trade stuff with him?

 

Those are definitely collectors items that would command HUGE dollars if you were ever lucky enough to find them again.

I'd definitely try to trade some CD's for them if you can.

 

Wow... (Hi Dave!)

This guy is a friend of my parents, a GREAT person. He told me he'd be giving me the discs because he knew nobody would enjoy them as much as me...

I'll be calling him later on, and offer him to exchange his LPs for CDs... here's hope I can get those albums back. :thumbup:

 

That reminds me of a story..... one my friend passed away....and his wife said she would give me his Les Paul...because she knew I'd enjoy it......so I waited......she then took it to a music store and sold it for $1600!

 

You mean with no underwear??? I don't see the point!!!

 

I thought ONE MCA LP sounded horrible. "Don't Shoot Me".

 

I didn't mean risking so much of my physical integrity. I swear!

 

Why stop at just this one? Once you have heard a DJM pressing, ALL the MCAs (and UNIs) are horrible.


I swear, I wrote this BEFORE I saw Steve's post!

 

No, I've listened to some UNi and MCAs. For the most part they range from surprisingly good to definitely passable. I really liked the UNi of "Tumbleweed".

Truthfully, I did get a DJM of Yellow Brick. IMHO, the black label MCA kills it by just a tad. A very SMALL tad.

Steve's right though. The high frequencies were "damaged" on the way out, and the sound is so toppy you can't listen to it.

 

The DJM's are fantastic sounding. I actually listened to my DJM "Don't Shoot Me" vinyl this weekend.

Call me an idiot but if a friend of the family wanted to give me some stuff he/she thought I would enjoy, even if it was incredibly rare like these signed copies, I would keep them. I'm just a sentimental nut I guess....

 

The only Uni/MCA I've heard that I thought was bad was Don't Shoot Me. The others, while they may not be the best versions available, are certainly listenable and sometimes, as Sckott says, surprisingly good (not great, but good).

 

My yellow vinyl UK DJM copy sounds MUCH better than any MCA pressing that I have heard (and my MCA was a 1st day of release copy).

 

Todd, I'd never sell those albums. EVER.

The thing that surprised me, though, is this guy giving them away, then asking for them back... and never returning them. I have to admit, it made me mad.

He still says those discs are mine, and that he'll return them (someday)...

 

UPDATE:

Does anyone have any good ideas on how to frame a beloved LP collection for display?

 

There are frames you can get from Bags Unlimited that let you put your album covers in plexi-frames and you can hang them on the wall.

Other places carry them too.. They usually go for $9 a piece last seen...

 

I'll have to look for them, then

It's now official! I have the albums back. I called this guy yesterday, and told him whether he'd like to trade CD's for his albums. He said "NO", then said the albums were mine from the start! I picked them up... I have them all now!

Funny thing is, he told me lots of stories about Taupin, John, and growing up among them. Apparently, he was more... ahem... "involved" with Taupin than with Elton.

He told me so many funny anecdotes it'd be hard to type them all... sadly, they are, I guess, too offending to post about them in here. Suffice to say, Elton & Taupin were quite a riot some 38 years ago.

I'll try to post a pic during the night.

I'm happy.

 

Good for you, congrats. Glad you got them.

 

BAGS UNLIMITED

Thanks to Sckott for the bags unlimited tip, just ordered a bunch for all mt signed Jerry Riopelle lp's.

 

I got the discs back!!!

...and have full color pics to prove it!

The discs I was given:



One of the discs, with the border cut-out and the "sample copy" sticker:



The signed "Captain Fantastic", with one of the two huge booklets included!



I *need* to display these discs... they look truly great...!

 

Re: I got the discs back!!!

You certainly do - what a fabulous collection.

Regards,
Geoff

 

How does the Direct Disc Labs LP "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" sound?

 

Pretty good, but not the most silent vinyl. I like my UK DJM yellow vinyl copy better.

 

Geoff: thanks! I think I spent 2 hours yesterday night just *looking* at the albums' artwork. They surely don't make them like that anymore!

As for sound quality, I listened to GYBR yesterday. I own a very, very moderate vinyl setup: 70's Technics turntable, Audio-Technica cartridge. The sound is really nothing special - no highs, lots of surface noise. I'd guess every disc sounds pretty much the same.

Doesn't matter... I think I'll have a special frame made for all the discs. I'm sure my friend will be very proud when he sees them like that (he had them in storage for some 20 years).