By Phil (212.129.41.134) on Wednesday, March 24, 2004 - 04:37 am:

I have a question to all the erudite people around here : yesterday, on ebay, I saw a Cashmeres 45 sold for $ 1227 ! It's " Showstopper", on Hem 1000, item 4002510869. As I've never heard of them, maybe someone can give me some infos on this group, and this label ? Thank you.

By Robb_K (66.81.192.96) on Wednesday, March 24, 2004 - 05:03 am:

The Cashmeres were a quartet, lead by Eddie Jefferson. They were from the East Coast (I'm not sure, but, I think from Wash. D.C.?) Eddie Jefferson was their lead singer, at least during the late portion of their history. He also wrote several of their songs. In addition to "Showstopper"/"Let The Door Hit Your Back" on Hem in 1964 arranged by Freddie Perren in D.C., they also had a record out on Ninandy 1013: "Fairy Tales Just Ain't True"/"Finally Waking Up(Bashful Man)",arranged by Fonce Mizell, produced by Jessie Godwin in N.Y. Two of the other group members were listed as: "Brown" and "Busby" on the Edgewood Recording Studios (Wash.) acetate for the Hem record. Eddie Gibbs and Don Edwards were also members of the group (I believe, before Eddie Jefferson joined?). I'm not sure if this early to mid '60s group had anything to do with the mid '50s R&B group who recorded with Mercury.

By Phil (212.129.42.129) on Wednesday, March 24, 2004 - 05:44 am:

Thanks, Robb, but I'll never understand those crazy "Northern Soul" prices ! BTW, all the bidders were from UK !

By Wonder B (81.51.160.84) on Wednesday, March 24, 2004 - 06:07 am:

Yes it is crazy especially if you read the comments on the condition of the record... looks like it is going to break from the dead wax to the edge... i.e ruined LOL
For those who want to take a look? it's there LOL
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4002451025&category=306

Wonder B

By Robb_K (66.81.192.96) on Wednesday, March 24, 2004 - 07:02 am:

That is a dead rare record! Even with the hairline crack, I'm surprised it went THAT LOW!!!
There are only a couple to be had, but many NS collectors who'd give their eye teeth to have it. I believe the owner is incorrect in saying it comes from the LATE '60s. I'd say MID '60s. Interesting that Cotillion Music shares the publishing rights. I wonder if Atlantic distributed that label (as the print is similar to many ATCO and ATCO distributed records from 1965-66 (same pressing plant). Eddie Jefferson was on the Atlantic-distributed Stax not long before that.

By tricky (81.134.33.2) on Wednesday, March 24, 2004 - 01:07 pm:

i am in england and i have tunes in every price bracket,but i can,t for the life of me understand
paying big bucks for cracked,badly worn (skating rink) or warped records.rareity is no excuse.some of the stuff that gets put on ebay lately like the constellations on gemini star is a joke.sorry all i am just stepping off of my high horse now.cheers.

By Juicefree20 (68.161.48.203) on Wednesday, March 24, 2004 - 05:58 pm:

Does the label read that it was produced by Pred Parris or Fred Perrin? RobbK, I was wondering if that was the Eddie Jefferson who made I Don't Want You Anymore for Stax.

Juice

By Robb_K (204.108.65.10) on Thursday, March 25, 2004 - 12:12 pm:

Juice: It was Freddie Perrin. I believe The Washington Eddie Jefferson WAS the same man who recorded for Stax, but don't know for sure. Perhaps someone on SD can confirm with real facts.

By stephanie (69.138.239.31) on Thursday, March 25, 2004 - 12:19 pm:

that particular record is extremely rare and I can see why they would pay that much for it Im telling you its hard to find anywhere..
Stephanie

By ROBB_K (204.108.65.10) on Thursday, March 25, 2004 - 04:44 pm:

WHEN THAT KIND OF MONEY IS PAID FOR A RECORD, YOU CAN BET THAT ONLY A FEW COPIES ARE KNOWN TO EXIST (SUCH AS "DO I LOVE YOU" BY FRANK WILSON).

By R&B (138.238.41.118) on Thursday, March 25, 2004 - 05:07 pm:

I WAS IN THE RECORD SHOP THE OTHER DAY AND WAS TOLD THAT A COPY OF[MAD AT THE WORLD,THE EPSILONS]SOLD FOR $1000 AT A RECORD CONVENTION.AMAZIN THE VALUE OF SOME OF THESE CLASSICS THAT DIDN'T SELL ANYWHERE NEAR A MILLION COPIES WHEN THEY WERE OUT.

By Ian W (62.252.192.9) on Tuesday, March 30, 2004 - 05:21 pm:

In a similar vein, see fellow Forum member Joe Moorehouse's item on Ebay, up tomorrow. It's Matt Lucas ' Baby You Better Go-Go' on the Karen label. Rare or what?

