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99% of the time an original release of a record is worth more than a re-issue. But there are exceptions. An example would be the Beatles’ two-sided hit “We Can Work It Out” and “Day Tripper.” An original 1966 copy on an orange and yellow Capitol Records label is worth up to $40.00. Add up to another $40.00 for the picture sleeve. However, a 1969 re issue on a red and white Capitol label, as shown on the left, is worth up to $1,000.00 today.

“Wonderful World” was written by Sam Cooke and Herb Alpert in 1959 and featured on the album, “The Wonderful World of Sam Cooke.” The single, released on Keen Records, can sell for $50.00. The song was a hit for Sam Cooke in 1960 and even a bigger hit for Herman’s Hermits in 1965. Cooke’s version can be heard in the movies, “Animal House” and “Witness.”  I don’t know much about history, don’t know much biology but I do know the album, released on Keen Records in 1960, is worth up to $250.00 today.

Saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker, along with Dizzy Gillespie, developed a music sound known as Be-Bop. His nickname came from his love of chickens. No doubt a musical genius, he died before his time at the age of thirty-four. Many of his albums can be very collectible like his three albums from 1948 as shown here. Released on Dial Records, each can sell for $700.00 today.

Mad magazine with its mascot Alfred E Newman has been around since 1952 with its unique satire on popular culture and politics. In 1962 Big Top Records released “Mad Twists Rock N Roll” with the voices of Mike Russo and Jeanne Hayes recording classics like “She Got a Nose Job” and “Please, Betty Jane, When You Gonna Shave Your Legs?” To a record collector the album is worth up to $150.00 today.

Many recording artists in the 1960’s and 70’s made special promotional records for brand name advertisers. Connie Francis released an album in 1961 for Brylcreem with its slogan, “A Little Dab’ll Do ya.” Not a big collectible it’s worth up to $20.00. But in 1964 the Yardbirds issued a 45 on Epic Records as a promotion for Esquire socks. If title on the record label reads “I Wish You Would,” its worth up to $500.00 with picture sleeve. If it reads  “I Wish You Could,” then record with picture sleeve, is worth up to $800.00 today.

Johnny Winter was a white Blues guitarist who had local fame in Texas in the early 1960’s. In 1968, after Rolling Stone magazine described him as a “cross-eyed albino with long fleecy hair, playing some of the gutsiest blues guitar you’ve ever heard,” his fame went national. His albums were well received but he wasn’t a hit-maker for top-40 radio. Early singles from the 60’s on Frolic Records like “Gangster of Love” and “Voodoo Twist” are each worth up to $125.00 today.

Ella Fitzgerald is known as the “First lady of Jazz,” working with such Jazz giants as Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie. Before her rise to fame she was a lookout for a brothel and ran numbers. But winning an amateur singing contest at the Apollo Theater was her turning point. Of her many records, a dozen of them are each worth up to $100.00 or more like her 1950 “Souvenir Album” on Decca Records and the 1951 “Ella Sings Gershwin” album on Decca.

The Who’s “Live at Leeds” album, released in 1970, featured some of the band’s biggest hits like “Substitute”, “My Generation,” and “Magic Bus.” The New York Times said, “It’s the best live rock album ever made.” Also on the album was “Young Man Blues.” Released as a single on Decca Records, it’s worth up to $150.00. The picture sleeve, as shown here, is worth up to $500.00 today.

In the spring of 1962 one-hit-wonder, Bruce Channel, rode the top of the charts with “Hey Baby” ( I wanna know if you’ll be my girl). The harmonica riff at the beginning of the song inspired John Lennon’s playing on “Love Me Do.” The value of Bruce Channel’s hit all depends on what label it’s on. Most copies are on Smash Records and worth no more than $20.00, but on the Le Cam label the value can go up to $125.00.

The Paris Sisters were discovered by 1940’s and 50’s stars, the Andrew Sisters. Soon, the Paris Sisters were performing in Las Vegas. With wigs, padded bras, and lots of make-up the nine, ten, and fifteen-year olds sang at the Dunes with Sinatra and at the Frontier with a young Elvis Presley. Their biggest hit came in 1961 with “I Love How You Love Me.” The 45, on Gregmark Records, can fetch $50.00. “The Golden Hits of the Paris Sisters,” was released on Sidewalk Records. It contains their 1961 hit and is worth up to $200.00 today.