A recording is the process of translating or capturing data or information on a recording format captured on some storage medium, which is often named a record or, especially if a visual medium or an auditory ,a recording. The old records of events were made thousands of years ago in one form or another. Amongst the first known recordings are runic alphabets, cave painting, and ideograms.
A way of recording data or text good enough for direct reading includes writing it on paper. Other forms of storing data are much easier when it comes to automatic retrieval, but people needed a tool to read them.
Technology evolves and provides and expands, a thing that means people are beings to record, represent and express their feelings, thoughts and experiences. The most easy and common ways of recording information or data are by video and by sound.
The beginnings of sound recordings is dating from the second half of the nineteenth century, although the mechanical generating a sound set was possible in antiquity too. Sound recording is how to process a sound or a signal so as to maintain it allows it to be played at a later time.
Since the first sound recording and until today a remarkable progress in terms of sound quality and usability of the material is kept. In achieving such development the labor of scientists was needed, the ones who set out to capture the sound because then other people can hear it.
The devices of the pioneer period records evolved from fonoautografes to the recorded vibrations with smoked glass, through the phonograph of Edison Graphophone or Tainter, which recorded discs coated with wax, Berliner’s phonograph, who used a disc array, to Poulsen’s phonograph, who was the first one to achieve magnetic recording device. These supports are very fragile, their preservation and recovery raises the records on them, but their value is historically very high.
Knowing all that, there are many recordings that value much more than others, simply because they are rather rare or because they are very good. Here are some musical recordings that are valued much more than others and which cost sometimes a fortune:
6. Billy Nicholls, ‘Would You Believe’ LP
The LP was launched in 1968. The collapse of the label meaning that only a handful of copies reached the shops. It’s estimated value reaches up to £3000.
Billy Nicholls, born on 15 February 1949, is a British singer, producer, songwriter and musical director with a creditable biography and discography. Billy’s career started in the sixties with the rare album Would You Believe, and continued to make great music even today with his newest release Rosslyn Road.
His previous albums, and later collections of never released and new material, have been remastered, reworked and presented on a CD, plus one off his Snapshot on a vinyl. All are available thanks to his own record company named Southwest Records.
5. John Lennon/Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band, ‘Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins’ LP
The record came out in the market in 1968. Some copies were pressed with no track listing and a blurb on the front sleeve. The estimated value reaches up to £3000.
Yoko Ono Lennon, born on 18 February 1933 is an Japanese-American artist and musician. She is known for her avant-garde works and especially for her marriage to John Lennon.
Plastic Ono Band is the debut solo album recorded by the English rock musician John Lennon. It was released in 1970 after Lennon also made three experimental albums with Yoko and Live Peace In Toronto after a concert in Toronto where Lennon’s band called themselves The Plastic Ono Band.
The disc was recorded simultaneously with the avant-garde’s debut album Yoko Ono, Yoko Ono / Plastic Ono Band at Ascot Sound Studios and Abbey Road using the same musicians and production team and even having nearly an identical cover. Plastic Ono Band is considered one of the best of Lennon’s solo albums. Rolling Stone Magazine ranked the album in the top 22 best records of all time. All of the songs were written by Lennon himself.
4. Queen, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody/I’m In Love With My Car’, 7 Inch Single
This EMI in-house special edition of 1978 of the single doubled as an invite to a company event, and so it came with goodies including matches, pens, tickets, menus, outer card sleeves, scarfs and an EMI goblets in card box. The estimated value of the recording reaches up to £5000.
Queen was formed in 1971 in London, England, their period of activity being between 1971-1995. The members of the band were Freddie Mercury – vocals, piano, Brian May – guitar, Roger Taylor – drums and John Deacon – bass. The styles they approached were Hard Rock, Pop Rock, British Metal, Progressive Rock and is known for being one of the best of it’s kind.
The beginnings of the band Queen are located in England in 1968, when Brian May and Roger Taylor founded SMILE. After Tim Staffell, bassist and vocalist goes out, the band comes out in the spring of 1970, his place being taken by his roommate Freddie Mercury, who joins two, May and Taylor to form Queen. In 1971, the place is occupied by bassist John Deacon, the completing component.
Queen members are known as pioneers of heavy metal, glam rock, sometimes stepping into the progressive rock. Although the personality of Freddie Mercury dominated the press, all four members composed hits huge: Freddie Mercury – “Bohemian Rhapsody”, Brian May – “We Will Rock You”, Roger Taylor – “Radio Ga Ga” and John Deacon – “Another One Bites The Dust “.
For most of the band’s albums each member even wrote a song, and although Freddie Mercury composed many hits, was by no means the dominant songwriter; four are considered equals in terms of creativity, deciding to give credit simply as the “Queen” and not individually, starting with the album “The Miracle“.
The beginning of the band’s history is tied to the band SMILE, in which Brian May and Roger Taylor played with Tim Staffell (bass + vocals). Freddie was then Tim’s roommate and rehearsals and concerts closely following the band, although he was soloist in other bands, such as Wreckage and Ibex. However, he was very eager to share his ideas about which musical direction Smile should develop.
