Appraisals of your Rolling Stones memorabilia. How does this work?

I guess it’s about time I finally write up how to get your memorabilia appraised. I’m getting a dozen or so posts a week, sometimes more on “How much is this worth?” or “Where can I get this appraised?”

I’m happy to help out…. for a small fee.

The knowledge I’ve gained over the years  from researching memorabilia, the countless hours online, the gathering of thousands of images and filing them away, the money spent on books and magazines, takes lots of time.

And lots of money.

I’m happy to share this knowledge, but unfortunately can’t do it for free.

If you are interested in having me either appraise your item or sell it, post a comment on my blog. I get an alert to approve this comment.

Usually your email is given to me.

I will contact you directly and ask for details and photos and the information you are looking for.

I have a Paypal account and based on the information you need, will give you a price.

I can also authenticate autographs and provide a letter.

Happy to help.

Thanks,

Garyrocks

Okay…you’ve seen what I have, here’s some stuff I want.

Figured it might be time after roughly three years to maybe post some pictures and descriptions of some things I’m looking to add to my collection.
Most of what I’m looking for can be best described as what I don’t know about. It’s always more fun and exciting to stumble upon something you’ve never seen or heard of before.
But, there are some items I would love to add to my collection.
If you have any of these items or know where they are, I’m always interested in talking.

Some Girls Standee. How rare is it? How much is it worth? Really.

Plug in “Rolling Stones display” into the ebay search bar and you’ll likely see these listings.
The top 5 are all the Some Girls standees from 1978.
Prices ranging from a whopping $3800.00 down to $450.

The least expensive condition being only fair.
This piece has become a pretty commonly seen display on ebay.
Despite being one of the most collectible of all Stones albums, Some Girls displays are not all that rare.
Unlike the amazing English posters.
One produced for each Stone.

Shown is the English in-store poster promoting the new album.
Examples of both Mick and Keith from the individual series.

In 1978 when the album was released the Stones as always broke the rules, and pushed the boundaries of design yet again.

This piece stands roughly 52″ tall.
Meant to stand on the floor of a record store, there was also a counter display version.

The point of this post is to say, prices vary wildly on ebay, you should shop around before you jump and buy.
My advice would be to never pay more than $750 for this particular piece.
If you’re going to drop $3000 on piece for your collection, spend your money on a nice set of 60′s signatures.

You’ll even save yourself a few bucks.

Another rarity from the “Love You Live” album surfaces. Never before seen store display.

This is the kind of thing that gets my blood boiling and keeps me on the hunt.

Rolling Stones collector, Ira Korman from California scored a never before seen display promoting the extremely collectible, Warhol designed “Love You Live” album from 1977.

The display measures 22.5″ x 15″ and is easel backed
That’s a full size LP cover in Mick’s mouth. It’s believed to be English and came out of Europe.

Photo courtesy of Ira Korman and from the Ira Korman collection.

Rare Rolling Stones 3-D Satanic Promo Display sells for record price.

Price $12,605.15.

The description on ebay is as follows:
The Rolling Stones ULTRA RARE Shop promotional display stand for the 1968 release of there psychedelic masterpiece. Satanic Majesties.This was the Stones answer to the release of Sgt Pepper and the 3D plaque contains the Beatles faces mixed into the flowers.There were many thousand small 3D flashers made but only 150 of these large size 14″ x 14″. I have only saw 1 listed on ebay and they want £3000 this is only for the plaque.To find the plaque and original shop display stand is like hens teeth.The whole stand size is Height 755mm Width 495mm. Condition is very good for age slight dog ear to corners also pin hole to the H in the.

No I didn’t buy this. I have a daughter in college and another one ready to go next year.
But whoever did, wow.

The greatest Rolling Stones album ever, about to get released again. Exile on Main Street.

A billboard on Sunset Blvd promoting the new album. As you can imagine, not without controversy.

Universal Music Group recently announced that the Rolling Stones’ masterpiece album Exile on Main Street is being re-released on May 18, with 10 never-before-heard tracks.

The classic album is ranked seventh on Rolling Stone Magazine’s “Greatest Albums of All Time” list. Though he thought all the material had already been used for the album, Rolling Stones’ frontman Mick Jagger was asked by Universal to find some bonus songs.