By Juicefree20 (68.161.20.172) on Tuesday, March 30, 2004 - 05:29 pm:

What bothers me about this whole thing is that I don't buy music for its rarity. I buy music for its quality. When someone is willing to pay good money for an inferior product, doesn't that skew the prices of quality music?

Juice

By Robb_K (204.108.65.10) on Tuesday, March 30, 2004 - 05:42 pm:

"poor quality' is in the ear of the beholder. if someone wants to collet all the original pressings of all U.S.A. "soul records" from 1963-1976, and they have all but a handfull that were never pressed commercially, but only one box of 25 DJs were pressed, or only 6 "file copies" were pressed, and they want to pay $15,000 for such records, those records are "worth' that amount by definition. "Anything is WORTH what someone is willing to pay for it". Yes, the "Bloody Brits" have come over to USA and grabbed up a lot of soul records on the cheap, and sold them for astounding prices, and bid up the prices so "good ol' North American collectors couldn't afford a lot of the rare originals. But, on the other hand, their zeal for rare soul music has uncovered a lot of great soul music none (or very few) of us would have otherwise been able to hear, and have kept it available on commercial release, for us and our children to enjoy. So, I'm guessing that the zany market for soul records created by Northern Soul afficianados, and for "Southern Soul', "Deep Soul", and the "Belgian Sound" by the Japanese and Continental Europeans, have, in the long run, been good for all soul fans.

By Juicefree20 (68.161.20.172) on Tuesday, March 30, 2004 - 07:35 pm:

Robb, that was an excellent point. I believe that many stars that couldn't get bookings here at home, made out pretty well in the UK. They have given exposure to a lot of artists who had been all but forgotten here. I also find that the UK seems to appreciate Soul artists more than the labels here in the US. I know that if not for the UK labels, I would never have heard of many artists, much less, been able to afford to buy their music. But Robb $1227???

Juice

By tricky (81.133.221.80) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 10:22 am:

i don,t want to be too contentious here but i do have this point to make.being just an ordinary working lad into the music of my choice.i like many others scrimped ,saved and borrowed to fly to the states in the eighties to find our beloved records.to start off with we wanted fast 60,s dancers then we went back to buy the mid tempo stuff,then 70,s grooves.at all times people tried there hardest to find the stuff we wanted.they could,nt wait for us to visit so that they could get rid of the stock for a few buck,s.now twenty years on and the demand from the british,europeans,japanese and eventually the americans themselves has pushed up prices astronomically.in turn certain american dealers and collectors have accused us of turning them over when in fact they could not wait to get rid of it because at the time they had no interest in the music that did not chart or make the radio playlists.

By David Meikle (81.130.211.124) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 10:37 am:

Good point Tricky.

The criticism that gets levelled at the UK is ridiculous.

By Robb_K (66.81.201.6) on Thursday, April 01, 2004 - 03:13 am:

There were a few of us North Americans looking for those non-charters. We just didn't use as much inginuity in getting to all the sources, and didn't buy such records in the volumes your "dealers" did. But, as I stated above, all in all, I believe the average soul fan is much the better off, for it in terms of good music to listen to. A lot of great soul music would have been lost to posterity, if not for the Northern Soul "movement".

By Eli (68.163.58.19) on Thursday, April 01, 2004 - 10:27 am:

I have an old friend in the biz named Thaddeus Wales.
He is a retired government worker who was in the Philly music biz in the sixties and early seventies.
He managed the Ethics and had a label called Wales records.

Around two years ago he rang me up to tell me that an English bloke contacted him to see if he had any copies of Nothings too good for my baby and that he was prepared to pay him $350.00 a piece for them.

Thad happened to have a box of twenty five in his garage, so the bloke overnighted a checque for the total amount to Thad.

Needless to say, we all know how much that record is worth , dont we.
Its in the thousands!

By Mark Speck (205.185.121.4) on Wednesday, April 07, 2004 - 10:48 pm:

There are three releases on the Hem label. In addition to the Cashmeres record, there's also "Mind in a Bind" by the Epsilons and "I'll Try Harder" by Lawrence and the Arabians. All are sought-after items.

Yes, Hem was distributed by Atlantic/Atco. Supposedly, there's some connection between Hem and Shrine--I believe that the Hem releases were to have come out on Shrine, but that label shut down before they could be released. The Epsilons had a Shrine release with the aforementioned "Mad at the World".

Greg Tormo has an RA of the flip of "Showstopper" on his Solid Hit Soul site.

Best,

Mark

By Flynny (81.135.138.141) on Thursday, April 08, 2004 - 07:06 pm:

That Cashmeres 45 is not dog rare...defo a min of x50 copies over here in UK collections. A case of a good/popular/indemand/hype/fairly rare double-sider = big $$$. (Wasn't that long ago that it commanded no more than £300 max.)
...plus...
Just before y'all see $$$ signs flying before your eyes note that the other three Hem label releases are a whole load easier to obtain, compared to the Cashmeres, and aren't heavily indemand by NS collectors...£100 a piece.


Flynny
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