List of most valuable records

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The sole copy of Wu-Tang Clan's Once Upon a Time in Shaolin was housed in an elaborate case. Wu-Tang Clan - Once Upon A Time In Shaolin.jpg
The sole copy of Wu-Tang Clan's Once Upon a Time in Shaolin was housed in an elaborate case.

The following is an attempt to list some of the most valuable records. Data is sourced from Record Collector , eBay, Popsike, the Jerry Osborne Record Price Guides, and other sources.

See also

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<i>Please Please Me</i> 1963 studio album by the Beatles

Please Please Me is the debut studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Produced by George Martin, it was released in the UK on EMI's Parlophone label on 22 March 1963. The album is 14 songs in length, and contains a mixture of cover songs and original material written by the partnership of band members John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

<i>With the Beatles</i> 1963 studio album by the Beatles

With the Beatles is the second studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released in the United Kingdom on 22 November 1963 on Parlophone, eight months after the band's debut Please Please Me. Produced by George Martin, the album features eight original compositions and six covers. The sessions also yielded the non-album single, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" backed by "This Boy". The cover photograph was taken by the fashion photographer Robert Freeman and has since been mimicked by several music groups. A different cover was used for the Australian release of the album, which the Beatles were displeased with.

<i>Help!</i> 1965 studio album by The Beatles

Help! is the fifth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles and the soundtrack to their film of the same name. It was released on 6 August 1965. Seven of the fourteen songs, including the singles "Help!" and "Ticket to Ride", appeared in the film and take up the first side of the vinyl album. The second side includes "Yesterday", the most-covered song ever written. The album was met with favourable critical reviews and topped the Australian, German, British and American charts.

The Beatles' bootleg recordings are recordings of performances by the Beatles that have attained some level of public circulation without being available as a legal release. The term most often refers to audio recordings, but also includes video performances. Starting with vinyl releases in the 1970s, through CD issues in the late 1980s, and continuing with digital downloads starting in the mid 1990s, the Beatles have been, and continue to be, among the most bootlegged artists.

This is the discography of Apple Records, a record label formed by the Beatles in 1968. During its early years, the label enjoyed a fair degree of commercial success, most notably with Mary Hopkin and Badfinger, as well as discovering acts such as James Taylor and Billy Preston who would go on to greater success with other labels. However, by the mid-1970s, Apple had become little more than an outlet for the Beatles' solo recordings. After EMI's contract with the Beatles ended in 1976, the Apple label was finally wound up. The label was reactivated in the 1990s with many of the original Apple albums being reissued on compact disc, and the company now oversees new Beatles releases such as the Anthology and 1 albums as well as the 2009 Beatles remastering programme. In 2010, Apple set about remastering and reissuing its back catalogue for a second time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acetate disc</span> Type of phonograph record

An acetate disc is a type of phonograph record generally used from the 1930s to the late 1950s for recording and broadcast purposes and sees limited use as of 2009. Despite their name, "acetate" discs do not contain any acetate.

<i>Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins</i> 1968 studio album by John Lennon and Yoko Ono

Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins is the first of three experimental albums released by John Lennon and Yoko Ono on Apple Records. It was the result of an all-night session of musical experimentation with Yoko in John's home studio at Kenwood, while his wife, Cynthia Lennon, was on holiday in Greece. Lennon and Ono's 1968 debut recording is known not only for its avant-garde content, but also for its cover, which shows the couple naked. This made the album controversial to both the public and the parent record company EMI, which refused to distribute it. In an attempt to avoid controversy, the LP record was sold in a brown paper bag, and distributed by Track and Tetragrammaton in the United Kingdom and the United States respectively. Two Virgins, while failing to chart in the UK, reached number 124 in the US. The album was followed six months later by Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions.

<i>Hey Jude</i> (Beatles album) 1970 compilation album by the Beatles

Hey Jude is a 1970 collection of non-album singles and B-sides by the Beatles. Originally released in the United States and various other markets, but not in the United Kingdom, it consisted of non-album singles and B-sides not previously issued on an American Beatles LP; this included "I Should Have Known Better" and "Can't Buy Me Love", two singles released by Capitol Records whose only previous American album appearance had been on the A Hard Day's Night soundtrack album, which had been released by United Artists Records. The Hey Jude LP has been out of print since the late 1980s, although it remained available on cassette during the 1990s. The album was issued on CD for the first time in 2014, as an individual release and in a box set titled The U.S. Albums.

<i>Reel Music</i> 1982 compilation album by the Beatles

Reel Music is a compilation album featuring a selection of songs by the Beatles that were featured in their films, as the title suggests. The album was released on 22 March 1982 in the United States and the following day in the United Kingdom – almost simultaneously with the theatrical re-release of the film, A Hard Day's Night, which had been "cleaned" and re-edited with stereo Dolby sound. In the US, Reel Music peaked at number 19 on Billboard's albums chart.

<i>The Early Beatles</i> 1965 compilation album by the Beatles

The Early Beatles is the Beatles' sixth album released on Capitol Records, and their eighth album overall for the American market. All of the tracks on this album had previously been available on the Vee-Jay Records release Introducing... The Beatles, issued in January, 1964. The front cover photo for this album features the same back cover photo for the British LP Beatles for Sale.

