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“After Bathing at Baxter’s” is Jefferson Airplane’s third album, which was inspired by the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts club Band.” The psychedelic group from San Francisco wanted to go with a more experimental approach. Gary Blackman, a friend of the band came up with the title. “After Bathing at Baxter’s” really means after “bathing taking LSD.” Baxter was the band’s code word for LSD.
Released on RCA in 1967, a stereo copy is worth up to $30.00 while a mono copy could sell for $750.00 today.

“Kiss Alive II” is the second live album for Kiss. It’s one of their best-selling albums and their first to be certified double platinum. Most copies are worth no more than $40.00. However, if you have or find a copy with three live tracks, “Hooligan,” “Take Me,” and “Do You Love Me,” then the value jumps up to $500.00. The three songs might be listed on the cover, but you actually have to play the record to see if they are. (Find the values for every record by Kiss in our “Record Appraisal Guide,” available in the left hand column.)

John Lennon’s eighth and final album was “Milk and Honey.” It took Yoko Ono three years to be able to resume work to complete it following John’s death. Yoko explained the title referred to their journey to settle in America, the land of “milk and honey.” Released on Polydor Records at the beginning of 1984, a black vinyl copy is worth up to $20.00 However, a yellow vinyl copy can sell for $150.00 while a green vinyl version could fetch $175.00. (All versions of all records are described in detail in Mighty John’s “Record Appraisal Guide,” available in the left hand column.)

Rare Earth was not the first white band signed by Motown but they were the first to hit big. They did it in 1970 with “Get Ready.” More hits followed like “I Just Want to Celebrate” in 1971. Motown was looking to have a separate label for their white acts and named that label Rare Earth, after the band. The “Get Ready” album cover has two versions. Albums with the standard square cover are worth no more than $15.00 but the same album with a rounded-top cover can get you $250.00 today.

“Do You Want to Know a Secret” was the first top-10 hit for the Beatles where George Harrison was the lead singer. The lyrics “Do you want to know a secret. Promise not to tell” came from Disney’s “Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs.” The 45 on Vee Jay is worth up to $50.00. Add up to another $200.00 for the picture sleeve as seen here. The promo copy, also seen here, on the left can fetch up to $600.00 today. (Find the values for all promo records that are worth more than the commercial versions released in stores with “Mighty John’s Promo Records Guide,” in the yellow strip above.)

One of the all-time favorite cartoon characters is Mr. Magoo, originally created by Millard Kaufman to mock Senator Joe McCarthy in his relentless search for American communists. In 1957, RCA released “Magoo in Hi-Fi” featuring the voice of Jim Backus. The soundtrack album is worth up to $100.00 today. (“Magoo in Hi-Fi” is just one of the 10,000 soundtracks listed on our Soundtracks Guide, covering movies, TV, and Broadway shows. It’s available in the left hand column.)

In 1965, Elvis Presley starred in the movie “Tickle Me.” It’s unique for an Elvis movie as all the songs for the film had been previously released on other Elvis albums. There were no new songs recorded just for the movie. It’s also rare that the title did not have a song of the same name.  The EP soundtrack, released by RCA, is worth up to $200.00 if the record label is black. However, if the record label is orange, the value can go as high as $600.00.

Jimmy Bowen was a major record producer in the 1960’s. Frank Sinatra hired him to produce records for his Reprise record label. Bowen produced hits for Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. But back in the 1950’s, Bowen was a Rock N Roll singer and reached # 14 on the Billboard charts in 1957 with “I’m Stickin’ With You,” which ends with the lyric “I’m stuck with you, Baby.” Released on Roulette Records, the 45 is worth up to $40.00 while the “Jimmy Bowen” album containing the hit can sell for $125.00 today.

The first draft of Jan And Dean’s 1963 hit, “Surf City”, was written by Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. The working title was “Goody Connie Won’t You Come Back Home.” The working title for “Yesterday” by the Beatles was “Scrambles Eggs.”  So much for working titles! The original” Surf City” 45 on Liberty Records is worth up to $50.00 with its picture sleeve. The original “Yesterday” by the Beatles can sell for $100.00 with its picture sleeve.

One of the most popular and endearing Doo Wop classics is “Earth Angel,” made famous by the Penguins and written by Jesse Belvin. In 1956, Jesse had his own big hit with “Good Night My Love.” In 1959, he hit gold again with “Guess Who.” Influenced by Nat King Cole, Jesse was a major influence on a young Sam Cooke. In 1959, RCA released the album, “Just Jesse Belvin. A year later RCA released “Mr. Easy” by Jesse Belvin. Each of the albums is worth up to $100.00 today.