Lucky for us, he was able to get his hands on 10 new tracks for our listening pleasure. Lead guitarist Keith Richards and Jagger also revamped some of the old tracks.

“I added some percussion and some vocals. Keith put guitar on one or two,” Jagger told Rolling Stone.

Richards and Jagger were cautious not to change too much about the album

“I didn’t want to interfere with the Bible,” said Richards. “They still had that great basement sound.”

The 18-track double-album was originally recorded in a few different locations, in a non-consecutive manner. Locations included Olympic Studios in London, Richards’ mansion in France, and Los Angeles, where the real Main Street inspired the album’s title. It was originally released in 1972.

“Every song on Exile on Main Street is elevated by its relationship to the music that comes before and after it. The album’s irresistible power is unlikely to diminish any time soon,” said author Anthony DeCurtis, who is now a contributing editor for Rolling Stone. Clearly, he knew what he was talking about, as Exile’s musical draw has not languished the slightest bit with time.

Along with the album, The Rolling Stones will be releasing a newly filmed documentary titled “Stones in Exile,” which was made especially for this occasion. Directed by Stephen Kijak, the documentary follows the making of Exile, and includes exclusive footage of past concerts and studio sessions.

“I must not have noticed all the cameramen while I was making the record,” Richards told Rolling Stone. “I was amazed at how much footage they actually found.”

The documentary will be sold as part of a package, which will include a vinyl record, the deluxe CD edition with the 10 bonus tracks and a 50-page collector’s book with old photos from the Exile on Main Street days.

Super rare promo poster featuring 3-Ball Charlie.

Exile on Main Street was a 1972 release (on Atlantic Records) by The Rolling Stones, with cover artwork & design by John Van Hamersveld. When the Rolling Stones released Exile in 1972 – a double album of songs representing the many different genres of music that shaped Stones music at the time – fans and critics found themselves having to spend a lot of time trying to “get it”. It required a number of listens to gain an appreciation of what, on the surface, often seemed to be a collection of studio out-takes and Richards/Taylor/Watts jams than a freshly-recorded musical offering.

Many critics of the era failed to appreciate the Stones’ explorations of R&B, Soul, Country and roots Rock that were spread over the 4 album sides. In fact, the record was comprised of a series of recordings done during the previous four years and, as such, they featured a variety of mixes (some better than others) and showed the band building on top of these influences in their own inimitable style to the point that, now over 35 years later, the package is considered by many to be the band’s most-authentic offering. It is always listed near the top of most of the “Best Of” and “Greatest” lists (#7 on the Rolling Stone Magazine 2003 list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”, #22 on VH-1’s survey, and even impressed the younger generation enough to be ranked #11 on Pitchfork’s 2003 list of Best Albums of the 1970s).

In a similar fashion, when the buying public took their first look at the design and imagery of the sprawling record cover, most people admitted that they didn’t “get it”. Having just soaked in Warhol’s ultimately-iconic zipper cover for Sticky Fingers, fans should have been ready for anything, but John Van Hamersveld’s designs seemed to confound them, asking them to digest a rough, anti-establishment, punk-before-there-was-punk collage of images that may have, initially, combined with the unfamiliar musical stylings to impact sales (don’t worry, as the record was supported by the now-famous 1972 American concert tour and songs such as “Happy” and “Tumbling Dice” got some significant radio play, the record went on to top the charts in the U.S. and the U.K.).

And so when Van Hamersveld, who’d established his industry cred via his poster and package designs for Hendrix, The Beatles (Magical Mystery Tour), Jefferson Airplane (Crown of Creation) and others, was approached by the Rolling Stones (who were in a studio in LA putting the finishing touches on this new album) to work on the graphics and packaging for a songbook project the band wanted to release, an interesting series of events on the day of their initial meeting had a profound impact on the course of album art history.

Bill Janovitz' book on Exile. A must read.

Above is the ultra rare Exile Store Display.

Read the complete story behind this great work of art on our RockPoP Gallery/”Cover Story” blog -

http://rockpopgallery.typepad.com/rockpop_gallery_news/2008/04/cover-story—t.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exile_on_Main_St.

When Keith Richards uses your office as a closet, what do you do?