<i>Introducing... The Beatles</i> 1964 studio album by the Beatles

Introducing... The Beatles is the first studio album released by the English rock band the Beatles in the United States. Originally scheduled for a July 1963 release, the LP came out on 10 January 1964, on Vee-Jay Records, ten days before Capitol's Meet the Beatles!. The latter album, however, entered the U.S. album chart one week before the former. Consequently, when Meet The Beatles! peaked at No. 1 for eleven consecutive weeks, Introducing...The Beatles stalled at No. 2 where it remained for nine consecutive weeks. It was the subject of much legal wrangling, but ultimately, Vee-Jay was permitted to sell the album until late 1964, by which time it had sold more than 1.3 million copies. On 24 July 2014 the album was certified gold and platinum by the RIAA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Record collecting</span> Hobby of collecting sound recordings

Record collecting is the hobby of collecting sound recordings, usually of music, but sometimes poetry, reading, historical speeches, and ambient noises. Although the typical focus is on vinyl records, all formats of recorded music can be collected.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Please Please Me (song)</span> 1963 song by the Beatles

"Please Please Me" is a song released by the English rock band the Beatles. It was their second single in the United Kingdom, and their first in the United States. It is also the title track of their first LP, which was recorded to capitalise on the success of the single. It is a John Lennon composition, although its ultimate form was significantly influenced by producer George Martin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ask Me Why</span> 1963 single by the Beatles

"Ask Me Why" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles originally released in the United Kingdom as the B-side of their single "Please Please Me". It was also included on their 1963 debut album Please Please Me. It was written primarily by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership.

<i>Kum Back</i> 1970 bootleg studio album by The Beatles

Kum Back is the first bootleg album by the Beatles, released in January 1970. The album is an early version of what would become Let It Be, sourced from a tape recording of an acetate prepared by the band's engineer, Glyn Johns. It is one of the earliest commercial rock bootlegs, the first being Great White Wonder by Bob Dylan which was released several months earlier.

<i>Love Songs</i> (Beatles album) 1977 compilation album by the Beatles

Love Songs is a compilation album that comprises love songs recorded by the Beatles between 1962 and 1970. It was released by Capitol Records in the United States on 21 October 1977 and on Parlophone in the United Kingdom on 19 November 1977. The compilation peaked at #24 in Billboard's Top LPs & Tape chart during a 31-week stay that began on 12 November 1977. The RIAA certified the album with sales of three million units in 2000 even though the compilation was deleted in the late 1980s. The New Zealand release followed the US release with cat. no. and pressing plates, and was released on 2 different EMI labels.

<i>Yesterday and Today</i> 1966 American studio album by the Beatles

Yesterday and Today is a studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Released in the United States and Canada in June 1966, it was their ninth album issued on Capitol Records and twelfth American release overall. Typical of the Beatles' North American discography until 1967, the album contains songs that Capitol had withheld from its configurations of the band's recent EMI albums, along with songs that the group had released elsewhere on non-album singles. Among its 11 tracks are songs from the EMI albums Help! and Rubber Soul, and three new 1966 recordings that would appear on Revolver in countries outside North America.

<i>The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings)</i> 2009 box set by The Beatles

The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings), also known as The Beatles: Stereo Box Set, is a box set compilation comprising all remastered recordings by English rock band the Beatles. The set was issued on 9 September 2009, along with the remastered mono recordings and companion The Beatles in Mono and The Beatles: Rock Band video game. The remastering project for both mono and stereo versions was led by EMI senior studio engineers Allan Rouse and Guy Massey. The Stereo Box also features a DVD which contains all the short films that are on the CDs in QuickTime format. The release date of 09/09/09 is related to the significance to John Lennon of the number nine.

The English rock band The Beatles auditioned for Decca Records at Decca Studios in West Hampstead, north London, on 1 January 1962. They were rejected by the label, who instead opted to sign a contract with Brian Poole and the Tremeloes. The audition was recorded, and five of the songs—"Searchin'", "Three Cool Cats", "The Sheik of Araby", "Like Dreamers Do" and "Hello Little Girl"—were officially released on the Beatles rarities compilation Anthology 1 in 1995.

<i>Once Upon a Time in Shaolin</i> Album by Wu-Tang Clan

Once Upon a Time in Shaolin is the seventh studio album by the American hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan. Only one physical copy of the album was created, with no ability to download or stream it digitally. Purchased directly from the Wu-Tang Clan in 2015, it became the most expensive work of music ever sold.

References

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  2. Leonard, David; Hordern, Annmarie (December 9, 2015). "Who Bought The Most Expensive Album Ever Made?". Bloomberg Businessweek .
  3. Sisario, Ben (20 October 2021). "Meet the New Owners of the Wu-Tang Clan's One-of-a-Kind Album". The New York Times.
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  9. Summerlin, Barry (2008-02-05). "The World of Rare Records: Lennon and McCartney's First Recording". Luxist.com. Archived from the original on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
  10. "Kvart & Bølge, Audiophile Quarter Wave Full Range Loudspeakers". Archived from the original on April 22, 2015. Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  11. "Brit buys 50-year-old lock of John Lennon's hair for £24,000". NME . 2016-02-20.
  12. 1 2 Johnny Sharp (March 2007). "Johnny Sharp: Scrap that recording - it'll become an instant classic | Music". The Guardian. Retrieved 2015-12-09.
  13. 1 2 Dogget & Hodgson, Christie's Rock And Pop Memorabilia, 2003
  14. The Daily Telegraph , 4 December 2012
  15. Record Collector, 360, March 2009
  16. Record Collector, 353 (September 2008)
  17. Record Collector, 404 (August 2012)
  18. Record Collector 442
  19. "100 Most Expensive Records Ever Sold on Discogs". Discogs Blog. 2021-02-03. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
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  21. Record Collector, 430 (2014)
  22. Fact (2014-06-24). "Aphex Twin's Caustic Window test pressing bought by Minecraft creator Notch". Fact Magazine. Retrieved 2022-08-26.
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