3. The Beatles, “White Album’ double LP
The Beatles, “White Album” double LP from 1968 first pressing could be worth as much as £7000. If it wasn’t for the Beatles, no one would of had so much imagination to invent such a story.
The origins of the phenomenon that would become The Beatles was founded in 1957, when Paul McCartney was only 15 he met John Lennon, who was two years older. The following year, in 1958, with the two comes another young man of only 15, George Harrison and a friend of John Lennon, Stuart Sutcliffe.
After a short period in which the four played as “The Quarryman” , they got renamed into the “Silver Beetles” and, in April 1960, they had their first tour in Scotland. By the summer of that year, however, they adopted a new name, a name that will revolutionize music up to this point: “The Beatles”
The Beatles were among the frontline troops that year, along with names like Gerry & The Peacemakers, Swinging Blue Jeans Billy J. Kramer & The or Dakotas. They gained local popularity consistency at the end of 1961 when they attract the attention of Brian Epstein, a manager at whom is due much of the huge success of the band. Early next year he has arranged an audition at Decca Records, a company that has made a huge error to deny them signing a contract.
Epstein did not got discouraged and not long after, during the same year, manages to convince the Parlophone label of how valuable the band was, which was the largest EMI company. They will enter on producer George Martin’s hand, who then becomes the architect of all creation of the band. A few years later, they were the most famous four people in the world of music, the best dressed and most captivating people anyone can remember. The story begins when Paul met John.
They played at the Palladium, Royal Albert Hall, The Royal Variety Show, singing Moonlight Bay Morecombe and Wise, having hundreds of concerts in the UK, invent Beatlemania, registered I Want To Hold Your Hand and, as in a dream, while conquering Paris, the recording reached Number One in America and remained in that position for three weeks before they are invited to Ed Sullivan’s Show in New York. They remain history even in our days.
2. Sex Pistols, ‘God Save The Queen/No Feelings’.
Sex Pistols, “God Save The Queen/No Feelings”’s version of the band’s 1977 single was withdrawn from the market, with only about 300 copies being believed to exist. The ones with brown envelope and press release are said to be worth around £8000, or £7500.
Sex Pistols was a punk band that was born in London in 1975. The band was originally called “The Strand”, then “The Swankers” and after Malcolm McLaren became manager, “The Sex Pistols”. Their first contract was with a record label called EMI. But scandals like the one from a BBC program broadcast live where Johnny Rotten cursed several times, put them in a tense situation with EMI.
When at Heathrow Airport, on their way to Amsterdam, where they were supposed to have some concerts, the band created a scandal spitting and cursing at one of the airport employees, EMI terminating the contract two days later.
Their second contract was with A & M Records, a contract terminated after six days because Sid Vicious threw the principal’s office at a party held inside the label. The last musical of 2011 agreement was with Virgin Records recording studio.
The concert in club “Paradiso” in Amsterdam was the last one with Matlock, who left the band in February 1977. According to the rumors, he was kicked out because he liked The Beatles. Jones saying he was fired because he washed his feet too often, but Matlock himself said he went with Johnny Rotten because of the conflicts.
1. The Quarrymen – “That’ll Be the Day”/”In Spite of All the Danger”
The Quarrymen, ‘That’ll Be The Day/ In Spite Of All The Danger’ is the same record as Number 2, but the 1958 original is this one. It’s the only copy as we know of the pre-Beatles disc recorded in an electrical shop by Lennon, McCartney and Harrison with Colin Hanton as a drummer and John Duff Lowe as a pianist. It’s worth is estimated to be at around £100,000.
The Quarrymen is a British music band playing skiffle and rock ‘n’ roll, set to start in Liverpool in 1956, and has evolved over four years into The Beatles. Formed at the beginning by John Lennon and many of his schoolmates, The Quarrymen took their name from a verse, from Quarry Bank High School where Lennon and most of the band members studied.
Lennon’s mother, Julia Lennon, taught his son to play the banjo after he showed Lennon and Eric Griffiths how to tune guitars like the banjo. Some accounts say that Lennon was the one who chose the name, but others credited his friend, Pete Shotton, for naming it.
The Quarrymen sang at parties, theaters, school reunions and amateur competitions before Paul McCartney joined the band in October 1957. George Harrison also came in early 1958, McCartney’s being the one to recommend him, although Lennon was not pleased at the start, considering that Harrison, who was only 14 when, was too young to join a band.
The band made a record of amateurs in 1958, singing “That’ll Be the Day” by Buddy Holly and “In Spite of All the Danger” a song written by McCartney and Harrison. In early 1960 the band began to explore various other names. After Lennon recruited his school colleague Stuart Sutcliffe, the band tried to name it The Silver Beetles and many other names but the name remained The Beatles.
The band decided to continue to sing and 1998, singing in several countries worldwide. Griffiths died in 2005, and Shotton retired because of health issues. In 2011, three of the founding members were still playing under the name “The Quarrymen”.