Keith's Black leopard lined leather jacket, worn in the late 70's.

Art Collins Vice President of Rolling Stones Records from 1981-1986,
experienced a thing or two in his time with the band, as this post and story will attest to.
Like his office being used by Keith Richards to store various items of clothing.
Specifically the black leather jacket you see pictured.
When I bought this item, I was as fascinated by the story,
as I was being able to buy such an iconic item belonging to the legend himself.

What really defines a rock star?
Many things I imagine.
Obviously their music first and foremost.
But then, a close second has to be their style.
And what describes “The Human Riff,” better than one of his many leather jackets.
In building my collection I’ve always had an eye to collecting items that truly capture the spirit and the essence of the individual.
In the case of Keith Richards, he has for me defined what Rock and Roll is.
In his music, and his lifestyle.
The true definition of Rock and Roll excess.

Here’s the letter from Art describing the circumstances in which he came upon Keith’s jacket as well as an article in a trade magazine describing the clothes Art speaks of piled up in his office on his couch.

Enjoy.

The Rolling Stones Tour of Europe, 1970. Happy Birthday Sandra. But who is Sandra anyway?

This was the Stones’ first tour in Europe since 1967, and became part of a pattern (not always followed) wherein the group would play North America, Continental Europe, and the United Kingdom on a three-year rotating cycle.

Shows were similar to that of the 1969 American Tour, but with the material more familiar to audiences as Let It Bleed had now been out for some months. The Stones continued to preview new material, however, as “Brown Sugar”, “Dead Flowers”, and “You Gotta Move” were set list regulars; they would not appear on record until Sticky Fingers was released a half year later. Unlike many of the group’s tours of this era, here the group only played one show a night.

Following a tradition set since the band’s earliest days, the tour was not without its altercations. The show at Råsunda stadion in Stockholm on September 4 was interrupted by police who feared that fans, provoked by Jagger, would storm the stage. The singer duly responded by pointing the microphone to the police on stage and soon after suggested the audience would sit down for the next song (the slower “Love in Vain”). On September 14 a thousand or so forged tickets were rejected at a show at Ernst-Merck-Halle in Hamburg; two hundred policemen were needed to handle disappointed fans. Two days later at Deutschlandhalle in West Berlin, there were nasty battles between assorted youths and the police before the show, and some 50 arrests were made. Then on October 1 at Milan’s Palazzo Dello Sport, two thousand youths tried to crash the gates to get into the show. Police had to use tear gas to quell the riot; there were injuries among both the policemen and the crowd, and 63 arrests were made.

14 September Germany Ernst-Merck-Halle – Hamburg, Germany
16 September Germany Deutschlandhalle – Berlin, Germany
18 September Germany Sporthalle – Cologne, Germany
20 September Germany Killesberg – Stuttgart, Germany
05 October Germany Festhalle – Frankfurt, Germany
06 October Germany Festhalle – Frankfurt, Germany
07 October Germany Grugahalle – Essen, Germany

During one of these shows in Germany the Stones signed a German birthday card for some very lucky fan person named Sandra.
Included is Ian Stewart who rarely signed anything.
He played piano on this tour along with sax player Bobby Keys and Jim Price on trombone.
A beautiful large set of Stones signatures from a rare and tough era to find, that being the early 70′s.

I’ve been on a mission to find out who in fact Sandra is…
I recently have some thoughts and have made some head way…
See what you think.

I believe this was signed for Sandy Brandt, longtime editor of Andy Warhol’s “Interview” magazine.
He actually created a silkscreen print of her in 1970.

She and her husband, Peter Brant who met and married in college, were Warhol junkies.
They befriended Warhol and became an avid collectors his art in the late sixties and early seventies.
This card was signed in Germany during the early 70′s.
It is signed for Sandra’s 21st birthday.
Which if you look at the silkscreen which was done in 1970, she looks about 21.

It’s not inconceivable that Brant who was scoffing up all the Warhol he could buy would commisson Andy to do a portrait of his wife for his growing collection.
Another note, Warhol’s film “Trash” previewed in Germany in 1971, during this time and both Brant’s may have traveled with Warhol’s entourage to go see the film.

Giving Mick Jagger the gift of time. Not that he needs it.

