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Merry Christmas! If you have a black vinyl copy of the original “Elvis Christmas Album” from 1957 on RCA its worth up to $800.00. BUT if the vinyl is red, as seen here, the value jumps up to $15,000.00. Ho Ho Ho!

You can thank John Wayne for one of Rock N Roll’s greatest hits. A young Buddy Holly sat in a darkened movie theater in 1956 watching the western classic, “The Searchers.” In the film when Wayne, in his distinctive style says, “That’ll be the day,” Holly was inspired and thus was born his first big hit. The original single on Decca can sell for $300.00.The “That’ll Be the Day” album, released on Decca Records in 1957, is worth up to $250.00 if the record label is multi-colored and up to $800.00 today if the record label is black. Little things can make a BIG difference in the value of records.

One of the most popular hard rock bands of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s is Australia’s AC/DC. With classics such as “Highway to Hell” and “You Shook Me All Night Long,” their concerts were continually sold out. Their albums went platinum even though they never had a top-20 single on the charts. In 1978 Atlantic Records released their album “Powerage.” A red vinyl copy, as shown here, is worth up to $100.00 today.

In the mid-1960’s, the Buckinghams, who chose their name to sound more British, tore up the charts with hits like “Don’t You Care,” “Susan,” “Hey Baby (They’re Playing Our Song)” and their #1 smash, “Kind of a Drag,” which is valued at no more than $20.00, but their first single, released by Spectra-Sound Records in 1965, was a cover of the Drifters’ hit, “Sweets for My Sweet.” It’s worth up to $125.00 today.

Here’s a record you should know about. Garage bands were a staple of 1960’s Rock N Roll. Garage music generally refers to bands whose sound was not too polished or professional as if recorded in a garage and not a highly equipped recording studio. Some well-known examples would be “Louie Louie” by the Kingsmen and “96 Tears” by ? and the Mysterians. Most Garage bands were one-hit-wonders, some no hits at all but very collectible like the By Fives. An original copy of their 1966 single, “That’s How Strong My Love Is,” released by Tomi Records, is worth up to $3,500.00 today. Click on “Records You Should Know About” in the yellow strip above for more free samples.

Bob Dylan continues to be very collectible. “Mixed up Confusion” was a song written by Dylan originally for the “Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” album. However, since the entire album was acoustic, “Mixed up Confusion” wouldn’t have fit since the song was recorded with an electric band. And so it was issued as his first single. Released by Columbia Records in 1963, it’s worth up to $800.00 today.

“Aaron Slick From Punkin Crick” was a movie musical released in 1952. It starred Alan Young who ten years later would play Wilbur on TV’s “Mr. Ed.” Dinah Shore played the female lead in the story of a country bumpkin outsmarting a city slicker. The soundtrack album, released by RCA, is worth up to $150.00 today. “Aaron Slick From Punkin Crick” is just one of the 10,000 soundtracks on our Soundtracks guide. It lists the values for all movies, TV, and Broadway shows and is available in the left hand column.

Following the success of their 1961 hit, “Shop Around,” Smokey Robinson and the Miracles found a bigger smash with “You Really Got a Hold on Me.” The 45 can get you $25.00. It’s one of the most covered songs of all time including a version by the Beatles. In 1963, Tamla Records released the album, “The Fabulous Miracles.” The title of the album was later changed to “You Really Got a Hold on Me” to capitalize on the well-known single. The original album is worth up to $500.00 today.

Brother/sister Karen and Richard Carpenter made up the most successful singing duo of the 1970’s. With over 100 million records sold, they had 10 singles that went gold. On many of their early recordings Karen also played drums. Their first single, a re-make of the Beatles’ “Ticket to Ride,” is worth no more than $15.00 but their 1969 debut album, “Offering,” released on A & M Records, is worth up to $150.00 today.

Obscurity and rarity can often add up to big money when it comes to Doo Wop records. The Five Chances was a Doo Wop group from the south side of Chicago. It was thought that theirs would be a successful career, but it just didn’t happen. Their 1954 single, “I May Be Small,” on Chance Records can fetch $4,000.00. In 1955 Blue Lake Records released “All I Want” by the Five Chances. That, too, is worth up to $4,000.00 today.