I guess when it comes to giving Mick Jagger a present, you got to think the guy has just about everything.
I mean what could you possibly give him he either couldn’t buy himself or doesn’t already own?
Clothes. Nah.
Wine. Boring.
Hmmmmmm, how ’bout a nice watch?

Well that’s exactly what Ahmet Ertegun gave Mick Jagger back
sometime in the early 70′s.
An Eterna Matic Concept 80 wristwatch.
He had engraved on the back, Mick Here’s to a Million or 2? Ahmet.
My guess he was talking about the sales of an upcoming album.
Maybe Sticky Fingers or Exile given the time period.
Since at this point The Stones had just recently come on board with Atlantic, it’s not unusual Ahmet was hoping for a long and successful relationship with them.

Ahmet co-founder and executive of Atlantic Records used his personal skills in negotiating the signing of The Rolling Stones to Atlantic when they were shopping for a record company to distribute their independent Rolling Stones Records label.

He personally “did the deal” with Mick Jagger, when other labels had actually offered the band more money.

This watch was later donated by Jagger to an auction run by LA radio station KMET-FM back in 1973 in a week long auction they ran to raise money for the victims of the Nicaraguan Earthquake.
Mick was of course married to Bianca at the time, and her having family there got Mick very involved in this worthy cause.

The Stones gave a benefit concert in LA and donated at the proceeds to help the victims.

A unique piece of memorabilia owned by Jagger with a great history behind it .

A RARE TICEKT STUB FROM THE STONES NICARAGUAN BENEFIT SHOW IN LA.

Who’s the Boss????

You really don’t want to piss of your partner.
Especially when he’s Keith Richards.
But Mick needed to test himself in 1985 by going solo for the first time in his career
with She’s the Boss.

When The Rolling Stones signed with CBS Records in 1983, one of the options available to them was for individual projects, and Jagger – ready to spread his wings after recording exclusively with his famous band for twenty years – eagerly began working on She’s the Boss.

Following the release of Undercover, Jagger began composing material for his first solo project, sanctioning the help of various musician friends in the studio when recording began in May 1984. Of those involved were Pete Townshend, Jeff Beck, Carlos Alomar and Herbie Hancock, while Jagger would share production duties with Bill Laswell and Nile Rodgers.

Keenly aware of the current musical trends – and taking advantage of his freedom – Jagger endeavored to make She’s the Boss sound hip and contemporary, giving the album a very mid-1980s character with its use of synthesizers and drum machines.

Keith Richards, Jagger’s longtime musical partner in The Rolling Stones, was not pleased that Jagger was pursuing solo work, feeling that their band should be each others’ first priority. The growing friction between both musicians would erupt – in a most publicized way – in 1986, before they resolved their differences a couple of years later.

She’s the Boss was released in February 1985 – preceded by its lead song “Just Another Night”. Both the album and its first single became worldwide hits, with “Just Another Night” reaching #1 on the US Mainstream Rock chart and #12 on the US pop chart, and She’s the Boss going to #6 in the UK and #13 in the US, where it went platinum. Follow-up single “Lucky In Love” would be a Top 40 US hit. Although critical response to the album was warm, many later reviewers consider She’s the Boss – with its distinct 1980s production techniques – to sound somewhat dated in style.[citation needed]

The success of the album – impacted by Jagger’s solo appearance at Live Aid that July and his rush-recorded duet hit cover of “Dancing In The Street” with David Bowie – influenced Jagger to record a successor, Primitive Cool, which would be released in 1987.

Although originally released by CBS, She’s the Boss was acquired and reissued by Atlantic Records in 1993 following the release of Jagger’s third album, Wandering Spirit.

In 1986, Jamaican reggae singer Patrick Alley attempted to sue Jagger over the song “Just Another Night,” which Alley claims he had recorded in 1979 and released on his 1982 album, A Touch of Patrick Alley. Alley claimed that Sly Dunbar (who played drums on She’s the Boss) also played on his recording. The case was cleared in 1988, with Jagger stating “My reputation is really cleared. If you’re well known, people stand up and take shots at you.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/She%27s_The_Boss

The following are direct from the files of a former publicist and personal assistant to Mick Jagger.
Typed and xeroxed lyrics with hand written annotations by Jagger.